A Christmas Carol - Wilnecote High School · A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol was written in 1843 by Charles Dickens. Wider Reading • The Story of the Goblins

A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol was written in 1843 by Charles Dickens.Wider Reading• The Story of the Goblins who stole a Sexton by Charles Dickens• Complete Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens• Christmas Books by Charles Dickens• The Man who Invented Christmas by Les Standiford• Charles Dickens by Simon Callow• Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens• Dickens’ London by Peter Ackroyd• Hard Times by Charles Dickens• What Christmas is as we grow older – an essay by Charles Dickens

Context and Literary Tradition• Victorian London – Migration from Europe prompted a population growth from one million in

1800, to almost seven million in 1900. London transformed into the biggest city in the world, and, as a global capital for trade, finance and politics, became very wealthy.

• The Great Reform Bill 1832 – For the first time, a number of middle class property owners had the right to vote. There was, however, a vast number of both the working and middle classes, who were unable to vote.

• The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 – The main aim of this law was simply to reduce the cost of looking after people in poverty. Only those people with critical needs would have been granted funds; everyone else had to face the hardship of the workhouse.

• The Industrial Revolution – Industrialisation marked a shift to powered, special purpose machinery, factories and mass production.

• Workhouses – People were forced to go to the workhouse if they had no home or job. For working long hours, in terrible conditions, and with very little time for a break, they were provided with food and a bed. Orphaned and abandoned children were also housed in the workhouse, along with people who were mentally and physically ill, sick or disabled.

Context and Literary Tradition

• Ragged schools – Working closely with his friend, Angela Burdett Coutts, Dickens set up the Ragged Schools, named because of the ragged clothes that lots of the poor children wore. The schools aimed to provide poor children with a basic education, something which Dickens believed to be the route out of poverty.

• Dickens and Christmas – Christmas in Victorian times was not widely celebrated; not everyone shared family meals and exchanged gifts. Dickens has been acknowledged as an influence in the way we celebrate Christmas today: his vivid descriptions of family gatherings and lavish festive feasts have become an integral part of modern day Christmas.

• Religion – If there was any single belief which characterised the Victorian era, it was the Christian belief. Religion pervaded social and political life to an extent almost unimaginable today.

• City of spectres – Although there had been ghosts in literature before the Victorian era, the ghost story as a genre was contrived by the Victorians. Dickens played a huge role in popularising the genre, both as a writer and as an editor. He didn’t believe in ghosts himself, but was intrigued by other people’s belief in them.

Stave One

• The reader learns that Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s former business partner, has been dead for seven years. Scrooge acted as the sole executor, sole mourner, and sole friend.

• It is on a foggy Christmas Eve when we first meet Scrooge; it is clear from the outset that he is driven by money and greed.

• The reader is introduced to one of the protagonists, Bob Cratchit. Bob is Scrooge’s clerk –he works tirelessly in dire conditions; Scrooge has very little respect for him and pays him a dreadful salary.

• Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, drops into the office to wish his uncle a Merry Christmas. Scrooge berates him for being jolly, claiming this should not happen because he is poor. Fred counters this, claiming Scrooge cannot be miserable as he is so wealthy.

• At home, Scrooge’s door knocker assumes the face of Jacob Marley.• Scrooge is locked in his chamber when he is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley; he tells

Scrooge he is continually tormented in death because he should have shown more compassion for people when he was alive. He tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three more ghosts.

Stave Two• Scrooge is woken abruptly by twelve chimes from the church bells. He is visited by the first ghost

at about 1am – the ghost takes the form of a child and an old man.• It is the ghost of Scrooge’s past and claims to be concerned for his welfare.• Scrooge is shown a scene from his childhood where he had to spend the festive season at school

with no-one for company.• The ghost takes him to another Christmas at school, where we see how lonely and isolated he is.

His sister Fan arrives to take him home.• The ghost shows Scrooge a Christmas party – the host is a larger-than-life man named Fezziwig.

Unlike some employers, he treated his workers with respect and humanity. He gave a great deal of happiness to a lot of people, including Scrooge, who was apprenticed to Fezziwig when he was a teen.

• Belle, Scrooge’s then fiancée, breaks their engagement because she says he values money more than her. We see her happily married to someone else.

• Scrooge is visibly upset by the scenes from his past, and the ghost swiftly returns him to his chamber.

