A Christmas Carol
The Context
Knowing the history behind the texts you study is key. Here is some of the key historical context for 'A Christmas Carol'
Dickens' Life
In A Sentence
A troubled life that ultimately that gave him many experiences to discuss in one the most successful writing careers of all time.
The Big Picture
Charles Dickens perhaps didn't have the worst childhood of someone of his generation. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens' father, John Dickens, had a big enough salary but an even bigger spending habit. Charles was 1 of 8 brothers and sisters and had a great relationship with his mother who read him gruesome bedtime stories. John's money worries got out of control and eventually he was sent to a debtor's prison for a debt of £40. The family sent Charles to work at Warren's Blacking Factory sticking labels on bottles at age 12. He was allowed to visit his father in prison on Sundays.
After leaving school, Dickens got a job as a law clerk and began writing in his spare time. He moved into journalism and wrote for a range of papers. He moved from journalism to writing novels and his popularity exploded. His novels began selling in huge numbers. At its height, 'Great Expectations' was selling 100,000 copies a week. A great novelist, but an average businessman, Dickens often didn't make as much money as he should have from his work. He was loved in America too and people queued on the docks to greet him as he arrived. His was a rock star of his day. Like a rock star though he had some strange and questionable habits. Before speaking to audiences in America it was said that he downed champagne and raw eggs to calm his nerves. He became fascinated by the supernatural and set up his own organisation to investigate this! Find out more about this on the GF Blog.
Dickens' works live on today as one of Britain's most successful authors of all time. His stories changed literature and he popularised words and phrases that are still commonly used.
Links to 'A Christmas Carol'
We can see how Dickens' own life is reflected in 'A Christmas Carol'. When Scrooge states "are there no prisons?" we immediately think of Dickens' father. The poverty that the Cratchits faced might not have been too dissimilar to that the Dickens family faced after their father was sent to debtor's prison. Of course the Cratchit children were employed in child labour, just like the 12 year old Charles Dickens. Dickens spent his life challenging the poverty of the society he lived in. Writing letters and leading campaigns. It is perhaps through a 'A Christmas Carol' though, that this permanent campaign for helping those in need lives on.
Victorian Poverty
In A Sentence
A grim existence if you're down the bottom end but extreme wealth and luxury if you're at the top of society.
The Big Picture
The Industrial Revolution created an entirely different landscape and way of living. Britain had moved from a country of farmers making a living off the land to a nation of cities and factories. Farm workers became factory workers. The small cottage in the countryside became tightly packed houses in the fast growing cities. Society had changed forever.
A small number of industrialists created enormous amounts of wealth for themselves. For the majority of people though, living conditions were as bad as they had ever been. The cities were areas of desperate poverty suffering from lack of food, disease and choking pollution. 1 in 3 children died before the age of 5. Poverty and disease meant that many children became orphans. One source in 1848 talked about "thirty thousand naked, filthy, roaming lawless and deserted children". Many of these children would have to beg and steal for survival.
Some in Victorian society believed that the poor had brought it upon themselves. The 'idle poor' was a common name for what people believed was a group of people who were simply too lazy to make something out of life. As the population of the poor grew, government support was reduced. The 1834 Poor Law Reforms looked to reduce the cost of looking after the poor by placing them in workhouses if they were unable to support themselves.
Links to 'A Christmas Carol'
The death of Tiny Tim represents the grinding poverty that children and families faced. The Cratchit family was a loving one, but simply didn't have enough money to provide the conditions where Tiny Tim could survive. It took the intervention of Scrooge's wallet to allow that to happen. Scrooge's attitude at the start summed up what Dickens felt the attitude of wealthy Londoners was to the poor - "if they would rather die - they better do it".
Gothic Fiction
In A Sentence
A literary movement that became popular in the 18th century which focussed on supernatural events mixed with gloomy atmospheres and a dash of fear.
