1. ‘A Christmas Carol’ Charles Dickens
Background Context

2. Literature isn’t created in a bubble.
Contexts
Literature isn’t created in a bubble.
Writers are influenced by:
their own life experiences
the attitudes and beliefs of the society in which they live and are writing about (the two can be different – AIC)
the historical events and conditions in which they live and are writing about (as above)
Other works of literature
So, context is things you need to know and understand about a work of literature for meaning to be clear

3. This presentation will help you to…
understand what life in London and England was like at the time Charles Dickens wrote the book.
gain some insight from knowing a little about Dickens’s life.
Understand some basic Gothic features

4. Who is Dickens?
What do you know about Charles Dickens?

5. Charles Dickens Born in 1812. His father was imprisoned for debt.
Dickens was very passionate about the poor.
He was a lower middle class boy, he worked in a factory when his family needed extra money.

6. Prior Knowledge
What do already know about what life was like for poor people in Victorian England?

7. The “Industrial Revolution”
The term “industrial revolution” was first used to describe England’s economic development between and involved the manufacturing of newer technology such as steam trains, factory machinery, petroleum, etc. However, its impact was extraordinary, and changed life within the rest of the 19th Century.
For some, like Scrooge, the industrial revolution improved living standards as income increased. In a Christmas Carol, this is portrayed negatively, as Scrooge is blinded by his money and career, and forgets about the other factors in his life.

8. England had changed from a country where people mainly worked on the land in farming and agriculture…

9. …to a country full of overcrowded towns and cities
…to a country full of overcrowded towns and cities. This was due to the large number of factories that were built in a short space of time. Poor people moved from the country, where jobs became scarce, to find work in the newly expanding cities.

10. The Poor in Victorian England
The poor were expected to be looking for work if they were unemployed.
If people could not work, through no fault
of their own, they were allowed some help
from the church or other charities
(e.g. money/food).
Some paupers didn’t even bother to look for work because they would rather be idle and live off the money from the church.
Because machines were now doing the jobs that poor people would do on the farms, the number of paupers increased; it was becoming a problem that needed solving.

11. Those who were poor lived in squalor, deprivation, dirt and misery.
They barely had enough money or food to survive.
Child mortality was very high.
There was no healthcare. If you got ill, and could not work, your whole family was at risk of death.
The workhouse was the only option for many families, where at least they would be fed and housed.
However, at the workhouse, families were split up, and often conditions were no better.

12. How employees were treated
Working conditions in the 19th Century were mostly decided by the employer, and so resulted in people working long hours for little pay. Men were paid slightly more than women and so most employers hired women and children as they could get away with paying them less. Conditions were harsh and uncomfortable, and a lot of workers died in accidents or from disease.
This can be seen by the way that Bob Cratchit has to work long hours in the cold due to Scrooge’s cheapness. Despite this, he sticks with it in an attempt to support his family.
Dickens wanted to expose the way employees were treated and the difficult situations they were placed in but couldn’t leave as they needed the money to survive.

13. To reduce the number of poor people relying on money from the church, workhouses were introduced.

14. Workhouses
Workhouses were the only places where people who were too poor to survive could get help.
Conditions in the Workhouse were made deliberately harsh in order to discourage people from having to go there.

15. A workhouse was a place for the unemployed to work in return for basic food and shelter.
The conditions were terrible. This was to stop people from pretending they could not find work and living off the money from the church.
Now ANY work would be more desirable than going to a workhouse. This was intended to stop idle people (the undeserving poor) from being lazy.

16. These were the working hours the government suggested; in reality they were made to do a lot more work.
Get up at 6am
30 minutes for breakfast
Start work at 7am in summer
Dinner is 12-1
Finish work at 6pm
Supper at 6pm
Bed at 8pm

17. Poor children could be sent to work at the age of 4 and be made to sweep chimneys.
They would have to work long, hard
hours in return for an uncomfortable
bed and disgusting food!
Families were separated in the workhouses, they would wear prison style uniforms and had to eat their meals in silence.
Have you seen Oliver Twist?

18. Children
Children either worked in factories or as chimney sweeps, if they weren’t lucky enough to become an apprentice in a trade. Chimney sweeps climbed up chimneys to clean them. They could be as little as 30cm wide. Many got stuck and suffocated. If a child was frozen with fear or being too slow, then the boss would light a fire underneath them to make them carry on.

