A Christmas Carol Background

CHARLES DICKENS

• One of the greatest English writers

• Wrote to show the injustices of the world and to make readers, hopefully, change things

Dicken’s Life

• Born in 1812• Family was poor, so he did not get a good

education, but he read all the time• Father went to prison and Charles had to work in

a factory at the age of 12• Later had the same job that Bob Cratchit had• Began publishing stories and became a huge

success with publication in 1837• Produced more popular novels• Dickens was probably the most famous living

writer during his time

Dickens and Charities

• Because Charles grew up in poverty, he fought against many injustices

• He supported– Schools for poor children– Education for adult working people– Better sanitation– Public health in London

Public Readings

• Read A Christmas Carol publicly, to raise money for a literacy institute and children’s hospital

Readings for Money

• Began traveling and doing readings for money; A Christmas Carol was the favorite

Unforgettable Energy

• Always busy: had 10 children, edited magazines, traveled frequently, produced & acted in plays, wrote over 14 novels

• Died in 1870

Dickens’ Characters

• Created memorable characters by exaggerating their personalities

• Dickens used four main characters that others before him did not– Children– Really, really bad villains– A hero that survived large problems– Women

A Christmas Carol

• Acclaimed as a classic as soon as it was published

• Created an ideal Christmas scene and inspired people to make Christmas better for the poor

The origins of the story

• Same storyline as an earlier work of Dickens, with a vision of a Christmas of a poor family

The writing of the book

• Wrote it in six weeks

• Dickens was very emotional during the writing: crying, then laughing, then crying, etc.

• Rushed to the shelves before Christmas, had to be reprinted before New Year’s Day

Friendly Ghosts

• Most stories have ghosts that bring bad luck

• A Christmas Carol had ghosts that come to teach Scrooge about his life

Ghost Stories

• Ghostly tales were popular at this time, but Dickens’ ghosts were not sinister like others

The Legacy

• A Christmas Carol created a season of charity

• For the first time, an American factory owner decided to give his workers Christmas day off

Stage and Screen

• Nine London theatres staged the story the year after it was published

• Ever since, A Christmas Carol has been a popular production

Christmas Stories

• After the popularity of A Christmas Carol Dickens wrote a Christmas story each year (none were as popular as the one with Mr. Scrooge – Scrooge was even added to the dictionary)

Dickens’ London

• Though rich, Dickens understood the hardships of the poor and tried to explain this in his writing

Exploding city & the London streets

• London grew rapidly in the 1800s

• Rich and poor were crowded together on the streets

Dickens’ City

• London was Dickens’ home and he wandered the streets his entire life, soaking in the culture

Working Children

• Children began working as young as 5 years old

• A common job for children was crossing-sweeper – cleaning dirt off the road as people crossed it

The smells of the city

• London smelled of horse dung from all the carriages

Working London

• Business owners could fire and hire at will• Government did not pay the unemployed• “Scrooges” of London paid their workers as little

as possible (usually $130 per year!)– Bob Cratchit was paid half this amount!!!– Many workers toiled 12 hours a day, 6 days a week– Workers were off Sundays, May Day & Christmas

Day (IF the employer allowed it) – poor workers did not get Christmas off

Industrial City

• London was the first industrial city of the world

• Being industrialized caused– Diseases – typhoid, cholera, scarlet fever– Pollution – air & water

• Thames River – polluted and smelled – 200 sewers ran into it, but much of London used the water for cooking, washing and drinking

Rich and Poor

• In London, there was an extreme contrast between rich and poor

• For Christmas – Rich feasted; poor were lucky if they scraped together a meal; very poor saw Christmas as just another day

The fortunate few

• Didn’t worry about money & had servants to do the work

The working poor (the Cratchits)

• Sickness was a large worry: in 1839 almost half of the funerals in London were children under the age of 10

Poor children, servants, and workhouses

• Servants worked long hours, like Mrs. Cratchit – she had to work Christmas morning

• Many children were sick and poor• A few of the poor children had the chance to get

an education• The poorest went to a workhouse where they

worked for basic shelter and food (Dickens wrote about these terrible conditions in Oliver Twist)

Housing

• The poorest, including children, lived and died on the streets

• Poor families that had shelter could have up to 8 people living in a single room

• Rich families lived in splendid houses with many servants

Food

• Rich families had lavish meals

• The poor lived on scraps (from markets and restaurants) or handouts – usually bread and potatoes