London: an important choice of setting
London changed hugely in the Victorian period due to the Industrial Revolution. Large numbers of people moved to the city for work – low paid work, with little safety or rights in factories and other low level employment. Living conditions were terrible – overcrowded and insanitary, dark and dirty and often dangerous – Dickens describes London authentically, as it really was for the majority of people who lived there to show the realities of poverty in the city.
Dickens’ Audience:
Many poor people would not have been able to read because education was not yet a right for all and was expensive. Children were employed in physical work such down coal mines, in factories or as chimney sweeps; the novella was then aimed very much at middle to upper classes because Dickens wanted to change their ideas about the poor and about how to live their lives. He was going to write a political essay to change people’s views but instead wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ because he knew that a story that was emotive would have more impact on his readers.
Religion
Christianity was an important part of life in Victorian England – it gave people a moral purpose and set of rule and standards to live by which is why there is an undercurrent of hypocrisy in the treatment of the poor. People were afraid of the idea of ‘going to hell’ in death so fear governed their desire to live life ‘correctly’ in line with their religious beliefs.
Christmas
Christmas was not commonly celebrated as we celebrate it today. Much of what we now do to celebrate Christmas began in the Victorian period – and in the pages of ‘A Christmas Carol’. However, Christmas has always been known as a time to be generous and more benevolent than one would usually be – a time when humanity should unite and help each other whether rich or poor – rather than carry on with business as isolated individuals. At the start of the novella Scrooge sees Christmas only in monetary terms – that he will lose a day’s business and have to pay Bob Cratchit anyway. Eventually the Christmas Spirit is powerful enough to transform Scrooge and Dickens’ message is that Christmas spirit (being benevolent to others less fortunate than ourselves) should apply all year round. Christmas and Christianity also go hand in hand. The values that are associated with Christmas (kindness, forgiveness, charity) are all part of Christianity, Dickens though helping others should be a part of people’s faith. However, lots of the celebrations involved in Christmas e.g. Cratchits, Fezziwig and Fred’s party are not religious but are just about having fun and appreciating family and friendship.
Family
Family is a key theme in the festive novella, Scrooge’s preoccupation with money has led to his loneliness and isolation – he is clearly prioritising the wrong things in life as shown in the scene when Belle breaks up with him. The opposite to Scrooge’s choices is shown in the Cratchit’s who are happy and extremely grateful for the little they have because they cherish each other so much they find their happiness in being together rather than material wealth. Likewise Fred represents that you can be wealthy but still care about others and prioritise family.
Education
Dickens believed Education was the solution to poverty. Dickens uses the child Ignorance to show how the poor are doomed to a life of Want by a lack of education – their only refuge is prison or the workhouse. The characters Ignorance and Want are described in a deliberately shocking way and are deliberately frightening to highlight that things need to change.
Poverty/ Malthus and the Poor Law:
Malthus said that the population was growing too quickly and that the world could not cope with as many people as there were because resources would deplete and then run our altogether. Malthus believed poverty was the inevitable result of overpopulation because the worst off in society would get less and less. Dickens disagreed with Malthus and believed there was enough food to go around but only if the rich were more generous.
The Poor Law was the creation of the Workhouse – that anyone not in work/ on the streets could go to the work house but they would be treated terribly, worked very hard, fed very little and live in horrible conditions separated from their family – as it was supposed to be a deterrent. There was a lack of understanding about what caused poverty – people believed the poor were lazy and they didn’t want to sacrifice their own wealth to help the poor.
At first, Scrooge only cares about himself and is emblematic of the rich in Victorian society. He believes taxes pay for prisons and workhouses and he shouldn’t be expected to support people beyond that. He exploits Bob Cratchit – paying him a low wage and making him work in freezing conditions. Scrooge is afraid of being poor himself as he tells Belle – which has made him selfish towards those in need.
Dickens uses the Cratchit’s to show what living in poverty can be like. They are deliberately cheerful, grateful and hardworking to discredit the view of the poor as lazy. However the seedier side of poverty is also shown in Joe’s shop to show the horrible conditions of 19th Century London.
Supernatural:
Victorians were fascinated with the supernatural and ghost stories were extremely popular as the Victorians not only believed in ghosts but were also hugely entertained by the concept of the supernatural – Dickens taps into this interest to encourage his readers to engage with his ideas. Each of the ghosts symbolise something specific for Dickens Christmas past = the shifting nature of memories and how we are shaped by what we have experienced – Present = plenty but hiding the darker side of poverty (hiding ignorance and want under his robe) and Christmas yet to Come = our worst fears for the future and death/ how we will be judged in the end.
Dickens’ life
Dickens was born into a family of 8 children and was not well off as a child. His dad was sent to prison for debts unpaid and Dickens was sent to the work house – these experiences gave him an understanding and sympathy for the poor which is evidenced in A Christmas Carol. He would often walk the streets of London at night and so many of his scenes are inspired by the realities of life in London during the Victorian era, he was very concerned about societies treatment of the poor and felt they were ignored by society or treated and judged cruelly and unfairly.
Literary style
A key feature of Victorian writing – and Dickens in particular is an omniscient narrator – someone who tells the story from an all seeing all knowing perspective. The narrator can see inside the thoughts of the characters and pass on their own opinion as well – which is often seen by Dickens’ direct address to the reader. Likewise the tale of redemption and the moral in the tale is another feature of Victorian literature – seeing a main character change and develop as a lesson to us all that we can change too.
Now get the basics down and apply them to key moments in the novella – find TWO-THREE moments where the context seems pertinent.
Miss Huttlestone's GCSE English 