christmas carol

• “cold within him froze his old features“


  dickens uses the conceit of the cold to hold it parallel to scrooge’s cold attitude

  his internal apathy is so strong it alters his physical appearance

  makes scrooge successful in ostracising himself from society

  uncontrollable elements of nature have been intercepted and can’t affect scrooge as “even the external heat and cold had no influence”
• “squeezing wrenching grasping scraping clutching covetous old sinner”


  7 adjectives to mirror 7 deadly sins

  rich are the real sinners as they scrutinise the poor for being lazy

  dickens criticises the rich in society and subtly criticises the poor through scrooge’s words
• “no prisons or workhouses?“

  emblem of victorian soceity

  malthusian views don’t allow him to see the poor with any humanity or compassion

  sees the poor as numbers adding to the surplus population

  dickens did this to critique that social injustice is synonymous to the avaricious ways of the upper class
• ”bob had none but fifteen bob a week himself”


  “bob” = slang for shillings

  constant reminder of how little he earns

  represent importance of money over lower classes that it can alter life or death
• “Founder of the feast”

  Despit’s Scrooge’s mistreatment of Bob, Dickens exemplifies Bob’s patience and compassion

  Elevates Scrooge’s position and gives him importance

  Dickens does this to highlight the superiority of the upper class over the poor as even in his absence Bob respects him
• “Oh a wonderful pudding!”


  exclamatory remark highlights Bob’s appreciation towards his family

  cratchits embody gratefulness
• “strange figure like a child, yet like an old man”


  ghost of christmas past

  paradoxical depiction of an old man and a child

  juxtaposition is metaphorical for scrooge as he is old but vulnerable and associated to how he was as a child

  ghost aims to catalyse regression in scrooge

  ‘regression’ has negative connotations but in his case his past self is more desirable
• “wore a tunic of purest white”


  christmas past

  ethereal description with celestial imagery of heaven and purity from sin
• “wintry emblem, dress with summer flowers”


  metaphorical for scrooge as the winter conceit in act 1 highlights his inner miser

  ’summer flowers’ connotes ghost and beauty

  ghost of christmas past is a spiritual awakening
• “bright clear jet of light”

  christmas past

  creates hope and brightness

  it is a function to brighten scrooge’s life with a moral awakening
• “couldn’t hide the light“

  christmas past

  ghost is emblematic of hope and foreshadows how scrooge can’t hide from the redemption

  ghost aids his spiritual awakening
• “one arm, one leg, now twenty, now a pair”


  ghost of christmas past’s metamorphosis can be symbolic of scrooge’s transformation

  each ghost physically changes as they foreshadow how it will bring not physical but moral change
• Dickens uses the ghosts to show how all people, even misanthropic ones have an angelic tainted youth deeply represented
• selfishness (scrooge)

  scrooge is the epitome of selfishness

  microcosm of selfish victorian upper class

  willingly neglect the lower class
• selfishness (ghost of christmas present)

  pivotal moment in scrooge‘s redemption

  forces scrooge to face the consequences of his selfish ways
• selfishness (start vs end)

  at the end scrooge is the antithesis of selfishness

  triggered morality + benevolence within him
• scrooge is physically rich but in emotional poverty
• solitary as an oyster

  isolated existence within society

  oyster=bottom of ocean isolated= scrooge is ostracised from society

  pearl=value= foreshadows scrooge’s redemption and stray from avariciousness
• solitary as an oyster 


  can be held parallel to the quote “solitary child neglected”

  scrooge’s negative description can be held synonymous to his isolated childhood and ‘solitary existence’
• dickens intentions

  allegorical story

  didactic purposes

  convey message of consequences of greed

  critique upper class of their apathy and dehumanising laws towards lower class
• dickens prompts the reader to check their morality and see if their views align with social injustice or reform
• dickens emphasises that social change can be achieved through redemption and generosity
• dickens implicitly critiques societal structures such as the 1834 poor law ironically created to target the laziness of the poor
• key words

  avariciousness

  moral rebirth

  parsimonious
• "you may be an undigested bit of beef"


  dismisses ghost of marley

  rejects redemption

  refuses to acknowledge the detrimental impacts of his parsimonious nature

  wants to remain isolated in his self destructive cocoon of sin

  shuns any idea of change
• "yellow wolfish scowling"


  ignorance and want are allegorical characters to highlight the unjustified abuse of children in victorian society as a result of the upper class' callous attitudes
• "yellow wolfish scowling"


  yellow=stark reminder of the physical sickness and malnutrition endured by the children

  consequence of social neglect and the rich's obliviousness to social injustice
• "yellow wolfish scowling"


  encounter between scrooge and children illuminates that their poverty is as a result of the rich, who are epitomised by covetous characters such as the upperclass business men and scrooge himself
• "yellow wolfish scowling"


  animalistic language

  feral portrayal strips the children of their humanity and reduces them to animals
• "yellow wolfish scowling"


  dickens explores the extension of the ignorant wealthy through scrooge to show the only remedy for the societal ill is for them to acknowledge their role towards moral damage in soceity
• "I shall live in the past, present and future"


  scrooge pleads for redemption and salvation after seeing the consequences to his parsimonious and avaricious nature

  solitary death reinforced his need to be cleansed and redeemed from greed

  ALTERNATIVLEY 3 aspects of holy trinity, reincarnation of God

  "within me" = moral teachings penetrated him deeply

  juxtaposition of past present future emulates scrooge's metamorphosis from avarice to a state of moral rebirth.
• "quite like a baby, merry as a schoolboy"


  infantile language is symbolic to scrooge's now untainted light

  regained his youthful innocence and has gained spiritual renewal

  alternatively linked to Jesus' rebirth for salvation of sins and aid to society
• "I wear the chains I forged in life"


  chains are interconnected, Marley communicates that his avarice and frugal nature are interconnected with the condemned eternal suffering and anguish

  chain is a conceit for the eternal consequences of his parsimonious nature

  personal pronoun 'I' implies Marley is aware of the sins he has committed and of the consequences to his selfish pursuits, now he ives in eternal spiritual poverty
• "mankind was my business"


  economic language used by Marley works as a mouthpiece for dickens views

  critiques society's unhealthy obsession with material wealth+profit

  foreshadows scrooge's fate and the economic fate of his "cheap funeral" and "marketing the corpse"
• "better do it and decrease surplus population"


  Christmas present repeats scrooge's words

  emphasises the neglect and ignorance of the upper class

  repeats to show the inhumanity of the rich's apathetic perspectives

  through scrooge's adoption of malthusian ideologies, poverty is dismissed as inevitable outcomes of the surplus population
• "clerk"


  Bob Cratchit

  lack of identity

  dehumanisation experienced by working class

  removal of his name=stripped of individuality

  oppressed by scrooge, embodiment of greed
• "shrouded in a deep black garment"

  symbol of death

  reminiscent of grim reaper, ambience of tragic end

  reminder of consequences of scrooge's immorality

  black=ominous image created by black juxtaposes the motif of light shown by past and present ghosts

  scrooge longed for a solitary life but now sees consequences of his solitary future

  immense power and entity needed to catalyse redemption within him
• “are there no prisons? and the union workhouses?


  rhetorical question as if to ask why the poor should not be continually subject to exploitation

  ignorance shows how materialistic he is
• redemption


  scrooge transmogrifies into a compassionate member of society as he experiences redemption

  as a microcosm for internal greed and avarice it exemplifies the power of redemption and its ability to catalyse social reform
• solitary as an oyster


  psychological barrier between scrooge and the real world due to his neglect as a child causing him to isolate himself from society, his untainted, child like light remains under his hard shell like an oyster‘s pearl