Charles Dickens

1. Charles Dickens Feb 7, 1812 – June 9, 1870

2. Christmas Carol • First published on Dec 19, 1843 • Published during a time when Britain's were experiencing a nostalgic interest in forgotten Christmas traditions and when new customs are becoming popular • Christmas Trees • Greeting cards • Never been out of print

3. Why was Dickens motivated to write? • Dickens felt a strong need to comment on the enormous gap of the rich and poor in Victorian Britain • Economic situation in 19th Century England • More than 25% of the population was living at or below subsistence level. • 10% were very poor and could not afford even basic necessities such as enough nourishing food. • Between 15%-20% had just enough money to live on (provided they did not lose their job or take time off from illness) • The book focuses highly on the dichotomy (contrast) of the rich and the poor • Characters with wealth and characters begging on the streets are both portrayed

4. Motivation Continued • Dickens was inspired to write a Christmas story highlighting the plight of the poor as an appeal for charity from those better-off . Such charity was desperately needed during the severe economic depression of the 1840s. • Having suffered considerable hardship and poverty during his upbringing, the passionate feelings evoked in Dickens' writings by social inequalities were based on bitter experience.

5. Gender Issues • Majority of the characters in A Christmas Carol are male • Any female characters that appear in the story are minor characters at best. Each of the female characters is rather stereotypical and one-dimensional. • Example-Housewife, “delicate creature,” “exceedingly pretty” with “the sunniest pair of eyes you ever saw.”

6. Plot • Set in England in the 1800s • Begins on Christmas Eve after the death of Scrooge’s business partner, Jacob Marley • Marley appears as a tormented soul in chains and warns Scrooge about his present lifestyle. • Scrooge is visited by 3 ghosts who accompany him to various scenes with the hope of achieving his transformation

7. Organization • Broken up into five “staves” • Staves can refer to either a musical staff, verse, or stanzas • This adds additional meaning to the title, A Christmas Carol, as a carol is a festive, often religious song • Forthright structure • First stave is the exposition of the novel, setting the stage • The next three staves correspond with the three spirits that visit Scrooge • The final stave is the conclusion or resolution

8. Ebenezer Scrooge • Greedy & stingy businessman; selfish, miserable, merciless

9. Does money buy happiness?

10. Ghost of Christmas Past • Takes Scrooge to scenes of his boyhood and youth. • Stirs is gentle and tender side by reminding him of an innocent time

11. Ghost of Christmas Present • Tries to show Scrooge a sense of responsibility for his fellow man • Spirit takes him around town Christmas day to Bob Crachit’s home and his nephew’s home.

12. Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come • Takes Scrooge to his future if he doesn’t learn to act upon what he has witnessed. • Takes him to back alleys of London, revisits the Crachit’s home, and then takes him to the churchyard cemetery, where he shows Scrooge his grave

13. Theme • Actions and Consequences • The Power of One • Rebirth

14. Point of View • Majority of the novel is told in third person limited with Ebenezer Scrooge as the character through whose eyes the reader views events • We follow Scrooge the entire time, listen to his thoughts, and see what he sees • There is also an amount of first person narrative to the story • The reader is aware that the story is being told by a narrator, for her randomly interjects or jokes throughout the story. • Narrator is never explicitly revealed, although we can assume it is Dickens himself