Context

• What key words should I use?

  • DREAMMPADS

  1. D - Dehumanisation
  2. R - Redemption
  3. E - Exploitation
  4. A - Avariciousness
  5. M - Mouthpiece
  6. M - Moral rebirth
  7. P - Parsimonious
  8. A - Allegorical novella
  9. D - Destitute
  10. S - Social equality/inequality
• How should I remember context?

  • CRIPT

  1. C - Charles Dickens
  2. R - Religion
  3. I - Industrial Revolution
  4. P - Poor Law
  5. T - Thomas Malthus
• What is the context of Charles Dickens?

  • Dickens grew up in poverty
  • Worked in the workhouses
  • Novella was written in response to the Report of Children's Employment Commission which covered the dehumanising & exploitative conditions children were subject to in the Victorian era
  • The struggles of the Crachits is presented in a compassionate way
  • Tiny Tim's death links to the exploitation of children during the era
• What is the context of religion?

  • Religion was the foundation of morality in the Victorian era - 7 deadly sins (greed, wrath & pride) to be avoided
  • Christians believed that God provides individuals w/ redemption (save from sin) when sin has been confessed
  • Scrooge embodies some of the 7 deadly sins: greed (want for money), wrath (angry at the world), and pride (ego)
  • Scrooge granted redemption through the ghosts
• What is the context of the Industrial Revolution?

  • Change from farming to factories, marked as the 'progressive era' due to advancements in technology
  • Dickens scathing (critical) of Britain being the pinnacle (peak) of excellence & progression when it neglects & exploits the lower classes
  • Uses character of Scrooge to critique how 'progressive' Victorian society is
• What is the context of the 1834 Poor Law?

  • Introduced the workhouses, poor sent there in exchange for food & shelter
  • They were hubs of squalor (filth) which exploited the poor
  • 10% of people admitted to them would die
  • Dickens shows ignorance of those who enforced laws like this one through Scrooge in Stave 1
  • Cratchits & children of ignorance + want provide a small insight into how the poor were exploited + dehumanised by laws like this
• What is the context of Thomas Malthus?

  • British economist who believed poverty was inevitable (always going to happen) due to population increase
  • Dickens makes Scrooge embody Malthusian view & ridicules this
  • Scrooge shows these views in stave 1 "prisons ... and the union workhouses?"
  • He is ridiculed by the Ghost of Christmas Present in stave 5 "decrease surplus population"