Stave Three• Scrooge grows increasingly uncomfortable waiting for the next ghost; he appears in a room

adjoining Scrooge’s chamber.• The room has transformed into a grove and is packed with Christmas food and decorations.• The ghost takes Scrooge around the city where they see people full of hope and joy.• We see the Cratchit family home where they are celebrating with a small goose for dinner. Bob

Cratchit insists they toast Scrooge; his wife does so grudgingly.• When Scrooge asks the ghost if Tiny Tim will survive, he replies, claiming he sees a vacant seat

and a crutch without an owner.• They visit a number of places before going to Fred’s house – the family discuss Scrooge, and Fred

admits he feels sorry for him.• The ghost shows Scrooge two children named Ignorance and Want and claims they have been

created by the society in which Scrooge lives.• The ghost warns him that Ignorance is more dangerous than Want – Scrooge is appalled by the

sight of the children.

Stave Four

• The Ghost of Christmas Future appears and takes Scrooge, silently, to visit scenes from the future.

• We see people in the city discussing the death of a colleague.• Thieves steal from the dead man and meet up to sell his possessions.• One of the most notable scenes is of a young couple discussing the man’s death – they

are delighted that they may have more time to pay off their debts now that he is dead.• We see a scene from the future where the Cratchit family are inconsolable after the

death of Tiny Tim.• Scrooge, unaware initially that the dead man is him, accepts that he is partially

responsible for some of the things that he sees.• Even when Scrooge sees a different man working in his office, he still fails to realise the

dead man is him.• The ghost takes Scrooge to a cemetery and points out his name on the headstone. The

penny finally drops and Scrooge vows to change his ways after learning a moral lesson.

Stave Five

• Scrooge wakes up on Christmas Day and realises the spirits have visited him in one night.• He is overjoyed that he hasn’t missed it and cannot wait to make amends.• He buys the prize turkey from the local poulterer’s shop and sends it to the Cratchits.• Scrooge bumps into the charity workers he turned away on Christmas Eve, and begs

them to forgive him for his abruptness. He makes a big donation to charity.• Scrooge goes to Fred’s and asks if he can join him for Christmas dinner. He is welcomed

by all and they have a wonderful day together.• Scrooge goes into the office early on Boxing Day – Bob arrives late and Scrooge appears

to chastise him before saying he will raise his salary.• Bob is astonished by this news and by Scrooge’s promise to support the struggling family.• Tiny Tim survives and Scrooge is true to his word, looking after Tiny Tim and gaining

respect and admiration from everyone. He was renowned for being able to keep a good Christmas.

Ebenezer Scrooge

• Scrooge is initially presented as a mean, cold hearted business man whose only concern is making money. He resents any form of happiness or charity, continually scoffing at those who attempt to share good will or involve him in festivities.

• After visits from the four ghosts, Scrooge sees the error of his ways and vows to redeem himself – he does this admirably and goes on to have a reputation as a good man.

Ebenezer Scrooge – Key Quotations

• “Scrooge never painted out Old Marley’s name.” (S1)• “A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard

and sharp as flint.” (S1)• “Even the blindmen’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him

coming on, would tug their owners into door-ways and courts.” (S1)• “Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern.” (S1)• “Solitary as an oyster.” (S1)• “He was conscious of a thousand odours floating in the air, each one connected

with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares, long, long forgotten.” (S1)

• “There was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye.” (S2)• “I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion,

Gain, engrosses you.” (S2)

Ebenezer Scrooge – Key Quotations

• “You are changed. When it was made, you were another man.” (S2)• “Can I believe that you would choose a dowerless girl – you, who weigh everything by

gain.” (S2)• “Another idol has displaced me.” (S2)• “Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit.” (S3)• “Scrooge was the ogre of the family.” (S3)• “Scrooge the Baleful.” (S3)• “He softened more and more; and thought that if he could have listened to it often,

years ago, he might have cultivated the kindness of life for his own happiness with his own hands.” (S3)

• “He resolved to treasure up every word he heard, and everything he saw.” (S4)• “He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions.” (S5)• “His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.” (S5)

Bob Cratchit

• Bob Cratchit is Scrooge’s long suffering clerk. He works long hours in dreadful, perishing conditions, for which he receives a woeful salary. He cares a great deal for his family and lives in constant fear that Tiny Tim will die. He is eternally optimistic, even toasting Scrooge on Christmas Day.

Bob Cratchit – Key Quotations

• “A dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank.” (S1)• “Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s was so very much smaller.”

