The Joy of Christmas Model Essay – ‘ACC’ Grade 9

How does Dickens present the importance/joy of Christmas?

Within Dickens’ festive, allegorical novella, Christmas is presented as the
driving force behind an altruistic and benevolent society. Dickens may be doing
this to draw his audience back to the moral foundations of religion and
festivity, in order to facilitate a sense of collectivism.

Firstly, Christmas is presented as being tainted by Malthusian views. This is
evident when Scrooge questions “what reason do you have to be merry?
You’re poor enough”. The business-centric capitalist ideas of Industrial Britain
have polluted the virtues associated with Christmas. Scrooge sees it as a
distraction from his profit making. Dickens is emphasising that the focus of
Christmas has strayed too far away from the core foundations it was built on:
empathy, joy and community. Scrooge, as a caricature of greed, serves to
represent the prevalent view of Christmas as a profit-making opportunity. The
fact that Scrooge believes money correlated to happiness is ironic as despite
being fortunate, “the cold within him froze his old features”. Scrooge is
portrayed as the complete antithesis to the happiness imbued in Christmas.
Dickens is attempting to educate his audience in the futility of the pursuit of
greed. At a time where poverty is most visible, the Cratchits are significantly
more joyful than the miserly Scrooge.

However, Christmas is also portrayed as being a universal source of joy which
when embraces brings fulfilment and a warming sense of community. This is
evident when “such a bustle ensued” in the Cratchits home for the “feathered
phenomenon”. The use of the noun “bustle” connotes atmosphere and
community. Dickens is highlighting that Christmas has the power to unite and
is reinforcing the ubiquitous joy that the Cratchits hold for it. However, theirs is
a subtle juxtaposition between nods to their joy and nods to their ever-present
poverty. The fact that it is a “phenomenon” emphasises rarity and significance.
Although this could be portrayed as emphasising their overwhelming gratitude,
it could also be see as a clear show of their lack. However, no matter how little
they have, they have the capability to embrace Christmas and its happiness.
Dickens is emphasising that the dual power of Christmas and family is
indomitable. This is further reinforced, when despite their possessions being
“threadbare” they are still “as good as gold”. They place value on family and
love, not material gain. They see Christmas as a time for festivity, not as a show
of material wealth. Dickens may be doing this to reinforce the value of
Christmas as religious. “A Christmas Carol” is a Christian morality tale. The

Cratchits embrace the true value and disregard anything that could dampen
their spirit. Furthermore, Christmas is presented as catalysing the transformation of a
seemingly intransigent Scrooge. By the close of the novella, Scrooge has gone
to “church” and is “happy as an angel”. The use of the positive simile here is in
direct antithesis to the “sharp as flint” simile utilised in Stave 1. Dickens may
be doing this to parallel the misanthropic Scrooge with the moral and
reformed Scrooge. This emphasises how Christmas and therefore Christianity
has the power to provide salvation for anyone who embraces its values.
Furthermore, the repeated use of the religious noun “angel” suggests a sense
of purity, as if Scrooge has been reborn. The Christmas Spirit has been
revitalised within Scrooge and his childish innocence has been restored where
he can enjoy Christmas untainted, Dickens may be doing this to highlight to his
audience that wider change starts with simple foundations such as embracing
the Christmas spirit. Christmas acts as an outlet for Scrooge to express the
repressed emotion from his childhood. This is further reinforced when Scrooge
was “as merry as a schoolboy”. Again, the reference to this innocence
reinforces the power of Christmas as a relief from the horror of the world.
However, subtly, Christmas is used to expose the depth of change that is
required. Scrooge is an archetypal miser of Industrial Britain and although
thinks “I’ll send it to Bob Cratchits” this does not remedy the resounding
remained of suffering still rife throughout Britain, just because Scrooge has
made an outstanding transformation, this does not account for the rest of
society. Christmas allows Scrooge to try and remedy his behaviour, but does
not guarantee universal change.

In conclusion, the Christmas spirit epitomises what it means to be both
altruistic and moral in a world of overwhelming ignorance and provides a
ubiquitous joy which all can embrace.

With many thanks to CRC year 11 2023-2024

The significance of female characters within ‘An Inspector Calls’

Another wonderful guest post by one of my year 10s!

Throughout the entirety of ‘An Inspector Calls’, themes of misogyny and discrimination against women are alive within the presentation of every character: from the audience’s introduction to Sheila in Act 1 to the close of the play in Act 3, she is portrayed as an example of society’s stereotypes of women in 1912. Within the opening stage directions, Sheila’s character is reduced to a ‘pretty girl’, no more than a product of societal stereotypes and expectations. The infantilising noun ‘girl’ directly opposes the description of The Inspector, who instantly creates an ‘impression of massiveness’ upon his entry to the play. This perhaps symbolises the lack of voice women had in 1912; the absence of Eva Smith on the stage further reinforces the idea that women were powerless and their opinions disregarded as inferior and insignificant.

