Christmas Flashcards
(27 cards)
Initially, Scrooge is associated with “Darkness”, as he fears and fails to understand the light of the Ghost of Christmas Past and Present, and tries to extinguish it. From a religious pov…
one may interpret this as metaphorical for the way in which Scrooge is no ready for Christ’s redeeming light to enter his world, as he fails to uphold the morals of Christian theology.
Christ is the light of the world, similar to the infamous painting by Holomon Hund
Context - Father Christmas in pre-Victorian traditions
Father Christmas was actually a symbol of the returning spring after winter. Since the Ghost of Christmas Present resembles Father Christmas, and is also associated inherently with the Christmas Spirit, Dickens could be foreshadowing that a redemption, a new beginning, as represented by Spring, is awaiting Scrooge.
Suggests to the readers that they can take Christmas as an opportunity to reflect and start a new.
Could be a subtle allusion to the pathetic fallacy used initially i.e “no warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him”
Many Christmas Traditions emerged in this era, thanks to the increasingly wealthy middle classes who took advantage of the Industrial Revolution:
- Carolling - middle classes went around carolling - so clearly the novella was directed at the business classes - speaking to them through a medium that they have ownership of.
- Gifts given to rich children - Dickens highlights the social injustice present in society through this as we witness Tiny Tim and Ignorance and Want, who represent the younger generations of the poor, towards whom society remained indifferent, no matter the season. Whilst on the one hand, the rich enjoyed lavish banquets, as seen in the vignette in Stave 3, and spoiled their children with gifts, the children of the poor were tackling matters of life or death, suffering and living in corruption.
- Christmas dinner as we know it was founded, i.e. with the traditional turkey. However, only the upper classes could afford turkey, therefore this was a luxury that the poor could not enjoy. However, through Scrooge buying the Cratchits a turkey, metaphorically, Dickens accentuates the fact that Christmas should be universally celebrated, and the lower classes should not be excluded from celebrations due to the class divide. Furthermore, it speaks to the malthusian idea that resources were not enough to support every member of society, however, through Scrooge’s kindness we witness that if the upper classes were more willing to share, to provide for those without the means to provide for themselves, then goods can be evenly distributed easily. There is ‘plenty’ for everyone, there just simply isn’t enough equality and consideration. By selecting a turkey specifically, iconic of the Christmas season, Dickens further amplifies the importance of this during the Christmas season, a holy time, wherein people were expected to be generous, to be kind, to be whole as a community.
IDEA: values we adopt at Christmas should be applied all year round: charity
- Charity and Generosity
The novella emphasises the need for charity and generosity during the Christmas season. As one can observe through the vignette with the Portly Gentlemen, charity during Christmas was common in the Victorian era. And many business classes did contribute to charity. We see Scrooge’s parsimonious nature shine through, as he refuses to donate money. However, perhaps on a deeper level Dickens is underscoring the lack of generosity of the business classes all throughout the year. That being charitable, is simply a characteristic that everybody should adopt in order to build a more equal society. We see this through Scrooge buying the Cratchits a turkey, as well as donating to Charity. He also becomes a “second father” to Tiny Tim, which obviously signifies that Scrooge takes on a paternal role in the lives of the Cratchits - this paternal figure suggests that Dickens wants the upper classes to provide for the lower classes in the same way that a parent provides for their child, since the child cannot protect or fend for itself. The same thinking applies. It is not only through charity, which is unique to Christmas time that matters - it’s being able to uphold charitable attitudes all year round. This is anti-Malthusian i.e whereas Malthusian beliefs taught that there were not enough resources for the lower classes to survive alongside the upper classes, Dickens is emphasising that if the upper classes were more generous, less parsimonious, and supported the poor with their excess wealth, everybody would have an equal distribution of resources, perhaps extinguishing most of the poverty that was increasing in London due to the manifestation of excess wealth in the upper classes - this inequality mostly stemmed from the Industrial Revolution, since it allowed for the business classes who ran businesses to profit as much as possible, whilst labour costs were kept low, in order for this to continue, overtime, leading to an expanding class gap.
