 Chapter Sixteen: Husband and Wife
The concluding chapter of Book One unites Louisa Gradgrind and Mr. Josiah Bounderby in marriage. Bounderby's first task before the marriage was to inform Mrs. Sparsit. She is offered the option of continuing in the household but she decides that such an arrangement would be improper and Bounderby makes finer arrangements for her elsewhere. He expected that Mrs. Sparsit would be overcome by shock and might pass out but she is hardly surprised and in fact, there is a hint of condescension in her tone. Bounderby assures her that her new position elsewhere will not result in a further fall in societal position.
The eight weeks between the proposal and the wedding are hardly romantic and are entirely fact-based. It is more of a business transaction than anything else. The wedding ceremony is adequately dry and Bounderby makes a long-winded speech. He is very honored to be married to the daughter of as fine a man as Mr. Gradgrind, who is after all, a member of Parliament. He offers best wishes that every man may find a wife as good as his and that every woman may find a husband as good as him. After the wedding, the Bounderbys are due for a honeymoon in "Lyons." Tom sees his sister off and in his happiness‹for his position at the bank is certainly secured now‹he is unable to detect her disappointment.
Analysis:
If this chapter confirms what we have learned from the stories of Mrs. Sparsit and also Stephen Blackpool it is an argument of social commentary: the politics of the social scale are mediated more by marriage than by any other one thing. This also presents an interesting contrast between Mrs. Sparsit and Mr. Bounderby. Her fake show of sympathy foreshadows the eventual unhappiness of the marriage. Who exactly is the "victim?" As Book I ends, we are left to compare the "jolly" state of Bounderby and the more "desperate" condition of Blackpool.
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