As the play progresses, the audience learn to understand that Mrs Birling is the most vocal in forcing Sheila to subscribe to the negative attitudes towards women. As well as frequently belittling and infantilising Sheila, Mrs Birling dehumanises her daughter into no more than an object who is valued for her physical appearance. This further demonstrates that internalised misogyny is deeply rooted within the infrastructure of society, and continues to be a reminder that many women were victims of the exploitation caused by highly privileged and influential men in the upper class.

Whereas, Priestley utilises the men in the play to represent the embodiment of power and privilege, he uses the female characters to reveal the hardships that women had to face living in a patriarchal society. Eva Smith is considered to have had ‘far too much’ to say, which represents the voicelessness of women in society, and the expectations of women to be silent and submissive in order to appeal to the male gaze.

It soon becomes clear to the modern audience that the above conditions for women were normalised within Edwardian Britain, as Eva Smith is also referred to as ‘pretty’ later on in the play. The repetition of this demeaning adjective further represents the normalisation of societal expectations and double standards all women faced in 1912 (irrespective of social class). Women were expected to be passive and subservient; their purpose was to please men and remain inferior in society. If they failed to meet this status quo, women, particularly the lower class, faced the risks of marginalisation and alienation. 

With thanks to EC year 10 2022.

The Motif of Alcohol in ‘An Inspector Calls’

Alcohol is a widespread motif in ‘An Inspector Calls’, and one that has deep roots in myopia and hypocrisy. Though this may seem obvious, with various descriptions of Eric overindulging in ‘port’ in order to convey his true thoughts and attempt to build up myopia to his family’s wrongdoings, there is also a more subtle hint of this when you look at the various conversations about alcohol and their significance in the rest of story.

The first sentence spoken in the play is: “Giving us the port, Edna? That’s right.( he pushes it towards Eric.) you ought to like this port” and is spoken by Mr Birling. The imperative “ought” suggests forcefulness, that this’ port’ is being forced into Eric’s mouth by Mr Birling in order to impress Gerald so that the Birling family can move up in class, rank and further distance themselves from the lower classes. This highlights Eric’s downfall: he drinks is to forget and the reason he wants to forget is because of the drink (and what it, in part, led to with Eva). It’s an endless cycle which cannot be broken, quite like the structure of this play, and the place the circle started with was with the Birlings, and the place it must end is with the Birlings.

Another way alcohol is used is by Mr Birling, who openly indulges in ‘port’, yet hypocritically calls German officers “Drunk” and thus invalidates their claims about starting wars all because they also engage in drinking. Priestley does this to further criminalise the upper classes by presenting them as having false morals. As a modern audience, we can relate to the hypocrisy of this statement as many rich figures indulge in acts that if they were of the working class, they would be criminalised and hated for. Big companies such as Amazon evade tax yet they haven’t been arrested, many celebrities actively do drugs and are still seen as icons yet if a homeless man does drugs they are seen as a plague to society.

An audience in 1945 would recognise the hypocrisy as well, because of prohibition era America, where alcohol was illegal yet their was a bar in the white house and the American government purposely poisoned moonshine and caused their citizens to die because of it, yet still indulged in it themselves.

Thank you AM! Year 10 2022 – I agree that alcohol is a prominent motif, that is seen front-and-centre on stage. Eric is rarely without a glass in his hand; Birling offers multiple people drinks, imploring his wife to ‘take some’. Alcohol catalyses myopia and leads to greater abuses of the vulnerable working classes.

The role of femininity and masculinity in ‘An Inspector Calls’

A wonderful guest post from VC: year 10 2022

In ‘An Inspector Calls’, Priestley depicts society in 1912 as misogynistic, capitalism-ruled and segregated. The role of femininity and masculinity play a huge role in this depiction and is illuminated especially in Gerald’s characterisation. When recalling his meeting with Daisy Renton he remembers how he ‘told the girl … she’d better let me take her out of there.’ In act 2, Gerald constantly makes remarks about how empowered he felt in his rescue of Daisy ( ‘I went across’). This is a direct contrast of Sheila’s repetition of the personal pronoun ‘I’. Instead, she uses it in a way of expressing remorse, guilt and acceptance of her mistakes. Further on page 35, Birling seems shocked at the idea that Sheila had at some point slipped through his protective grasp outside of the domestic sphere and has been exposed to the stories of ‘Alderman Meggarty‘. She remarks that her friend ‘only escaped with a torn blouse’ which blatantly suggests that Meggarty is known for being a womanizer (he is afterall, an embodiment of the very worst of The Establishment’s hypocrisy).