19. Children’s Rights in Victorian England
The right for children to be protected, educated and given health care was not put into place until the 20th Century. Most children from poorer families worked in factories, mines or as chimney sweeps, which were dangerous jobs that could result in serious injury or death. Dickens had experience of this, being sent into child labour for about 3 months whilst his father is in prison.
Dickens was known for campaigning for children’s rights, hence Scrooge’s desire to protect and help Tiny Tim towards the end. This reflects Dickens’ opinion on children who were forced to work in mines and usually died from the severity of the harsh conditions they were in.

20. Charles Dickens cared for the poor people and wanted the rich people to understand how hard life was for them.
He made the wealthy people aware of the terrible conditions of the poor through the novels he wrote, because they would buy his
books.

21. Religion
In the 19th Century, England was a Christian country and saw the greatest burst of church building since the Middle Ages. This shows how serious religion was taken by people at the time.
Because of its importance, Christianity is a huge factor in A Christmas Carol. People had firm beliefs in Heaven and Hell, and redemption from sin was extremely important. The spirits that visit Scrooge, including Jacob Marley, emphasise this.
The way that Jacob Marley is presented in a frightening way and how he is doomed to wander the earth also adds to the fear, with the chains representing how his sins have trapped him to his horrible fate.

22. One of the most common themes…
….and one to bear in mind when reading ‘A Christmas Carol’, is the idea of sins having the power to curse and affect you or your family in the future.

23. Social class
In the Victorian Era, the class system was a huge part of society and life in Britain. People were segregated by their career and wealth. These groups were the classes and consisted of ranks such as working class, lower class, middle class, upper class, etc. The way people treated you and the opportunities you could get in life were decided by the class you were identified with.

24. Think…
What do you think was happening to the wealthy people in society if the poor were made to work harder?
Why did Dickens feel the need to write this short novel? What was he trying to achieve?
How does his own life influence his writing?

26. Those who were rich lived in the exact opposite way.
They had enormous houses, luxury clothes and servants.
The rich people in Victorian England (most of them, anyway) took little interest in helping the poor.
They felt that poverty was their fault, or a punishment, or something that could be avoided.

27. Written about Christmas, first published at Christmas time. Why?
First published 19th December 1843
This edition sold out by Christmas Eve of that year
Why do you think he chose to set his book at Christmas time?
What does Christmas mean in our society?
Start here on Wednesday

28. What was Christmas like in Victorian London compared to today?
Then
Now

29. Why did Dickens write A Christmas Carol?
Dickens believed that Christmas was the way to restore social harmony. This could be due to his childhood where his father was sent to the debtors’ prison along with seven of his siblings. Dickens stayed with his mother and went into child labour for three months. His experience, although not lasting very long, could be the reason he writes so highly of social harmony and gives sympathy to the lower classes. He uses Christmas as a way to destroy the divides within society.

30. How Charles Dickens did this…
Mainly by comparing and contrasting the considerable difference between rich and poor.

31. Why did he set the story in London?
London in the 1800’s was a rapidly growing city as a result of the industrial revolution, with new factories and workhouses being built all over. Because of this, it was also very dirty, with soot and dust from the chimneys filling the air and covering the streets, along with rubbish and animals such as dogs and rats roam the streets.
The descriptions of London that are described throughout the novel are Dickens’s own perspective, as he moved there from Kent when he was nine. The scenes he portrays and the image of London life are most likely inspired from his own experiences within the city and therefore are a good indicator of what London life in the 19th Century was really like.

32. How would you describe this picture?
What features can you spot?

33. Features of Gothic Fiction
Gloomy, decaying setting (haunted houses or castles with secret passages, trapdoors, and other mysterious architecture). Often cold, foggy and dark.
Supernatural beings or monsters (ghosts, vampires, zombies, giants)
Curses or prophecies
Fallen heroes
Romance
Intense or extreme emotion
Isolation (physical and emotional)
Melodrama and/or sensationalism

34. Gothic features
Can you make a list of Gothic features that you might find in a Gothic story?
Think about A Christmas Carol if you have seen the film.

35. General characters to look for…
General features to look for…
Mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses, castles, darkness, death, madness, secrets.
General characters to look for…
Tyrants, villains, maniacs, heroes, persecuted women, magicians, demons, angels, ghosts.

36. Victorian Gothic
Before Victorian times the setting for Gothic novels was generally a castle, or somewhere in the countryside that was dark, creepy and lonely.
In the Victorian times it became popular to place Gothic novels in an urban setting, particularly in London. Why do you think setting it in London makes it more scary for the reader?