Context

• Charles Dickens


  Dickens grew up in poverty and worked in the workhouses. The novella was written in response to the Report of the Children's Employment Commission, which covered the dehumanising and exploitative conditions children were subject to in the Victorian Era. The struggles of the Cratchits are presented in a compassionate way, and Tiny Tim's death links to the exploitation of children during the era.
• Religion


  Religion was the foundation of morality in the Victorian era- 7 deadly sins to be avoided. Christians believe that God provides individuals with redemption when sins have been confessed. Scrooge embodies some of the 7 deadly sins; greed, wrath and pride. Scrooge gains redemption through the ghosts
• Industrial Revolution


  Change from farming to factories, marked as the 'progressive era' due to advancements in technology. Dickens scathing of Britain as being the pinnacle of excellence and progression when it neglects and exploits the lower classes. He uses the character of Scrooge to critique how 'progressive' Victorian Society is.
• 1834 Poor Law


  Introduced the workhouses, poor were sent there in exchange for food and shelter. They were hubs of squalor, which exploited the poor. 10% of the people admitted to them would die. Dickens shows ignorance of those who enforced laws like this one Scrooge in Stave 1. Cratchits and Want + Ignorance provide a small insight into how the poor were exploited + dehumanised by laws like this.
• Thomas Malthus


  a British economist who believed poverty was inevitable due to population increase. Dickens makes Scrooge embody Malthusian views and 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 3 'decrease surplus population'