Social Norms in Society  

     When reading Hard Times by Charles Dickens you will notice all of the social norms and importance of class during that time period. Today no one really cares, or even asks you, about your class in society or how much wealth you have. 

     An example of social norms for the time is the relationship between Mr. Bounderby and Louisa. She is supposed to be in her twenties and at that time the marriageable age was sixteen and up, so she could be considered somewhat of a spinster. But since she was in a higher class it was a little more acceptable to get married later than the norm. She thought hard about whether to marry Mr. Bounderby or not, as she had no other suitors and he had all the qualifications that her parents would want. They would have wanted an eligible bachelor to have wealth, high class, and a stable career. That is why it was typical for the man to be in his fifties and marry a young wife, which would be thought of as a trophy wife today. 

    

     Another social norm demonstrated in the book was the concept of divorce being totally out of the question. Today you can get a divorce with no questions asked while both the man and the woman can go on living with their lives and even marry again if they choose to. Back in the day if a divorce ever happened then the women could potentially be left with nothing. Back then the men totally supported their wives. In the case of divorce he could take the source of income and the children if he wanted. If their family wouldn't take them back they would have no where else to go. A man could go on to find another wife if he wanted but women would never get remarried. They would literally be left with nothing in life. So they all tended to stay married, even if they were unhappy in the relationship. 

     

     Class was a very serious part of who you were back then. If you were high class you would never be seen with someone who was from the lower class. In a way the lower class could be seen as scum to the higher class. Also a lower class man could never in any case be considered to marry a girl from a higher class. This is because the parents would have some say in the person who their daughter would marry and they would go for the man with more money. Families of lower class would attempt to get their daughters to marry into wealth so they could rise in class. 

     As you can see it was another time where their view on society is very different from ours is today. Though in the end they were doing what themselves and society viewed as normal. Personally I would much prefer living in the 21st century.

-MAL