Poverty in Victorian Britain

• The Industrial Revolution creates lots of jobs

  1. From the mid-1700s, factory owners in Britain began to use coal-fired steam engines to power the machines in big factories. Many of these factories made cloth, which was sold all around the world

  2. Before this, Britain used to be much more rural - farming was the most obvious way of making a living

  3. This period - where most people in Britain went from working in farming to working in manufacturing - was known as the Industrial Revolution

  4. The Industrial Revolution made many businessmen and factory owners extremely rich. It also created huge numbers of new jobs in the cities. However, the factory workers often lived in extreme poverty

  Character - Scrooge - At the start of A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is presented as a man of "wealth" who ignores the poverty around him, including that of Bob Cratchit, his employee
• What was the population of London in 1800?

  Roughly 1 million people
• What was the population of London in 1900?

  6 million people
• Why did millions move to cities in the nineteenth century?

  In search of work in factories
• What were the living conditions like for migrants in cities?

  They lived in slums of cheap, overcrowded housing
• What issues arose from overcrowding in cities?

  Hunger, disease, and crime
• What was Dickens' childhood experience related to poverty?

  His family went into debt
• Where did Dickens work to help pay off debts?

  In a blacking factory
• Name two novels Dickens wrote addressing poverty in Britain.

  Hard Times and Oliver Twist
• How did children suffer during this period?

  They were exploited and forced to work long hours
• How does Dickens highlight poverty in 'A Christmas Carol'?

  • Contrasts Scrooge's wealth with Bob Cratchit's poverty
  • Scrooge lives in a grand building
  • Cratchits live in a cramped four-room house
• What does Scrooge see in Chapter Four of 'A Christmas Carol'?

  A part of London reeking with crime and misery
• How are the people living in poverty described in 'A Christmas Carol'?

  Half-naked, drunken, slipshod, ugly
• Who are Ignorance and Want in 'A Christmas Carol'?

  Children representing the suffering of the poor
• What does the death of Tiny Tim symbolize in 'A Christmas Carol'?

  The suffering of children living in poverty
• What time period saw millions moving to cities for factory work?

  Nineteenth century
• What was a common feature of slum housing?

  No proper drainage or sewage systems
• How did Dickens' childhood influence his literary themes?

  It made him interested in the plight of the poor
• What does the character of Scrooge represent in 'A Christmas Carol'?

  The contrast between wealth and poverty
• What does the setting of London in 'A Christmas Carol' reveal?

  The harsh realities of working-class life