What I am going to analize is the novel written by Charles Dickens. It is due to the fact that the novel has many things to do with one of philosophical ideologies in Victorian time, Utilitarianism. I choose utilitarianism because it is believed to be the main philosophical ideology which played many roles in poeple’s life during the Victorian era. Before discussing the roles of utilitarianism in the novel I have choosen, we should first know the basic of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism It could be mentioned that utilitarianism is a moral or ethical theory which shows that the ethically right thing is the one that gives the largest number of positive values. It belongs to the philosophical category of consequentialism. The basis of that theory is that if a property wants to be considered valuable, "it must be a uwniversal feature, capable of being realized here or there, with this individual or that". Therefore, the most important thing in the theory is that everyone should choose one action over another on the basis of the same moral judgment which works as a set of rules for everyone to follow. In a short explanation, we can say that utilitarianism does not leave anything related to the imagination. Everything is explained by the help of logic and facts. Individualism and egoism play important roles in this system. Attention is put on the individual goals to receive most pleasure. However, this ideology has too many weaknesses in it to include everyone. This sort of individualism becomes the survival of the fittest, and leaves a lot of "unfit" people out of its consideration. The utilitarian philosophers who are often mentioned are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. However, these two people represent two totally different aspects of this ideology. Bentham is the one who stands for the ideology described in the paragraph above. Utility, well-being, and pleasure are the main sources for action in every human, in his opinion. This philosophy was very dominant at the same time as when ‘Hard Times’ was written. Utilitarianism in ’Hard Times’. "Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out nothing else." These are the sarcastic words, spoken to a classroom which consists of young children. In addition, these are also the first sentences which readers will see when they read the novel. It means that the readers are put into the utilitarian way of thinking. When reading the novel, the readers will be directly acquainted with this ideology that was so dominating during the period when the novel was written. Through the characters, the readers will receive many impressions, or experience emotions. It is believed that characters are the most important ingredients in any novel, but in this novel the characters do not only become those caracters, but they also seem to represent many things happeing in Victorian era. UTILITARIAN ASPECTS AMONG THE CHARACTERS. These are the most important characters which reflect the context of the essay : Mr. Thomas Gradgrind and Mr. Josiah Bounderby. They are the most important representatives of utilitarianism in the novel and very good followers of this system. In their opinions, facts are the only principles to live someone’s life, and to lead him forward in a society. facts must be taught to the children from their births. A very good example of this is what happens to Louisa, Mr. Gradgrind’s daughter. She is the character who can be considered as the living proof of the success of this factual system. The scene standing out clearly to the readers as a representation of the system’s ideology is the scene when Mr. Gradgrind introduces his daughter to the marriage proposal from Mr. Bounderby. That is the scene which shows the ideology. The example that we can take is the following part of their dialogue which appears very harsh. (Louisa has just asked her father if Mr. Bounderby asks her to love him, and Mr. Gradgrind says that that expression is perhaps a little misplaced) "What would you advise me to use in its stead, father? …"I would advise you (since you ask me) to consider this question, as you have been accustomed to consider every other question, simply as one of tangible Fact." And then he gives her a long impersonal speech consisting of a number of facts about different marriage statistics, and Louisa tries again: "What do you recommend, father,…that I should substitute for the term I used just now? For the misplaced expression?" "Louisa…it appears to me that nothing can be plainer. Confining yourself rigidly to Fact, the question of Fact you state to yourself is: Does Mr. Bounderby ask me to marry him? Yes, he does. The sole remaining question then is: Shall I marry him? I think nothing can be plainer than that." Thus, love is not the most essential thing in a marriage. Only the facts are important in every single situation. The decision to share one’s life with someone else for the rest of his or her life should not be different from another decision which someone will have to take in the course of his or her life. The fact of the decission whether she was to accept it or decline it is what is actually important. As a perfect example of the system she was brought up, she accepts the marriage proposal although she was not in love with her future husband. Louisa She is a character in the novel who is touched by both "worlds" - the world of facts and the world of fancy. Nevertheless, the world of facts is the most dominant thing to her. One reason that we can use to claim this is the fact that she was a grown woman before she was able to stand up to it - therefore it may have been too late for her to completely leave everything ever taught to her behind. Another reason is at the end of the novel, where one is led to believe that she was left to a destiny of not knowing about the future. She could still see the facts that were presented to her, but could not see things for herself in the future. she could not imagine anything happening to herself, but she could see things happening to other people around her. Tom Gradgrind The son, is a completely different example of this ideology. Under the roof of his parents, he, of course, does not have any choises but to oblige his parents’ wishes or commands, so that he is brought up by the same principles as his sister. On the other hand, we find out that his character is more ridiculous than serious. He is constantly being referred to the "whelp", his actions are dubious when it comes to consequences or fairness. Of course, it could be claimed that he is a perfect copy or example of utilitarianism, because every action he does is based on his self-interest, so that the consequences of his actions are determined by what he himself can get out of it. Therefore, everyone can strictly say that by letting everyone think that Steven Blackpool robbed the bank, less people were likely to get hurt than if he said that he had done it himself. Then he would have hurt his sister and his whole family. Whereas by letting people think that Blackpool did it, less people were going to get hurt – first, he was already unpopular among his people; second, he didn’t really have any family; and of course, third, he was poor. So it could be claimed that young Tom does live up to the utilitarian standards as much as anyone, perhaps even more than any of the other characters (with Mr. Bounderby as a possible exception). Mr. Gradgrind is a very interesting character to study. In the beginning he presents the image of utilitarianism by the way that he brings up his children, his way of taking over Sissy Jupe’s education, etc. These examples show a man dedicated to the world of facts. From all statements mentioned above, we can simply conclude that the novel has many things related to utilitarism.