(S1)• “He had been Tim’s blood horse all the way from church.” (S2)• “Bob had but fifteen ‘bob’ a week himself.” (S3)• “He broke down all at once.” (S4)• “We shall none of us forget poor Tiny Tim.” (S4)• “I am very sorry, sir, I am behind my time.” (S5)• “Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. He had a momentary

idea of knocking Scrooge down with it.” (S5)

Tiny Tim

• Tiny Tim is Bob Cratchit’s youngest son, crippled from birth. Dickens was adept at portraying the symptoms of medical conditions; he uses Tiny Tim’s plight to elicit sympathy from readers by highlighting the hardships that poverty stricken families were forced to live with.

Tiny Tim – Key Quotations

• “Tiny Tim bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame.” (S3)

• “He hoped the people saw him in church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.” (S3)

• ““God bless us, every one!” said Tiny Tim the last of all.” (S3)• “He sat very close to his father’s side…Bob held his withered little hand in

his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side.” (S3)• “How patient and mild he was.” (S4)• “To Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father” (S5)

Marley’s Ghost

• The ghost of Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s deceased business partner, visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve. He appears as a chained and tormented ghost, a condition given as punishment for his greedy, selfish attitude when he was living. He tells Scrooge he will be visited by three other ghosts.

Marley’s Ghost – Key Quotations

• “The chain he drew was clasped about the middle.” (S1)• “The spectre’s voice disturbed the very marrow of his bones.” (S1)• “In life, my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-

changing hole.” (S1)• “No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse.” (S1)• “Oh! Captive, bound, and double ironed.” (S1)• “No space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused.”

(S1)• “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity,

mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business.” (S1)• “The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive

ocean of my business.” (S1)

Ghost of Christmas Past

• This ghost takes Scrooge on a journey through his past, including visits to his former school and to the workplace of his former employer, Fezziwig. Scrooge looks back fondly on the festive times he spent with his friends and Fezziwig. The ghost’s appearance is strange, looking like both an old man and a young child.

Ghost of Christmas Past – Key Quotations

• “It wore a tunic of the purest white.” (S2)• “A strange figure – like a child: yet not so like a child as an old man.” (S2)• “The arms were very long and muscular.” (S2)• “Would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give you?” (S2)• “He then made bold to ask what business brought him there. “Your

welfare,” said the Ghost.” (S2)• “Your reclamation then. Take heed!” (S2)• “But the relentless ghost pinioned him in both his arms, and forced him to

observe what happened next.” (S2)

The Ghost of Christmas Present

• This ghost transports Scrooge around the city and shows him festive scenes as well as scenes of deprivation. He sprinkles warmth from his torch as he travels. They visit the Cratchit family home where Scrooge takes a keen interest in Tiny Tim. The ghost, having already aged, reveals he will only exist on earth for a short time.

The Ghost of Christmas Present – Key Quotations• “There sat a jolly giant, glorious to see.” (S3)• “Genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice.” (S3)• “From the foldings of it’s robe, it brought two children; wretched,

abject, frightful, hideous, miserable.” (S3)• “This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware of them both, and all

of their degree, but most of all beware of this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom.” (S3)

• ““Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?”” (S3)

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

• This ghost takes Scrooge around the city, pointing out events which are likely to become a reality if Scrooge doesn’t change his ways. The ghost doesn’t speak, but points to various things. Scrooge is unhinged by this ghost, and worries that his future has already been mapped out for him.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come – Key Quotations• “The phantom slowly, gravely, approached.” (S4)• “The very air through which this spirit moved, it seemed to scatter

gloom and misery.” (S4)• “Its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread.” (S4)• “I fear you more than any spectre I have seen.” (S4)• “The inexorable finger underwent no change.” (S4)• “The spirit was immovable as ever.” (S4)• “Good spirit, your nature intercedes me, and pities me.” (S4)

Fred

• Fred is Scrooge’s jovial nephew, the son of his sister, Fan. He epitomises how we should interact with one another; he is relentlessly optimistic, and refuses to give up on his uncle. Unlike the rest of his family, Fred feels pity for Scrooge and always welcomes him into his home.

Fred – Key Quotations

• “He was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.” (S1)

• “He stopped at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk.” (S1)

• “When Scrooge’s nephew laughed in this way: holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions” (S3)

• “His offences carry their own punishment.” (S3)• “Bob told them of the extraordinary kindness of Scrooge’s nephew.” (S4)• “If I can be of any service to you in any way…Pray, come to me.” (S4)

Mr Fezziwig

• We visit Fezziwig with the Ghost of Christmas Past. He is the jovial merchant who apprenticed Scrooge when he was a teen. Dickens uses Fezziwig to represent values which were not commonplace in men of his position – he treated people fairly and is the opposite of Scrooge and Jacob Marley. Scrooge staunchly defends him.

