Charles Dickens – Hard Times – Important MCQs (UGC NET / SET / PGTRB)

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Description: Practice 50 exam-oriented MCQs on Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times. Useful for UGC NET, SET, and PGTRB exams. Each question has a “Show Answer” button.

Charles Dickens – “Hard Times” – Exam Based MCQs

1. Hard Times is a novel written by: (UGC NET)

A) Thomas Hardy

B) George Eliot

C) Charles Dickens

D) Elizabeth Gaskell

Ans: C) Charles Dickens

2. The setting of Hard Times is mainly the industrial town of: (SET)

A) Coketown

B) Wessex

C) Middlemarch

D) Thornfield

Ans: A) Coketown

3. Hard Times strongly critiques the philosophy of: (PGTRB)

A) Romanticism

B) Existentialism

C) Symbolism

D) Utilitarianism

Ans: D) Utilitarianism

4. Thomas Gradgrind is best known for insisting on: (UGC NET)

A) Poetry and imagination

B) Facts and only facts

C) Religious faith

D) Military discipline

Ans: B) Facts and only facts

5. The novel is divided into three parts titled: (SET)

A) Sowing, Reaping, Garnering

B) Birth, Life, Death

C) Childhood, Youth, Age

D) Past, Present, Future

Ans: A) Sowing, Reaping, Garnering

6. Louisa Gradgrind is: (PGTRB)

A) A circus performer

B) A factory owner

C) A school teacher

D) Gradgrind’s daughter

Ans: D) Gradgrind’s daughter

7. The character who represents imagination and kindness is: (UGC NET)

A) Bounderby

B) Bitzer

C) Sissy Jupe

D) Slackbridge

Ans: C) Sissy Jupe

8. Josiah Bounderby is primarily a: (SET)

A) Self-made factory owner (claims so)

B) Poor weaver

C) Circus clown

D) University professor

Ans: A) Self-made factory owner (claims so)

9. The novel was written during the: (PGTRB)

A) Elizabethan age

B) Victorian age

C) Modernist age

D) Restoration age

Ans: B) Victorian age

10. The industrial town is described with imagery of: (UGC NET)

A) Green fields and lakes

B) Romantic mountains

C) Ancient temples

D) Smoke, soot, and machinery

Ans: D) Smoke, soot, and machinery

11. Stephen Blackpool is portrayed mainly as: (SET)

A) An honest factory worker

B) A rich landlord

C) A circus manager

D) A corrupt politician

Ans: A) An honest factory worker

12. The character who becomes a model pupil of “Facts” is: (UGC NET)

A) Sleary

B) Sissy Jupe

C) Bitzer

D) Rachael

Ans: C) Bitzer

13. Dickens criticizes the education system because it: (PGTRB)

A) Encourages art

B) Encourages music

C) Encourages theatre

D) Crushes imagination with rigid “facts”

Ans: D) Crushes imagination with rigid “facts”

