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