A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

By: Charles Dickens

Part I: The Victorian Era

• Lasted from 1837 – 1901, the reign of queen Victoria of England.

Depicted in popular culture by films such as Mary Poppins…

…Sherlock Holmes…

… and Sweeney Todd

A time of great social, economic, and technological transformation launched largely by the

industrial revolution

Rise of the Machine

• The industrial revolution marked a shift from an agricultural (farm based) economy to an industrial (factory based) one.

Rise of the Machine

• Greater demand for products put pressure on business owners to create more goods as cheaply and quickly as possible.

Rise of the Machine

• The invention of steam power made machine power possible in any conditions possible, particularly when these machines were housed in large factories like this one…

Changes brought about by the industrial revolution

Before• Agricultural economy• Simple machines powered

by man, animal, wind, and water

• Cottage industries produced few goods

• The rich owned land that the poor farmed

• Most people live in the country

During• Industrial economy• Complex steam powered

machines fueled with coal• Industrial factories

produced large quantities of goods

• The rich owned factories that the poor worked in

• Cities become densely populated

Changes brought about by the industrial revolution

Before• Crime control largely

handled by men who worked for rewards

• Open sewers call cesspools are the main avenue of transporting waste from cities to the river Thames

During• A publicly funded police

force became necessary due to rampant crime in cities

• Cholera outbreaks prompt cities to close their sewer systems and provide clean running water… for those who could afford it

Victorian Class Structure: Money Talks

• “Class” refers to the amount of money, power, and social status a person enjoys.

• Victorian England produced about 5 distinct classes of people:

• The Aristocracy $$$$$$$$$$• The Upper Middle Class $$$$$• The Lower Middle Class $$• The Working Class $• The “Undeserving Poor”

The Aristocracy• have had money, land, and power for

generations and make money the old fashioned way… land and investments

• $$$$$$$$$$

The aristocrats had plenty of time for leisure.

Aristocrats often had large family properties.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, both aristocrats, were the “hottest” couple

of the Victorian era.

Their style was copied by people of all classes.

Upper Middle Class:

• These people are professionals (doctors, lawyers, clergy, bankers) and industrialists, who own factories!

• They have money, property, power, and leisure time to pursue popular Victorian hobbies such as boating, painting, tennis, and croquet.

• $$$$$

Genteel activities, such as painting, were popular hobbies.

The super rich Victorians lived in copies of manor houses, like this…

The less rich of the upper middle class lived in homes like this…

Lower Middle Class

• Managers, Clerks, Teachers, Shopkeepers• These people work for the wealthy factory

and business owners in a supervisory capacity, overseeing the workers, managing funds, etc

• These people don’t have a lot of money but they are able to afford clean living spaces for their families and some leisure activities.

• $$

Still had some time and money for leisure, but not as much.

Families lived in row homes in cities that were close to places of work.

Many of these houses still exist today!

Working Classes

• Also known as the “deserving” poor and are

often recipients of charity• This group of people range from relatively high

skilled to low paid laborers. Although the income of these people vary somewhat, their living conditions were similar.

• Slums in Victorian London were overcrowded and unsanitary.

• $

The work week was 6 days long, 12-14 hours a day.

The working class had little or no time for leisure

People in the working class lived in tenements…

Or slums…

The “undeserving” poor

• Cannot obtain steady work due to old age, physical or mental illness, debt, bad luck or other misfortunes

• Some end up in the workhouse, where the homeless poor are housed and force to do menial and often pointless tasks. In workhouses disease ran rampant. Even conditions in prison were better.

Picking apart rope (“picking okum”) was a common workhouse task

Breaking rocks apart with hammers was another common workhouse task.

Living conditions were poor, inmates worked long hours and were fed gruel, hopes of getting out were

slim.

criminals

• The very poor were sometimes known as the “criminal class” because they were so likely to turn to crime rather than enter a workhouse.

criminals

• Crime became so common in Victorian cities that an organized police force was created.

criminals

• Some criminals were very successful and supported lavish lifestyles- this sort were often featured in popular novels like this one

criminals

• …whereas some were lower level criminals who barely got by.

Criminal Class SlangPresent day term Victorian Slang Origin/ explanation

police bobbies

peelers Robert Peel founded the London police force

coppers To “cop” means to “capture”

crushers Criminals felt they crushed liberty

Jennie Darbies Old Brittish cavalry was called the gendarmes

Con-man Card-sharp Cheats at cards

magsman To “Mag” means talk a lot

accomplice Buttoner/ bonnet

forger screever Maker of fake documents

Criminal Class Slang

• To 'work the kinchin lay' was to trick children out of their cash or clothing

• To 'shake lurk' was to beg in the guise of a shipwrecked sailor

• To 'work the shallow' was to excite compassion by begging in tattered clothes

• 'on the blob' :telling hard-luck stories

Christmas Traditions

Christmas before the Victorian Period

• Ancient European people celebrated the winter solstice…

Christmas before the Victorian Period

• …with holidays such as “Yule” in central European countries like Germany and Norway.

Christmas before the Victorian Period

• Ancient Europeans in countries like Italy (Romans) celebrated the winter solstice with “Saturnalia.”

Christmas before the Victorian Period

• As the popularity of Christianity grew in Europe during the dark ages and through the medieval period these winter celebrations were infused with Christian themes, such as the birth of the Christian Messiah…

Christmas before the Victorian Period

• …but many of the ancient traditions were still practiced.

•These traditions include…

Singing Hymns

The Winter Feast

Bonfires

Merriment

Christmas before the Victorian Period

• All of the mad revelry and associations with ancient holidays caused the religious leaders of the day to question whether Christmas should continue to be celebrated.

Christmas before the Victorian Period

• Puritans in England banned the celebration of Christmas between 1644 and 1660.

Christmas before the Victorian Period

• Christmas remained unpopular and looked down upon by clergy until the Victorian Era.

Victorian Christmas

• The publication of several Christmas carol songbooks during the 1830s…

Victorian Christmas

• PLUS the publication of a book by Charles Dickens called A Christmas Carol in 1843 began to make Christmas celebrations fashionable again.

Victorian Christmas

• Victorians were fascinated with all things medieval,

Victorian Christmas

• with this came the desire to reintroduce “Old English” style Christmas celebrations including…

Singing hymns (caroling)

The Christmas Feast

Bonfires

Merriment

Topics due: January 3, 2011• Ricketts and Tiny Tim• The effect of publication of “A Christmas Carol”

on Christmas traditions in England• The importance of Coal in Victorian England• The differing lives of the rich and poor in

Victorian London• Role of the supernatural in Victorian Popular

culture• Charity in the Victorian Era• Family in the Victorian Era