Mr Fezziwig – Key Quotations

• “He laughed all over himself, from his shoes to his organ of benevolence.” (S2)

• “No more work, tonight. Christmas Eve, Dick. Christmas, Ebenezer!” (S2)• “Shaking hands with every person individually as he or she went out.” (S2)• “The two apprentices, who were pouring out their hearts in praise of

Fezziwig” (S2)• “The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.” (S2)• “He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service

light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil.” (S2)

The Supernatural – Key Quotations

• “Ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains.” (S1)• “The spectre’s voice disturbed the very marrow of his bones.” (S1)• “Why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?” (S1)• “The air filled with phantoms…some few were linked together.” (S1)• “One old ghost…cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an

infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step.” (S1)• “The misery with all of them, was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in

human matters, and had lost the power for ever.” (S1)• “Marley’s Ghost bothered him exceedingly.” (S2)• “Leave me. Take me back. Haunt me no longer!” (S2)• “Notwithstanding his gigantic size, he could accommodate himself to any place, with

ease; and that he stood beneath a low roof quite as gracefully as some supernatural creature.” (S3)

Poverty – Key Quotations

• “People…beating their hands upon their chests, and stamping their feet upon the pavement-stones to warm them.” (S1)

• “What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor.” (S1)• “Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.” (S1)• “The owner…gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are

gnawed by dogs.” (S1)• “There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing to

profess to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth.” (S2)• “Cratchit’s wife, dressed out poorly in a gown.” (S3)• “Innumerable people, carrying their dinners to the bakers’ shops.” (S4)• “I will raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family.” (S5)

Change and Redemption – Key Quotations• “For your own sake, you remember what has passed between us!” (S1)• “Your reclamation then. Take heed!” (S2)• “There was a boy singing a Christmas carol at my door last night. I should like to have given him

something: that’s all.” (S2)• “I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now.” (S2)• “He was not the dogged Scrooge he had been.” (S3)• “I went forth last night on compulsion, and learnt a lesson which is working now. Tonight, if you

have aught to teach me, let me profit by it.” (S3)• “I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was”

(S4)• “I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse.” (S4)• “I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” (S4)• “He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew.”

(S5)

Weather and Setting – Key Quotations• “It was quite dark already: it had not been light all day.” (S1)• “Candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the

palpable brown air.” (S1)• “The fog came pouring in every chink and keyhole.” (S1)• “To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything.” (S1)• “One might have thought Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale.” (S1)• “They were a gloomy suite of rooms.” (S1)• “The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his

hands.” (S1)• “It had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.” (S1)• “The house fronts looked black enough.” (S3)• “Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells.” (S5)• “The sky was gloomy, and the shortest streets were choked up with a dingy mist.” (S3)

Responsibility – Key Quotations• “We should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at this

present time.” (S1)• “If they would rather die…they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” (S1)• “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s.”

(S1)• “It’s not my business.” (S1)• “But what did Scrooge care?” (S1)• “Christmas: when men and women seem by consent to open their shut up hearts freely, and think

of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures.” (S1)

• “Are there no prisons?” (S1)• “If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.” (S3)• “If man be in your heart, no adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered what

the surplus is, and where it is. Will you decide what men shall live and what men shall die?” (S3)

Social Injustice – Key Quotations• “Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of

common comforts, sir.” (S1)• “I can’t afford to make idle people merry.” (S1)• “The Lord Mayor…gave orders…to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayor’s household should.” (S1)• “And the union workhouses?” (S1)• “The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour then?” (S1)• “Those who are badly off must go there” (S1)• “They were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being

water-proof; their clothes were scanty.” (S3)• “There are some upon this earth of yours…who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill will, hatred,

envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived.” (S3)

• “This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy.” (S3)

Isolation – Key Quotations• “Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee,

his sole friend, and his sole mourner.” (S1)• “What did Scrooge care? Warning all human sympathy to keep its distance. (S1)• “Secret, self-contained.” (S1)• “Solitary as an oyster.” (S1)• “A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still.” (S2)• “At one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire; and Scrooge sat down upon a form,

and wept to see his poor forgotten self.” (S2)• “There he sat alone. Quite alone in the world, I do believe.” (S2)• “It’s likely to be a very cheap funeral, for upon my life I don’t know of anybody to go to it.” (S4)• “On it, plundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for, was the body of this man.” (S4)• “He lay, in the dark, empty house, with not a man, a woman, or a child, to say that he was kind to

me in this or that.” (S4)

