'Hard Times' was the tenth novel by Charles Dickens. “Hard Times” is a fiction novel set in 19th century England. The novel takes place in a fictional town of industrial revelation, “Coketown”. The story follows an array of characters in events over a long period of time. “Hard Times” is recognized as an important novel of the 19th century. This essay covers the concepts that make “hard times” so important. The three concepts covered in this essay are history, ideas and feelings, and the art of the novel. This essay examines these three concepts and uses three chapters as examples. “Hard Times” by Charles Dickens can be used as a unique insight into what England was like during the Industrial Revolution. “Hard Times” uses the setting and people to create a picture of life in the 19th century. The narrator uses two main methods to illustrate the time to the reader. The way "Hard Times" shows the history of the Industrial Revolution is by describing the town of "Coketown". In chapter five of “Hard Times,” you can clearly see the period come to life. In the novel "Hard Times", the first way we are exposed to this period is through the description of "Coketown", the fictional town which is similar to that of an industrialized town in England in the 1800s. Hard Times” by Charles Dickens, at the beginning of chapter five, there are several notable examples of the description of “Coketown.” The first example is: “It was a city of red brick, or brick that would be red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it. “Charles Dickens begins to paint a portrait of the city. In this first example, we begin to see that the narrators do not like the city. The second example of describing the city is: “There was a bla...... in the middle of a paper... son, the teaching of the facts did him harm. Dickens used both of these methods to create this extraordinary novel. “Hard Times” by Charles Dickens was well balanced; it showed the story and setting, the ideas and feelings, and the art of the novel. Hard Times” by Charles Dickens can be used as a unique insight into what England was like during the Industrial Revolution. “Hard Times” uses the setting and people to create a picture of life in the 19th century. This essay will focus on factual and fanciful feelings about "hard times", as well as his views on marriage. A good chapter of the book to review these two ideas is chapter twelve of book two. Charles Dickens added his artistic touch to “Hard Times” in two important ways: first through the use of the narrator and second through the art of consequences. Overall, “Hard Times” was an important, innovative and insightful work..