This answer as sample for 10 marks question

Write your critical comment on the views of F. R. Leavis and J. B. Priestley on ‘Hard
Times’. With whom do you agree? Why?

 Introduction

Charles Dickens’ Hard Times reflects the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution on Victorian society. The novel has drawn contrasting critical responses, especially from F. R. Leavis and J. B. Priestley, which reveal two distinct ways of judging its value.

Leavis’ View

F. R. Leavis offers unqualified praise for Hard Times. He calls it “a compact work of art” and considers it Dickens’ “only novel of importance.” According to Leavis, the novel powerfully criticizes utilitarianism and industrial capitalism, and its sharp focus makes it superior to Dickens’ sprawling narratives.

Priestley’s View

In contrast, J. B. Priestley finds the novel narrow and propagandistic. He argues that Dickens’ social criticism in Hard Times is too one-sided, presenting factory owners as villains and workers as victims. For Priestley, the novel lacks the richness and balanced vision seen in Dickens’ other works, making it less representative of his genius.

Critical Comment

Leavis highlights the novel’s artistic unity and moral seriousness, but he seems to overpraise by ignoring Dickens’ greater achievements in works like Bleak House or Great Expectations. Priestley rightly points out the novel’s didactic tone and limited scope, yet he underestimates the force of Dickens’ social critique and its relevance to industrial England.

My Opinion

I agree more with F. R. Leavis. Though Hard Times may lack the expansiveness of Dickens’ longer novels, its intensity, focus, and moral urgency make it a powerful indictment of a utilitarian society. For exams, its value lies in showing Dickens as a writer deeply engaged with the problems of his age.

Conclusion

Thus, while both critics raise important points, Leavis’ appreciation seems more convincing, as Hard Times remains a compact but profound critique of industrialism and its human cost.

This answer as sample for 5 marks question

Write your critical comment on the views of F. R. Leavis and J. B. Priestley on ‘Hard
Times’. With whom do you agree? Why?

Introduction

Charles Dickens’s Hard Times has been interpreted differently by critics. Among them, F. R. Leavis and J. B. Priestley offer two opposite views on its artistic and moral value.

main answer

Leavis admired the novel for its compact structure, symbolic depth, and serious moral purpose. In The Great Tradition, he argued that Hard Times is Dickens’s most mature work, effectively exposing the dehumanizing effects of utilitarianism. Priestley, however, considered the novel too narrow and artificial. He claimed Dickens oversimplified industrial society and reduced characters like Gradgrind and Bounderby to caricatures, unlike the vitality and richness seen in Bleak House or David Copperfield.

Conclusion

Between the two, Leavis’s view is more persuasive. Despite its exaggerations, Hard Times succeeds in uniting strong moral vision with artistic control. I agree with Leavis’s interpretation.