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Professor John Bowen: "Philothophy of the Thubject"
A lecture about the not so hidden philosophy in 'Hard Times'. Facts versus
Meaning; Knowledge versus Understanding. Culminating in the discussion about
marriage between Father Louise, Mother only worrying about how to address Mr.
Bounderby the future husband of Louise. The heart of Louise lost in submissiveness,
lost love wasted life. The circus horse of Sleary versus the Horse Powered Steam
Engines; the discussion between Mr. Sleary and Mr. Gradgrind about dogs: Sleary:
"Thquire, you don't need to be told that dogth ith wonderful animalth." "Their
instinct,"said Mr. Gradgrind "is surprising." "Whatever you call it- and I'm bletht
if I know what to call if'said Sleary, "it ith athtonithing. The way in with a dog'll
find you - the dithanthe he'll come!"
By way of setting against each other different opinions and descriptions Dickens, as
it were, forces us to realise for example that feeling is a fact but facts are no feelings
because they do not show us the inside of our fellow human and other beings.
And much more in the chapter named" Philosophical". Giving names to the chapters
was an afterthought, in the original text in Household Words the chapters have just
Roman figures.
Mr. Michael Madden LLB: "The Lawyers not mentioned by Dickens"
Of course the law has changed since Dickens's times but not as much as he hoped
for. There is an amazing lot of resemblance between legal proceedings then and now
The importance of the "Law" as it was in the 19the century, was emphasized by the
immense growth of the railroads, the expansion of the towns and the continued
industrialisation. Expropriations and bankruptcies were daily routine and
Chancellery took a lot of time, work and money. In every case everything, every
detail, every time a case was down for hearing, had to be scrupulous examined
before a conclusion could be formulated, as in Jarndice vs Jarndice. So Law became
the most expanding business of London. It costs then and now a lot of money to get
your Right, as Dickens experienced in his lawsuits against piracy. And winning was
not the same as getting your losses paid for. A modern example: a very large ship
owning international company sends a ship with polluted waste to Africa, to a third
world country, the waste is dumped and a lot of people were seriously ill, a lot died.
After some years of proceeding there is compensation for the victims for an amount
of about £4,500,000 the costs of the lawsuits and other legal actions of the firm
against the claims of the victims, are about £105,000,000. Jarndice Jarndice all
over again!
Professor Jacky Bratton: Dickens as 'Stage Writer/Director'.
At the age of 21 Dickens would have liked to be on the stage as a professional actor.
But a heavy cold made it impossible for him to speak on the day of his audition and
so he choose for a carrier as a writer. But the stage, playing and directing was a very
important part of him. He loved to go to the theatre and he loved to be on stage with
his friends in amateur productions. In most of his later houses he had actually a
small theatre where were played all kind of plays. His novels, especially his early
one's, are full with dialogues which seems to be written for the stage. And from
Pickwick on there were a lot of stage productions of his novels. Some with his
