The nineteenth century saw rapid development and reform across the country; with the industrial revolution transforming life in Britain. For working-class women, life was an endless struggle between passivity and work; as soon as they were old enough they worked on farms, in factories, or as servants to the middle classes (Lambert, 2009). For women in general, life was oppressive; constantly overshadowed by the male gender who was considered the dominant leader. In a Victorian family, the male was the head of the household; his wife and children respected him and obeyed him without question. This critical analysis of two 19th century novels - Hard Times by Charles Dickens and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, will discuss the portrayal of the two female protagonists in the context of the Victorian period and ask whether they actually portray an endless struggle for survival and survival. independence. When considering representation, the ways in which authors choose to portray their characters can have a big impact on their accessibility. A solid foundation of character is the foundation of any believable novel. It is arguable that for an allegorical novel, in which Hard Times takes on its structure, Dickens uses an unusually complex character base. The characters in Hard Times combine both the simplistic characteristics of a character developed for allegorical purposes and the concise qualities of "real" people (McLucas, 1995). These characters are portrayed to think and feel like us readers and react to their situations in the same way most of us would. These attributes are what bring characters to life and allow us to relate to their decisions. In Hard Times Charles Dickens plays Louisa Gradgrind...... middle of paper......rd Times and Brontë in Wuthering Heights represent their protagonists as struggling to overcome oppression to survive as independent women. The struggles faced by women provide similarities and contrasts with their literary counterparts. On the one hand you have Louisa, corrupted by her father and never allowed to imagine or be free; and on the other there is Catherine, corrupted by her own aspirations and social constraints. Even if Catherine manages, for a short period of time, to achieve a certain independence, she is destined to maintain her traditional role as a passive and dependent woman; thus inevitably losing in his struggles. In contrast, Louisa faces similar struggles in the fight for the survival of her inquisitive mind; but ultimately wins his battle against his "fact-loving" father and, in doing so, establishes himself as an individual..