Family – Key Quotations• “The mother and daughter laughed heartily.” (S2)• “The father, who came home attended by a man laden with Christmas toys and presents.” (S2)• “…hug him round the neck, pommel his back, and kick his legs in irrepressible affection.” (S2)• “The master of the house, having his daughter leaning fondly on him, sat down with her and her mother at

his own fire-side.” (S2)• “We will have the merriest time in all the world.” (S2)• “Mrs Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times.” (S3)• “Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm. Lord bless ya.” (S3)• “Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart’s content.” (S3)• “Then all the Cratchit family gathered around the fire.” (S3)• “They were happy, grateful, pleased with one another.” (S3)• “All the children of the house were running out into the snow to meet their sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles,

aunts, and be the first to greet them.” (S3)• “For it is good to be children, and never better than at Christmas.” (S3)• “Wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful unanimity.” (S5)

Time – Key Quotations• “At length, the hour of shutting up the counting house arrived.” (S1)• “The chimes of the neighbouring church struck to four quarters.” (S2)• “The heavy bell went on from six to seven, and from seven to eight, and regularly up to twelve.” (S2)• “When the bell struck one, and no shape appeared, he was taken with a violent fit of trembling. Five

minutes, ten minutes, a quarter of an hour went by, and yet nothing came.” (S3)• “Are spirits’ lives so short?” (S3)• “My life upon this globe is very brief…it ends tonight…at midnight. Hark! The time is drawing near.” (S3)• “The chimes were ringing the 3 quarters past eleven at the moment.” (S3)• “Spectre…something informs me that our parting moment is at hand.” (S4)• “I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.” (S5)• “The churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard.” (S5)• “I don’t know what day of the month it is.” (S5)

Good Will to All – Key Quotations• “Joining their horny hands over the rough table at which they sat, they wished each other a Merry

Christmas.” (S3)• “Every man among them hummed a Christmas tune.” (S3)• “Every man on board, waking or sleeping, good or bad, had a kinder word for one another on that

day than on any day in the year.” (S3)• “They said it was a shame to quarrel upon Christmas Day.” (S3)• “An old, old man and woman, with their children and their children’s children, another generation

beyond that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire.” (S3)• “I defy him – if he finds me going there, in good temper, year after year, and saying Uncle Scrooge,

how are you? If it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, that’s something.” (S3)

• “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” (S4)• “He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions.” (S5)• “He patted children on the head and questioned beggars.” (S5)

Allusions – The Prophet’s Rod• “And yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient prophet’s rod and

swallowed up the whole.” (S1)• The “ancient prophet’s rod” and “swallowed up the whole” are both allusions to Aaron’s rod from

the Book of Exodus in the bible.• As the story goes, the Israelites were enslaved and subjugated by the Egyptian Pharaoh.• God sent prophets, Aaron and Moses to intervene and free the people. The Pharaoh asked to see

a miracle, so Aaron threw down his rod and by the power of God, it became a serpent and, to prove his was stronger and that God was on their side, his rod swallowed up the rods of the other priests.

• The Pharaoh, after ignoring the warning and refusing to acquiesce, eventually relents and frees the Israelites, but not before God has unleashed a series of plagues on the Egyptian people.

• Marley can be seen as the divine intervention which Scrooge needs in order to redeem himself and restore the natural order.

• Scrooge plays the part of both the captor and the slave, bound to the materialism that Marley hopes to free him from.

Allusions – Shakespeare’s Hamlet

• “If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet’s father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged man rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot – say St Paul’s Churchyard, for instance.” (S1)

• Dickens was well known for alluding to Shakespeare in his works.• The reference to Old Hamlet’s ghost does two things: first it sets up the reader for

a ghost story about redemption, and secondly, it serves to highlight the state of London at the time. As Marcellus (on the appearance of Old Hamlet’s ghost) declares that there is ‘something rotten in the state of Denmark’, so too (on the appearance of Marley’s ghost) is there something rotten in the city of London –namely the social injustice and subsequent disparity between the rich and the poor.

• Marcellus adds that ‘no spirit dare stir abroad’ during the season as nights are ‘wholesome’ and not vulnerable to evil spirits.