Gerald, in my opinion. also represents the worst that Edwardian society had to offer and purposefully stays silent for a large amount of the interrogations, perhaps because he knows what is to come and how he’ll have to be in the spotlight, and admit to his affair with Daisy Renton. He may well have been fabricating a story that makes it appear more like he ‘rescues’ Daisy and not offers her a glimpse of a lifestyle she may have enjoyed permanently had she had been the lucky one. This of course relates back to Sheila being the ‘luckier of two Eva Smiths’. Gerald embodies the ills of the patriarchy and could be viewed as a traitor to the higher classes when he villainises Alderman Meggarty for being a sexual predator. The ironic fact is that Gerald is guilty of the same crime only he had been more subtle and sly about how he went about it.

The Birlings’ are of course shocked at this revelation and rare criminalisation of the higher classes which inevitably completely botches their sense of morality at Alderman Meggarty’s mercenary, exploitative act. Finally, Gerald embodies a younger generation’s version of Alderman Meggarty when he makes the statement,‘young and fresh’, when recalling his first impressions of Daisy. These dismissive, derogatory adjectives are a pure microcosm of his desire for his women to be ‘untainted’ and virginal. There’s a huge possibly that the only reason Daisy Renton held any value for him is because she is ‘unspoiled’ by other men and her virginity was intact.

‘Hot Ideas’ for ‘An Inspector Calls’ Take 2!

When my wonderful year 10s read Sheila’s interrogation today, they had something to say about Mr and Mrs Birling’s very TELLING absence from stage. For the first time (probably), Sheila finds her voice. She admits her shortcomings, is accountable for the sins of jealousy and wrath, and most importantly, accepts responsibility for her part in Eva’s demise. The face that her parents are not there to witness this moral growth, to applaud her evolution, implies that they want her to remain stagnant too. Change for them equates to forfeiting their power. Their time off stage also reminds audiences of the gulf between the older and the younger generations.

A student mentioned this and I ADORED the level of analysis here! Although the suggestion that it is an acronym for ‘Gentlemen only; ladies forbidden; is not historically accurate, the idea that the world of competitive sport was historical a man’s world, has some validity. The Inspector does not subscribe to exclusive clubs, nor will he be distracted from his ‘duty’.

Eva’s absence on stage: a purposeful sense of lack. Eva’s story and voice can only be communicated through the Inspector who acts as her interpreter, her advocate. Without The Inspector, her story would be lost like so many other ‘Eva Smiths and John Smiths’. Eva’s LACK of stage presence is the point!

I had never thought of this before when considering the tricolon given to The Inspector in his introductory stage directions. The ‘Hot Idea’ card speaks for itself here. Socialism is intrinsic in everything about the Inspector, right down to the connotations of the words (as above).

Thank you year 10. Keep thinking up fresh ideas and I will keep posting them!

-Miss Huttlestone

‘HOT IDEAS’ in ‘An Inspector Calls’ from 10×1

Birling is an influential figure in his community. After all, he makes it abundantly clear he has influence (‘I was an alderman for years and Lord Mayor…’) He should be utilising this influence to make positive change!

Birling’s so-called utopia of ‘lower costs and higher prices’, of rampant consumerism and individualism, benefits those at the top of the social hierarchy. What he ignorantly forgets, is that his idealised vision (of capitalism and competition) relies on the working classes whose labour is essential to production. He is a bee in a ‘hive’ and needs the workers!

Mrs Birling states that: ‘naturally that was one of the things that prejudiced me against her case’, in reference to Eva’s desperate plea for assistance from The Brumley Women’s Charity. As a ‘prominent’ member of the organisation, she should have displayed superior charitable inclinations and yet she claims to be ‘naturally’ prejudiced – a startling irony considering her role. Mrs Birling embodies the dangerous hypocrisy of the upper class and their false, largely ineffective shows of charity.

Now we have finished ‘A Christmas Carol’, many of your stated that you preferred ‘An Inspector Calls’ for it’s realist approach to social change. Mr Birling, Mrs Birling and Gerald’s failure to repent is realistically indicative of the huge challenge of instigating genuine social change, especially when it involves age-old power structures giving up some of their power on the path to greater equality.