IDEA: values we adopt at Christmas should be applied all year round: community
Community was a key part of Christmas in the Victorian period.
Fred’s dialogue in Stave 1 for instance, connects family and Christmas: here, Scrooge does not understand that wealth is not everybody’s raison d’etre. Scrooge asks Fred, “what reason do you have to be merry, you’re poor enough?” - where merriness is inherently associated with the Christmas spirit, Scrooge demands explanation for why one would invest in the Christmas spirit, if they had no money - but this in itself is paradoxical, since Scrooge himself has wealth, yet fails to be merry despite this. Therefore, Dickens is bluntly addressing that money is not one’s reason for happiness and it is certainly not one’s reason for Christmas cheer: it is family. Fred, and the Cratchits are evidence of the importance of family and community, in order to celebrate Christmas, and support one another, through what is an especially difficult time for the poor, and a time where social injustice is accentuated due to the nature of the prevalent celebrations - while the upper classes feast, the poor starve.
However, like the notion of Charity, this idea of community should be pervasive throughout the year. It is in community that we find happiness not wealth - see community cards.
Structure: Staves 5 acts
Subtly exposes the novella as a tragedy, mirroring the 5 act structure of Shakespearian tragedies - perhaps the audience, acknowledged as educated and aware of this culture, also through the reference to Hamlet in Stave 1, would have interpreted this and assumed that Scrooge’s story will be one of tragedy, as it seems to be doomed to be - also through Scrooge’s negative description and overtly two dimensional character.
However, each of these acts are named staves, alluding to a Christmas Carol - this suggests that Christmas itself is a time for change, a time for renewal, when even the most corrupt people can reflect and change for the better - this is suggested through the positive, hopeful, even holy connotations of a Christmas carol, a stave.
Scrooge’s transformation: avarice
During the Renaissance and during the Victorian period, avarice, one of the 7 deadly sins, was deemed the worst. Scrooge’s transformation is inherently a religious redemption since one of the defining aspects of Scrooges metamorphosis is his change in attitude towards money. This implies that Dickens draws inspiration from religious ideals to define ‘goodness’ in the novella.
Christmas: a religious time, to consider religious implications - Marley
Marley’s Ghost is seen to be in a constant state of purgatory - with “incessant torture of remorse” - perhaps this adds an additional religious weight to the novella as it warns the audience that if they do not change their avaricious, misanthropic ways, they will be held accountable in the after life. Christmas is an opportunity to be reminded of the theology of morality, and find the path to redemption to avoid facing a similar fate to Marley - this is also accentuated through the metaphorical “chain” that he “forged in life”
Dickens and religious values in isolation:
while Dickens’ writing does not take a saliently religious viewpoint, it is inferrable that he supports religious values, and Christmas traditions in isolation - he does not agree with the way in which Christmas is celebrated in society, however supports Christian theology as a method to redeem oneself and find community and goodness.
Materialism and Christmas: Stave 3 “dim with their…
delicious steam
The second of the three spirits also serves to convey Dickens’ anti-capitalist and anti-Poor Law message.
The room filled with luxurious food and perhaps “steam” and “dim” are subtle uses of the motif of fog, insinuating that the rich have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas, and turn to materialism instead.
Despite their moral corruption, they construct the facade of a happy, Christian family, with an obscured understanding of Christianity.
Also symbolises the way in which holidays like Christmas lose their initial purpose and are twisted into capitalist shows of wealth, hence the elaborate display of food.
The Ghost of Christmas Present’s resemblance to Jesus AND Father Christmas
He exists both the exemplify the need for holiness and Christmas, and Jesus’ light in a darkening Victorian London, however also underscores the misinterpretation and manipulation of the idea of Christmas in society and the upper classes’ religious hypocrisy.
the true meaning of Christmas has been forgotten and transformed into a commercial holiday, for the upper classes to enjoy, and display their wealth.
