A Christmas carol

• A Christmas Carol is often studied only at the GCSE level and not beyond, despite having some complexities worth exploring
• Ebenezer Scrooge


  Presented as an overwhelmingly negative character at the beginning of the text
• Dickens gives Scrooge some of the funniest and most sarcastic lines in the text
• Reason for giving Scrooge funny lines

  To make the reader like him and be invested in his transformation
• A Christmas Carol can be seen as a direct criticism of Malthusian economic theory
• The message of the text is not just for the rich to help the poor, but for everyone to learn from Scrooge's transformation
• The happiness and contentment of the poor Cratchit family


  Contrasts with Scrooge's initial miserly behavior and raises questions about the meaning of their happiness