Allusions - Wordsworth

• “There were more children there, than Scrooge in his agitated state of mind could count; and, unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves like one, but every child was conducting itself like forty.” (S2)

• The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge to a scene with Belle and her family, a short time after her relationship with Scrooge.

• The poem referred to, is Wordsworth’s ‘Written in March’, in which he describes the passing of winter. He depicts a herd of cattle feeding together peacefully. Dickens states that the children are the opposite of the herd, each child conducting itself as if it were forty others, unlike the cows, who were working as one unit.

• Scrooge is very resistant to this ghost, continually hoping the extinguisher cap will blot out its light. Even when the ghost departs, the light is never fully extinguished, a suggestion that Scrooge is unable to fully blot out his past.

Allusions – The Ten Commandments

• “Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to, I have no just cause to grieve.” (S2)

• Belle refers, on a superficial level, to Scrooge’s pursuit of money, but in doing so, alludes to The Book of Exodus where Moses returns from Mount Sinai carrying the Ten Commandments, and finds Hebrews worshipping a golden calf – a false idol.

• One of the Ten Commandments, or the Decalogue, states that ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.’ By worshipping an inanimate idol, people would become a mirror image of that idol: unfeeling, unseeing, and unable to hear God and the truth he was trying to impart.

• Scrooge, by worshipping the golden idol (money) can be seen to be just as sinful as the Hebrews who, fearing Moses would not return from the mountain, pleaded with Aaron (Moses’ brother), to make them gods to go before them.

Key Vocabulary

• Adversity (noun) – a difficult or unpleasant situation.• Avarice (noun) – having an insatiable desire for wealth; greed.• Blasphemy (noun) – the act of speaking against God.• Celestial (noun) – belonging or relating to heaven.• Conscience (noun) – a person’s moral sense of right and wrong.• Cornucopia (noun) – a symbol of food and abundance.• Counting-house (noun) – an office used by accountants in a business.• Covetous (adjective) – desire to possess something belonging to another.• Cronies (noun) – familiar friends or close acquaintances.• Destitute (adjective) – unable to provide for one self; impoverished.• Epiphany (noun) – the moment of insight that changes how someone sees the world.

Key Vocabulary

• Executor (noun) – a person appointed to carry out the terms of a will.• Injustice (noun) – lack of fairness or justice.• Legatee (noun) – a person who receives a legacy; a beneficiary.• Melancholy (adjective) – feeling sad or pensive.• Misanthrope (noun) – someone who dislikes people and is antisocial.• Miser (noun) – a person who hoards wealth and doesn’t spend it.• Philanthropy (noun) – the desire to promote the welfare of others.• Poverty (noun) – the state of being extremely poor.• Redemption (noun) – being saved from sin, error or evil.• Spectre (noun) – a ghost or a vision.• Victorian (noun) – a person who lived during the reign of Queen Victoria.

What Does The Question Look Like?

AQA Paper 1, Section B, 19th Century fiction.• This question is worth 30 marks and you should spend around 45

minutes answering it.• You will be given a key extract from the novella and will be required to

write about both the extract and the novella as a whole.• Read the question carefully and ensure you make a plan – this will

provide you with a clear structure.

Sample Extract

In this extract, taken from Stave 1, Scrooge is being introduced to the reader.

Sample Extract

“External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, nor wintry weather chill him. NO wind that blew was bitterer than he; no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often ‘came down’ handsomely, and Scrooge never did.

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come and see me?” No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men’s dog appeared to know him; and, when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!”

But what did Scrooge care? It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call “nuts” to Scrooge.”

Sample Question

Starting with this extract, explain how far you think Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider to society. Write about:• How Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider in this extract.• How Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider in the novella as a

whole.• 30 marks.

Sample Answer

At this point in the novella, Dickens introduces Scrooge to the reader. It is clear from the outset that Scrooge is perceived as an outsider by almost everyone in society. Dickens describes how “nobody ever stopped him in the street”, in fact, “no beggars”, “no children”, “no man or woman”, indeed “blind men’s dogs…would tug their owners into doorways.” Dickens uses various methods here to emphasise Scrooge’s detachment: the use of anaphora in the repetition of “no” before listing members of society emphasises the bleakness of Scrooge’s situation. No one approaches him; in fact, the blind men’s dogs go out of their way to avoid him. Furthermore, the dogs appear to say ‘no eye at all, is better than an evil eye, dark master’, implying it is better to be blind than to look upon the world through the evil, malevolent eyes of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Building on this notion, Scrooge is described as “all human sympathy to keep its distance…”