CHRISTMAS PAST

• "it was a strange figure-like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man"

  • paradoxical depiction
  • juxtaposition is metaphorical for scrooge, he appears physically alike to an "old man" as hes branded as an "old sinner" yet is vulnerable and isolated akin to how he was as a child
  • ghost aims to catalyse a regression in scrooge so he can regress into his former compassionate self
• "wore a tunic of the purest white"

  • despite the ghosts uncanny presentation, the ghost is depicted as having an ethereal quality
  • creates a celestial image of heaven and purity from sin - its aim is to resurface scrooges repressed memories and emotions in order to purify him from his previous sins
  • white connotes purity and beginnings and honesty, foreshadowing scrooge at the end of the play as the ghost is here to regress scrooge
• "bright clear jet of light"

  • creates an image of hope and brightness, this symbolises how the ghosts function is to brighten up scrooges life with his morals
• “could not hide the light”

  • ghosts light is emblematic of hope, foreshadowing how Scrooge cannot escape his redeployment
  • the ghost will help and aid scrooge to his moral and spiritual awakening and he cannot “hide” from this
  • the lexis “hide“ shows scrooges vulnerability and how he wants to his painful past