Drudgery existed well before industrial capitalism—harvesting wheat, chopping wood, shoveling stables, and on and on. But preindustrial life moved in more seasonal rhythms and featured more variety in tasks—sowing in the spring, reaping in the fall, hunkering down in the winter. Whereas in the factory, the worker found himself now doing the same single thing day in and day out, no matter the season, all day and all year long.