The Big Picture
Dickens read gothic fiction (sometimes called gothic horror) as a child and incorporated many of its features into his work. He was a fan of the supernatural (check out more about his ghostly hobbies here) and 'A Christmas Carol' wasn't his only ghost story. He used the polluted industrial cities of Britain to create the gloomy atmospheres of the gothic genre. He used gothic buildings in his novels such as Miss Havisham's eerie mansion in 'Great Expectations'. Dickens was a man who wanted to make money out of his work too and he knew the Victorian readers enjoyed gothic fiction as much as he did. Using convention of the genre in his work was no doubt a business decision as much as a literary one!
Links to 'A Christmas Carol'
The fog that consumes London in the opening of the novella has a wonderful gothic atmosphere. The descriptions of the city with the "ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down" also hits the gothic tick boxes. Finally we throw in the supernatural as soon as Marley appears in the door knocker. Carrying his chains with him, Marley begins a supernatural spectacular and tells Scrooge that three more ghosts are on their way.
A History of Christmas
In A Sentence
A celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ that has varied hugely over time and then exploded in popularity during the time Dickens wrote 'A Christmas Carol.'
The Big Picture
Christmas today is a mixture of Roman and Pagan celebrations that combined with the spread of Christianity across Europe. The festival of midwinter was popular in Pagan festivities across Europe and was a similar time to that of the Roman Festival that celebrated the God of Agriculture, Saturn. Christians had not celebrated the birth of Jesus in the early days of the religion and nobody were sure of the birthdate of Jesus. Emperor Constantine of Rome however declared in 336 that December 25th should be celebrated as his birth which handily coincided with the Roman and Pagan celebrations already taking place.
With Christmas comes Santa Claus. This tradition came from Turkey. St Nicholas was born there in around 280. Legend has it that he threw gold through the open window of a family who were too poor to stop their daughters being sold into slavery. This gold landed in a sock and started the tradition of leaving presents in stockings that we see today.
It was the Victorians however that took Christmas to the next level. Christmas trees, present giving, a Christmas day feast of turkey, decorations, carol singing and family games all became popular at Christmas time in the Victorian era. At the beginning of the 1800s Christmas was hardly celebrated and most wouldn't be expecting the day off. Many see the rise in popularity down to Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert. Born in Germany he was a huge fan of Christmas and brought many of the traditions with him.
Links to 'A Christmas Carol'
It's pretty obvious that Christmas is a big theme of the novella. In fact, along with Prince Albert, 'A Christmas Carol' is credited by some as the reason we celebrate Christmas the way we do today. There are some lovely touches in the novella. The Ghost of Christmas Present in Christmas personified. He is the Christmas Spirit of generosity giving plenty from his horn. His whole appearance is obviously like that of Father Christmas. He is of course a green Father Christmas, as would have been the case until Coca-Cola's advertising team turned him red many years later. Fred and the Cratchit family's Christmas dinners show us a wonderful glimpse of the festive period in Victorian society and of course even the lighthouse keeper and miners are celebrating the day. Perhaps Dickens wanted some of this new found generosity and love for fellow humanity during the Christmas period to rub off on people all year round. As Scrooge says at the end, "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
Thomas Malthus
In A Sentence
An economist who thought it was natural that the population was kept under control by things such as disease and starvation
The Big Picture
Malthus was an economist who believed that when there was more food in society and things started to get better, the population grew. This then created the conditions again for hunger and starvation. Something that was later called the 'Malthusian Trap'. He believed therefore that offering support for the poor ultimately had no effect and should be stopped. Malthus' views have often been interpreted as more aggressive and unpleasant than they were. Despite that, he criticised the Poor Laws and argued for less support for the poor and hungry. Malthus however was ultimately proved wrong by the Industrial Revolution and later technological advancements that meant a huge population increase and later a steadily improving quality of life for all.
Links to 'A Christmas Carol'
Scrooge pretty alludes to the Malthusian Trap when he says “if they would rather die they had better do it and decrease the surplus population”. When describing the poor, he clearly feels that offering his money to the charity collectors is neither something the poor deserve nor would help society as a whole. That quote is something most Victorian readers would have recognised as an allusion to Malthus. Dickens used Scrooge as a character to attack the his views and the views of men like him.