The daughter of a circus performer, Sissy's background is of the lowest quality, but her imagination and her heart are of the highest, thanks to her father's care when she was little. This father does desert her when she is still a young girl, leaving her to be adopted by the Gradgrinds, but his education has made its mark on her, and nothing Mr. Gradgrind can try to teach her will undo it. She becomes the guardian and the savior of the Gradgrind family: when Louisa nearly succumbs to Harthouse's proposal and when Tom is nearly arrested, Sissy saves the day, saving their lives and their hearts.
Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe Quotes in Hard Times
The Hard Times quotes below are all either spoken by Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe or refer to Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Dover Publications edition of Hard Times published in 2001.
Book 1, Chapter 6
Quotes
‘O my dear father, my good kind father, where are you gone? You are gone to try to do me some good, I know! You are gone away for my sake, I am sure! And how miserable and helpless you will be without me, poor, poor father, until you come back!'
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Book 3, Chapter 1
Quotes
In the innocence of her brave affection, and the brimming up of her old devoted spirit, the once deserted girl shone like a beautiful light upon the darkness of the other.
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Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe Character Timeline in Hard Times
The timeline below shows where the character Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe appears in Hard Times. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1, Chapter 2
...Gradgrind calls upon, whom he calls "girl number twenty" but who is actually named Cecilia "Sissy" Jupe, is unable to define a horse for him and is humiliated by him in...
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Sissy goes on to make a number of similar innocent mistakes when called upon, but mistakes...
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Book 1, Chapter 4
...to Bounderby. The two men discuss what ought to be done, and Bounderby, discovering that Sissy Jupe (whose father is involved in the circus) goes to the same school as Louisa,...
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Book 1, Chapter 5
On their way to the Jupes' home, Gradgrind and Bounderby collide with Sissy Jupe and Bitzer; Gradgrind finds, to his chagrin, that his star pupil was mean-spiritedly chasing...
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Book 1, Chapter 6
Sissy leads Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby into the pub, called the Pegasus's Arms, where she,...
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The circus people reveal that Sissy's father, Signore Jupe, had not been performing very well lately and that he in fact...
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Sissy returns in tears upon discovering her father's desertion, and accepts Mr. Gradgrind's offer to take...
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Book 1, Chapter 7
...As the two breakfast, Bounderby expresses his disapproval of Louisa associating with the likes of Sissy. Mrs. Sparsit, though she out loud agrees with Bounderby's assertions, often makes funny facial expressions...
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Mr. Gradgrind, Louisa, and Sissy enter the room. Upon questioning, Sissy lets slip that she and her father read many...
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Book 1, Chapter 9
After a lot of time spent with Mr. Gradgrind's education of facts, Sissy hasn't made much "progress." One night she falls into conversation with Louisa, and bemoans how...
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Their conversation turns to Sissy's parents, and Sissy reveals her mother was a dancer and her father was a clown,...
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Book 1, Chapter 14
Louisa and Sissy have grown into young women, and Tom is now a young man, apprenticed to Bounderby....
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Book 1, Chapter 15
...Taking her downstairs, Mr. Gradgrind announces the news of the betrothal to his wife and Sissy. Louisa sees the look of shock, sorrow, and pity on Sissy's face. From then on,...
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Book 2, Chapter 9
...she finds that her mother and her younger sister, Jane, rely very much on kind Sissy. She notices with resentment that Jane is a happier, more sympathetic girl than Louisa ever...
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Book 3, Chapter 1
Mr. Gradgrind leaves her to rest, and Sissy comes in. Louisa immediately is filled with anger and resentment at the presence of this...
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Book 3, Chapter 2
...it must be Louisa. He is surprised and confused when it turns out to be Sissy, who tells him, respectfully but firmly, that she has come on Louisa's behalf but without...
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Book 3, Chapter 4
Louisa is at Stone Lodge with Sissy when Mr. Bounderby, Tom, and Rachael call on them. This is no courtesy call: Rachael...
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...that an innocent man would be falsely charged with a crime, which causes Louisa and Sissy to share a glance: each of them believes Tom is actually the robber. Stephen, however,...
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Book 3, Chapter 5
Stephen still doesn't come. Sissy begins to visit Rachael in her home every day, trying to soothe Rachael's sadness about...
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Meanwhile, Louisa and Sissy both suspect in their hearts that Tom was the bank robber. He has become Mr....
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Book 3, Chapter 6
Sissy and Rachael have gone to the country to spend some quiet time, and as they...
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Book 3, Chapter 7
Tom, however, has mysteriously disappeared. As Stephen gave his last instructions to Mr. Gradgrind, Sissy whispered something in Tom's ear, and he vanished before anyone present at Stephen's rescue could...
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...to anyone, and emerges looking much older and having realized that Tom is the robber. Sissy then reveals that to save Tom from prison she told him to hide with Mr....
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Book 3, Chapter 8
...use his carriage to take Tom back to Coketown. Louisa and Gradgrind are dismayed, but Sissy recognizes that Sleary, in fact, has a plan to free Tom. Sleary reveals quietly to...
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...let people visit the circus the next time it's near Coketown. Sleary then reveals that Sissy's father's dog recently made its way back to the circus, which must mean that he...
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Book 3, Chapter 9
...back to town. Louisa grows gentler and humbler and finds joy in helping care for Sissy's children. Tom dies far from home, having written of his repentance to his sister, but...
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