The Inspector’s VISION stands in wonderful contrast to most of the Birling family’s MYOPIA. The short declarative ‘I see’ in reference to Gerald’s mention of the ‘room’ he installed Daisy Renton in (don’t forget the wonderful connotations of her second name), is very telling indeed. The Inspector’s omniscience does create a sort of God-like quality, which gives his soliloquies a sermonising quality too. He is the voice of God, or at least of benevolence and compassion.

Thank you to those who contributed the ideas above!

-Miss H

Why you shouldn’t ignore Alderman Meggarty in ‘An Inspector Calls’

I recently dared to tell my class that I thought Alderman Meggarty might very well be the most important character in the play. Of course, the statement is subjective and depends upon the context of our reading. If we are exploring the text through a feminist lens, then for me he is essential to our understanding of how rife misogyny was amongst the middle and upper classes, but also as a reminder of the hyper-masculine abuse of privilege and power that was rampant too.

He is NOT a physical presence on stage, just as Eva isn’t. But, his presence should haunt audiences when we hear of his ‘obscene fat-carcass’ and his malevolent, predatory behaviour towards Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton at The Palace Bar.

We hear of Alderman M at the half way point of the play, right at the heart of the action. This is structurally significant as it seems to suggest that this predatory, abusive behaviour was a malign and corrosive one that stretched across Edwardian society and was not just confined to this singular bar – a microcosm then for sexist and exploitative behaviour.

Remember the Establishment? The exclusive group of those with power in society was exactly where Meggarty sat. He is known to the The Birlings also (a way of connecting them with the exploitation of the working classes and of women too). Corruption runs deep in Edwardian society, Priestley makes this very clear. Meggarty is are man outside of the household, he shows us that the family are not the only perpetrators.

Not only this, but Mr Birling is connected to Meggarty through their sheer physical size. Priestley wastes no time in making it known they they are overweight: ‘heavy-looking’ and ‘portly’. Each has an inflated ego and sense of self importance. Both use their power to DISEMPOWER Eva (or attempt to). In a way, both are the embodiment of conservative fat cats with too much money and no sense of community or collectivism.

Meggarty is involved in local government, the very people entrusted to guide society. He and Birling are self-serving, in that they seek to secure their own position in the social hierarchy over considering the very real needs of the working classes.

Not only this, but Meggarty is connected to Eric too, in his ready consumption of alcohol. As a motif in the play, alcohol represents greed, material wealth and corruption. All of the men drink apart from The Inspector who refuses for he is far too invested in his ‘duty’. Meggarty is ‘half drunk’ and a renowned ‘sot’. These men use alcohol to escape their social responsibility, something the Inspector teaches and is the embodiment of.

Have I convinced you yet? You tell me…are there any other reasons why Meggarty is so vital to our understanding of this flawed world?

-Miss Huttlestone

A super handy ‘Macbeth’ 5:1 Analysis – Lady Macbeth focus

Drop into Macbeth 5.1

Macbeth by act 5…

There is no doubt that Macbeth is numbed by his many ‘bloody’ experiences. Famously, his response to the news of his ‘dearest’ wife’s death is that she ‘should have died hereafter’. Although such a response is ambiguous, I think it captures the undeniable reality that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are now living in two separate worlds:

Macbeth’s is a hellish present, eternal day, where he must see through his fall from grace, despite knowing that it is ultimately futile.

Lady Macbeth (before her suicide), is trapped in an eternal night, haunted by the past.

Macbeth’s haunting, rhythmic line: ‘tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’, with its polysyndeton, illustrates how weighed down he is by the burden of regicide. He sees only meaningless succession in the days that might follow, each one stretching into eternity, never punctuated by happiness. The futility of exitance replaces his former excitement for the future.

Time is slow as treacle too, with Macbeth wishing the ‘candle’ of life to be ‘out’. In many senses this is Macbeth’s final ‘proper’ speech – a culmination of his thoughts before his inevitable death (the flawed tragic hero must fall).

A critic, David Garrick, said in 1744 that his death is not nearly as dramatic or as elegant as it should be for a tragic hero. But what is your reaction to his death?

Personally, I see it as tragic but inevitable. In subverting the Great Chain of Being and thus God/nature he MUST go punished (James I would not have allowed otherwise!). Macbeth too allowed space for female power – something Shakespeare’s audience deeply feared. In subverting gender norms and sometimes being feminised, he has gone accept society’s expectations. Aligned with the witches, he must be ‘trialed’ and ‘executed’.

There isn’t much cheer therefore at his death – we have followed him throughout after all.

A Model Top Band Essay on ‘ACC’ and Family

Throughout Dickens’ allegorical novella, the importance of family is carefully highlighted in each stave as Scrooge starts to realise that profit and gain is not the true way of maintaining happiness.

