pg. 225-226

He was touched in the cavity where his heart should have been - in that nest of addled eggs, where the birds of Heaven would have lived if they had not been whistled away – by the fervor of this reproach.  “I am not a moral sort of fellow,” he said, “and I never make any pretensions to the character of a moral sort of fellow.  I am as immoral as need be.  At the same time, in bringing any distress upon the lady who is the subject of the present conversation, or in unfortunately compromising her in any way, or in committing myself by any expression of sentiments towards her… I beg to be allowed to assure you that I have had no particularly evil intentions, but have glided on from one step to another with a smoothness so perfectly diabolical, that I had not the slightest idea the catalogue was half so long until I began to turn it over…

James Harthouse lives his life as he wishes it to be, not as society dictates.  He can afford to, and as such he views politics as a pastime and seducing married women a sport.  Dickens conveys this message by expressing that Sissy’s plea for Harthouse to leave Coketown, and Louisa, behind “touched the cavity where his heart should have been”, not his heart.  Harthouse is so accomplished at leaving his own emotions out of his affairs that it seems he has forgotten that other people still can, and do, feel emotion. He is not a malicious person, merely one who is bored and has money, power, and nothing to do. He admits that he did not release the extent to which Louisa had buried her emotions, and how he sees that bringing them to the surface caused her distress. While Harthouse “glided” down Ms. Sparsit’s staircase unscathed, Louisa tumbled to the bottom and landed in “a senseless heap”.  It was not his intent to cause Louisa pain, but at the same time the only reason he feels any remorse and reflects on his actions is because of his shock at Sissy calling him out.

Laura Bingham