In Hard Times Dickens provides an insight into the Victorian world. He takes on the role of a social commentator, criticizes the industrialization of England and reveals among the most urgent issues of the time the mechanization of human beings, social inequality, extinction of fancy as a consequence of industrialization, and the unjust position of women. He depicts a time suffused with advancement and change in every aspect of life and exposes the downsides of such a prosperous era. The fictional city of Coketown is represented as a mirror, reflecting 19th century England. Due to industrialization and factories everything ultimately becomes mechanized. Reason takes over the heart, consequently destroying all that is natural, leaving its victims empty inside. Dickenss Coketown inhabitants know of nothing more than labor and their worldview is based purely on facts. Within an avid industrial society, money is the initiator, which results in all spheres of life revolving around it. Capitalism is a double-edged sword for it both improves and wrecks the society. Precisely this cognition is central in Hard Times, where Dickens, by means of juxtaposing his upper and working class characters unveils its disadvantages. He wants to put a stop to the extinction of fancy and urges his fellowmen to hold on to their humanity. The novels message is a warning, for if we chase only after the materialistic in life, and allow it to suppress our joy and imagination, in the end, we are no better than the industrial tools, just a bunch of machines.