14. Who runs the circus in the novel? (SET)

A) Bounderby

B) Mr. Sleary

C) Gradgrind

D) Harthouse

Ans: B) Mr. Sleary

15. James Harthouse is best described as: (UGC NET)

A) A circus horse rider

B) A union leader

C) A wealthy, bored gentleman who tempts Louisa

D) A factory worker

Ans: C) A wealthy, bored gentleman who tempts Louisa

16. Bounderby’s “self-made” story is later exposed as: (PGTRB)

A) False/exaggerated

B) Completely true

C) A circus joke

D) A religious parable

Ans: A) False/exaggerated

17. The novel critiques industrial capitalism mainly through: (SET)

A) Pastoral scenes only

B) Mythical stories

C) Romantic poems

D) Depiction of factory life and class conflict

Ans: D) Depiction of factory life and class conflict

18. The character who represents trade union rhetoric (often satirized) is: (UGC NET)

A) Bitzer

B) Slackbridge

C) Sleary

D) Gradgrind

Ans: B) Slackbridge

19. Rachael in the novel is: (PGTRB)

A) A factory owner

B) A circus rider

C) Stephen Blackpool’s loyal friend

D) Bounderby’s mother

Ans: C) Stephen Blackpool’s loyal friend

20. The main symbol of imagination and humanity in Hard Times is: (SET)

A) The circus

B) The bank

C) The prison

D) The factory

Ans: A) The circus

21. Louisa’s marriage to Bounderby is mainly based on: (UGC NET)

A) Romantic love

B) Religious faith

C) Artistic passion

D) Gradgrind’s “rational” calculation

Ans: D) Gradgrind’s “rational” calculation

22. The phrase “Facts, facts, facts” reflects the ideology of: (SET)

A) Romanticism

B) Gradgrind’s utilitarian education

C) Symbolism

D) Gothic imagination

Ans: B) Gradgrind’s utilitarian education

23. Dickens uses satire in Hard Times to attack: (PGTRB)

A) Dehumanizing social and economic systems

B) Classical poetry only

C) Medieval chivalry

D) Nature worship

Ans: A) Dehumanizing social and economic systems

24. Tom Gradgrind is: (UGC NET)

A) Sissy’s father

B) A circus owner

C) A factory inspector

D) Louisa’s brother

Ans: D) Louisa’s brother

25. Tom Gradgrind’s actions contribute to: (SET)

A) Stephen’s promotion

B) Circus success

C) The bank robbery and Stephen’s misfortune

D) Louisa’s happiness in marriage

Ans: C) The bank robbery and Stephen’s misfortune

26. Stephen Blackpool’s major personal problem is: (PGTRB)

A) He has an immoral, alcoholic wife and cannot divorce easily

B) He inherits a fortune

C) He becomes a factory owner

D) He joins the circus

Ans: A) He has an immoral, alcoholic wife and cannot divorce easily

27. The novel’s title Hard Times mainly suggests: (UGC NET)

A) Easy prosperity

B) Fairy-tale happiness

C) Romantic adventure

D) Harsh social and economic conditions of industrial life

Ans: D) Harsh social and economic conditions of industrial life

28. The character who hides Tom after the robbery is: (SET)

A) Slackbridge

B) Mr. Sleary

C) Bitzer

D) Bounderby

Ans: B) Mr. Sleary

29. Bitzer represents: (PGTRB)

A) Warm human sympathy

B) Romantic imagination

C) Cold self-interest shaped by “Fact” education

D) Union solidarity

Ans: C) Cold self-interest shaped by “Fact” education

30. Bounderby marries: (UGC NET)

A) Louisa Gradgrind

B) Sissy Jupe

C) Rachael

D) Mrs. Sparsit

Ans: A) Louisa Gradgrind

31. Mrs. Sparsit is associated with: (SET)

A) Circus compassion

B) Factory labor

C) Union speeches

D) Pride, spying, and moral judgment

Ans: D) Pride, spying, and moral judgment

32. Dickens’ chief purpose in Hard Times is to: (PGTRB)

A) Praise industrial capitalism

B) Expose social injustices of industrialism

C) Write a purely romantic story

D) Promote medieval feudalism

Ans: B) Expose social injustices of industrialism

33. The novel was originally published in: (UGC NET)

A) Serial form in a magazine

B) Only as a stage play

C) Only as a poem

D) Only as a private letter

Ans: A) Serial form in a magazine

34. The “Hands” in Hard Times refers to: (SET)

A) Artists and painters

B) Soldiers

C) Factory workers

D) Government officers

Ans: C) Factory workers

35. The term “Coketown” symbolizes: (PGTRB)

A) Ideal nature life

B) A romantic paradise

C) Medieval peace

D) The dehumanized industrial city

Ans: D) The dehumanized industrial city

36. Louisa’s emotional crisis shows the failure of: (UGC NET)

A) Circus life

B) Fact-based upbringing without imagination

C) Romantic poetry

D) Religious faith only

Ans: B) Fact-based upbringing without imagination

37. The novel ends with emphasis on: (SET)

A) Compassion and imagination as necessary for life

B) Pure utilitarian success

C) Bounderby’s victory

D) Tom becoming a hero politician

Ans: A) Compassion and imagination as necessary for life

38. The character who attempts to arrest Tom and represents law-like self-interest is: (PGTRB)

A) Harthouse

B) Sleary

C) Stephen

D) Bitzer

Ans: D) Bitzer

39. Sissy Jupe’s background is from: (UGC NET)

A) Aristocracy

B) Factory ownership

C) The circus

D) University scholarship

Ans: C) The circus

40. Dickens uses Hard Times mainly as a: (SET)

A) Mythological epic

B) Social protest novel

C) Detective thriller only

D) Travel diary

Ans: B) Social protest novel

41. The central conflict of the novel is between: (PGTRB)

A) Myth and legend

B) Poetry and rhyme

C) Nature and travel

D) Fact (utilitarianism) and imagination (humanity)

Ans: D) Fact (utilitarianism) and imagination (humanity)

42. The character who is falsely suspected for the bank robbery is: (UGC NET)

A) Stephen Blackpool

B) Bounderby

C) Sleary

D) Harthouse

Ans: A) Stephen Blackpool

43. Mrs. Pegler is revealed to be: (SET)

A) Louisa’s aunt

B) Sissy’s mother

C) Bounderby’s mother

D) Bitzer’s teacher

Ans: C) Bounderby’s mother

44. Dickens’ portrayal of Bounderby is mainly: (UGC NET)

A) Tragic hero

B) Satirical caricature of selfish industrialist

C) Pure romantic hero

D) Religious saint

Ans: B) Satirical caricature of selfish industrialist

45. The moral message of Hard Times emphasizes the need for: (PGTRB)

A) Only facts

B) Only profit

C) Only strict discipline

D) Compassion, imagination, and human feeling

Ans: D) Compassion, imagination, and human feeling

46. Dickens uses the circus to symbolize: (SET)

A) Joy, creativity, and humanity

B) Industrial machinery

C) Political power

D) Strict utilitarian education

Ans: A) Joy, creativity, and humanity

47. Which theme is central to Hard Times? (UGC NET)

A) Chivalry and romance

B) Myth and legend

C) Industrial exploitation and social injustice

D) Colonial travel adventure

Ans: C) Industrial exploitation and social injustice

48. The novel suggests that education without imagination produces: (PGTRB)

A) Great poets

B) Emotionally stunted individuals

C) Perfect happiness

D) Pure democracy

Ans: B) Emotionally stunted individuals

49. Dickens’ narrative method in Hard Times relies heavily on: (SET)

A) Only stream of consciousness

B) Pure symbolism only

C) Minimal description

D) Satire, irony, and vivid imagery

Ans: D) Satire, irony, and vivid imagery

50. The overall message of Hard Times is best captured by: (UGC NET)

A) Human values must balance facts, industry, and imagination

B) Facts alone can solve all problems

C) Industry always produces happiness

D) Imagination is useless in modern life

Ans: A) Human values must balance facts, industry, and imagination