Hard Times

Facts alone are wanted in life': the children at Mr Gradgrind's school are sternly ordered to stifle their imaginations and pay attention only to cold, hard reality. They live in a smoky, troubled industrial town so entertainment is hard to come by and resentments run deep. The effects of Gradgrind's teaching on his own children, Tom and Louisa, are particularly profound and leave them ill-equipped to deal with the unpredictable desires of the human heart.

Luckily for them they have a friend in Sissy Jupe, the child of a circus clown, who retains her warm-hearted, compassionate nature despite the pressures around her.

,,Doar faptele sunt necesare in viata": copiii de la scoala domnului Gradgrind sunt aspru obligati sa-si inabuse imaginatia si sa acorde atentie doar realitatii reci si dure. Ei traiesc intr-un oras industrial plin de fum si tulburi, asa ca divertismentul este greu de gasit, iar resentimentele sunt adanci.