Menu Close

What happened to Stephen Blackpool?

What happened to Stephen Blackpool?

Stephen is a power loom operator in Bounderby’s factory. Stephen is in love with Rachael, another factory worker, but can’t be with her because he can’t get a divorce. After being framed for bank robbery, Stephen ends up dying from falling into a giant hole in the ground.

What happens to Stephen Blackpool in Book 3?

A rescue team manages to lift Stephen out, and a doctor attends to his injuries. Nonetheless, after bidding a loving farewell to Rachael and telling Louisa to have Gradgrind ask Tom for the information that will clear his name, Stephen dies.

Why does Bounderby fire Stephen?

His fellow workers shun him when he refuses to join the union, and Bounderby fires him after Stephen refuses to give him details about the union that his fellow workers are forming.

What are Stephen Blackpool and the old woman suspected of doing?

The reader realizes almost immediately the identity of the thief, but Stephen Blackpool is suspected of the crime. Coming under suspicion as an accomplice is the old woman who is yet a mystery to all. When Harthouse inquires concerning Tom’s whereabouts, Bounderby says he is helping the police.

Why Stephen Blackpool couldn’t divorce his wife?

Stephen Blackpool can secure divorce as he has all the necessary grounds. His wife is poor and has committed adultery which can be discerned from the fact that she suffers from syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease, making her weaker each day and causing sores on her skin.

What does Rachael prevent Stephen’s wife from doing *?

Rachael tells Stephen to go to sleep in the chair. Stephen falls asleep, but wakes up just in time to see his wife about to swallow a lethal amount of one of her medicines. Stephen is unable to act, but Rachael awakens suddenly and seizes the bottle from the sick woman, thereby preventing her death.

What does Rachael find that leads her to believe Stephen has been murdered?

What does Rachael find that leads her to believe Stephen has been murdered? His hat, abandoned in a field.

Who catches the bank robber in hard times?

Tom is Louisa’s brother, and is raised in the same manner that she is. He ends up a degenerate gambler who robs Bounderby’s bank to pay his debts.

What happens to Louisa in Hard Times?

In Hard Times, Louisa sadly ends up the product of her education in hard-headed utilitarianism. She makes a disastrous marriage for money, leaves her husband, and ends up living in her father’s household, unable to truly experience wonder or joy.

Why does Stephen want to divorce his wife?

In an interview with the Independent UK, Wilde admitted the reason for their break-up is that she feels Hawking has “left behind” the family when he started to gain fame and recognition for his scientific works. In another interview with Radio Times, Wilde said that people started to take advantage of his husband.

Why did Sissy’s father abandoned her?

Mr. Sleary tells Mr. Gradgrind that Sissy’s father is unable to perform in the circus anymore and, out of shame, has abandoned her, not being able to face her again. Thus it is that Gradgrind finds them unpleasant as they are opposed to his view of the world.

Who masterminds Tom’s escape to the circus in hard times?

Roger Bushell, the mastermind behind the escape, was one of them. Bushell had managed to travel some 400 miles in under 10 hours but was caught the next day as he waited for a train at Saarbrücken, a town just 20 miles away from the French border.

Why does Stephen leave Coketown in hard times?

When he refuses to spy on the other Hands, Bounderby angrily dismisses him from the factory. Because his fellow Hands have ostracized him, Stephen will have to leave Coketown in search of work. Outside Bounderby’s, Stephen encounters Rachael with the old woman he met once before, who introduces herself as Mrs. Pegler.

Why was Coketown named after its main industry?

The production of coke generates considerable air pollution, and in the absence of any clean-air legislation at that time in Victorian Britain, one can only imagine just how polluted the air must have been for the people of Coketown. The fact that the town is named after its main industry suggests that this is all the town has going for it.

How does Tom tell Stephen to wait outside the bank?

Tom tells Stephen to wait outside the bank late at night for the next few nights, and if all goes well, someone will appear with assistance. Stephen spends the next few days preparing to leave Coketown, and he waits outside the bank each evening, following Tom’s instructions.

When do Stephen and Louisa meet in hard times?

This interweaving of the previously separate plot strands is illustrated by Stephen and Louisa’s meeting in Chapter 6 , a meeting that brings Louisa into contact with a person of the working class for the first time in her life.