Primarily in Stave 1, Scrooge’s last-living family member, Fred, invites him round for Christmas dinner, (every year, after continuously getting declined) expressing just how ‘merry’ and morally-inclined Fred is over his Uncle, who is supposedly the influence upon Fred, making it ironic that the younger, less-economically inclined protagonist exhibits a higher moral compass than his own Uncle, this suggests past events that have molded Scrooge into the parsimonious old man he is now. Dickens uses Fred as a mouthpiece to the contemporary audience (as he embodies the Christmas Spirit and the upper-middle class) to communicate money doesn’t buy morals and family and love, so be grateful for what and who you have around you, and help those who need it the most. Scrooge’s lack of love and simple acts of kindness is shown through the way he treats and speaks to his own family, asking them, “what right have you to be merry? You’re poor enough” The dehumanizing interrogative belittles Fred, stripping him of his human “right” to be “merry” which portrays just how stagnant and immoral he is at the beginning of the novella, clearly family means nothing to Scrooge. Here the modern audience finds it comical, how ignorant and narcissistic Scrooge is towards his own family member.

Primarily, within the selected extract, Dickens starts off by using an excessive amount of derogatory language and an abundance of negations to communicate the true, ‘dirty’ ramifications that the lower working class were forced to live in. This is the moment where Scrooge is “appalled” and “starts aback” at the unhealthy living conditions his employee, Bob, lives under and starts to notice just how horrific the living conditions really were, all because he refused to pay Bob anything ‘more nor less than the minimum wage’. This is also where the audience is told that Peter, Bob’s eldest son, also works in order to gain some more income for the family’s welfare. Peter’s loss of youth clearly reminds Scrooge of his lonely childhood as we (as readers) can see a glimmer of hope within Scrooge’s future transformation. Here, Scrooge can see that no matter how poor this family is, nothing will ever change the love they possess for one another as they are described as “happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time…” This communicates and foreshadows Scrooge’s possible want for change in the lower working class’ treatment and wages etc, as in Victorian England, anyone born into the lower working class was instantly assumed to be lazy as according to the upper and middle class, it was their fault for being in that situation and it was “punishment” for not working hard enough – although they probably worked just as much as the other working classes, if not more. Dickens went into such detail with The Cratchits living conditions as he wanted to raise awareness to the contemporary audience that societal norms needed to change in order to progress as a country.

Moreover, the importance of family is also shown through Belle’s happiness with her new family and husband. This is where we see slight guilt in Scrooge’s past actions as he “yells, ‘get me out of this place’”. The use of verb “yells” explains how there could be a glimmer of jealousy within Belle’s find for a new love for others and the loss of love she once maintained with Scrooge. In the Victorian Era, it was almost a necessity and classed as a life’s purpose to have a family to carry on future working development and to pass on the family name and so Scrooge has failed at learning to love and care about other people since he “replaced” everyone with a “golden” material. Dickens clearly wanted to make the society of the Victorian Era understand the sheer importance of having a family and not remaining lonely like Scrooge as happiness is spawned within family and laughter. The reader would realise just how much their family should mean to them as the average age of the Victorian Era was 29 years old which- to this day- is very young and they should appreciate who they have around them.

Finally, within the selected extract, The Cratchits are presented as economically disinclined but “happy, grateful, pleased…” and that is all they need to survive. Scrooge decides to have “his eye upon… Tiny Tim until the last” and this could be he doesn’t want to accept the fact that he declined Bob with a higher wage to help his ‘youngest son’ (Tiny Tim) gain the medication he needs in order to cure his illness. The use of lexical choice ‘upon’ shows how Scrooge is aware that this family needs and wants help economically but refuses to realise that its HIS fault for keeping him paid on the lowest wage. This could mirror a possible future where Tiny Tim was the ‘last’ one born, but the first to die, as in the Victorian Era, contraception didn’t exist and so families (usually of the lower class) had up to 7 kids, also because 1/6 of the born children would die before the age of 1 and 1/5 would die before the age of 5 due to the lack of health care and unsanitary living conditions. Scrooge clearly realised that he would have to live with the fact that he was the reason why Tiny Tim dies (when The Ghost of Yet to Come) takes him to the scene of his death. Here the reader can see that The Cratchits truly love and appreciate each other, and they possess something Scrooge becomes envious of- which is love and Dickens did this in the hope of more appreciation and acceptance of everyone, no matter what social class etc and that if things didn’t change in their societal norms, then regression would certainly take place.

Ultimately, through the ideals of family, Dickens seeks to illuminate its great value, encouraging greater benevolence and sense of community for readers of all contexts.