Conversely, this whole vignette, and Scrooge’s interpretation of the meaning of Christmas highlights religious hypocrisy in Victorian society - where the upper classes deemed the poor corrupt, immoral and unholy, and themselves noble and moral in their ways, they failed to uphold religious ideals, be moral people, and adopt Christian values like generosity, and compassion - they only seemed religious on a surface level since they continued to attend church and manipulate religious occasions like Christmas to suit them best. “The ancient tower of a church (…) became invisible”.
On the other hand, we see through the Cratchits that the poor were far better at celebrating Christmas and upholding the true meaning of Christianity, since they have no wealth to corrupt them or make them business-oriented. They have their family and their family only, and it is through this that they find happiness and support. They are a religious family, and exemplify the remaining good in society.
“dim with their….”
delicious steam
could possibly be an instance of that same motif of fog, symbolic of the growing loss of morality in Victorian London - but this time, it is specifically caused by materialism - the true meaning of Christmas is being lost as an emphasis on grandiose displays of wealth and luxury is seen - also contradictory towards Malthusian ideas - there is “plenty” for everyone, as displayed through this banquet of food, in great abundance, its only that it is not evenly distributed - this stark inequality and injustice in the distribution of resources is more prominent and more accentuated at Christmas time.
“sparkling __, open _____”
eye/hand
foil to Scrooge’s description, in a similar way to Fred, as the motif of light is used through “sparkling” and the “open hand” in antithesis to the “tight-fisted” Scrooge - suggests that Christmas is a time to be generous, to connect with people, to offer aid, as well as to let the light in.
“antique _______”
scabbard
Same ideas of generosity being echoed as perhaps the fact that the scabbard has no sword in it implies that having the sword is not important if it is donated to someone who is in greater need of it - metaphorical for charity as well as that same idea of taking on a paternal role in the lives of those less fortunate - “antique” could hint that Christmas traditions and the true meaning has been lost in history, forgotten about, deemed antique, as new Victorian conventions replace them, leading to the establishment of a holiday for capitalists and businessmen to indulge in luxury, while others starve.
“shut-up _________”
hearts
suggests that although it is important to be welcoming and charitable at Christmas time, this should translate to the entire year.
“fellow - ________”
passengers
Fred is a foil to Scrooge - perhaps he even brings in Christian theology to this as “fellow-passengers” elaborates on the imagery of the “crowded walks of life” - everyone’s end is the same - death, therefore rather than trying to differentiate one another, discriminate and marginalise others, one should embrace the fact that life is meant to be shared.
“hundreds are in want of ________ _________”
common comforts
While Christmas for the rich was a time to spoil their kids and celebrate with friends, this was far from reality for the poor. The caricature presentation of Ignorance and Want, demonstrates the way in which the upper classes view the poor as desperate and needy - but this quote amplifies the fact that these ppl are not in want of luxury, but rather basic human rights, a want to survive. The alliteration demonstrates how obvious and simple this should be, as if resources were evenly distributed, people would always have these said common comforts, like heating and food and education - yet the rich ignore this problem, treat it as something beyond their powers.
“The ancient tower ____ ____ __________ (….)
of a church (….) became invisible
Once again the idea of “ancient” “antique” - the true meaning of Christmas and the morality of society is fading being lost among the “fog” “thickening” “darkening”, symbolic of the growing avarice and injustice in society.
“What _______ had it ever done him?”
good (talking about christmas)
Scrooge never had a community growing up “feeble fire” - without community, the Christmas Spirit is not as powerful. Initially, “good” in terms of benefit, in the eyes of Scrooge is direct financial gain. Dickens demonstrates through the character of Fred that Christmas can be merry even for those less fortunate - because it is about family.
“Bob’s ____ ______, conferred upon his son and heir in…
honour of the day”
Despite their poverty, the Cratchits still make an effort to honour the day, conserve its joy and special meaning - shows that they are a moral Christian family.
“luxurious thoughts of…
sage and onion”
“God Bless Us
Everyone!”
“I will honour _______ in my _____, and…
Christmas/heart
try to keep it all the year
“perfect ________”
Laocoon
Christmas is a time of change, a time of reflection and redemption.
