Theme - Morality Flashcards
(20 cards)
What is the Christmas carol? (Didactic _____ and _____messages )
‘A Christmas Carol’ is a didactic novel with many moral messages. The novel gives Dickens a platform to voice his socialist ideas and to also show the immorality in Victorian society.
What policies were created in the Victorian society?
Policies such as the Poor Law 1834 which created union workhouses which were cruel unforgiving places which Dickens believed to be completely unethical.
How does dickens show the importance of morality in our daily lives?
In the Victorian era morality and philanthropy were linked and many believed that it was a moral
duty to contribute to charity, especially as Christians. Contrastingly others believed
that charity actually made poverty worse (read more about this is ‘Poverty and Charity’ Context Notes), it is possible that some even believed that they did not have enough money to give.
How does dickens illustrate philanthropy?
philanthropy (which became very popular in the Victorian era) did not have to be grand wealthy displays. Instead Dickens shows that being good and being charitable is about a change in behaviour, being a good person does not mean just giving money away, instead it’s about the way you act.
How is Scrooge transformation seen in stave five?(charity)
• In Stave 5 where the results of Scrooge’s transformation is seen, Scrooge is more giving and charitable as he speaks to Bob Cratchit saying “I am about to raise your salary”. This is of course a dramatic change from a man who was once
“tight-fisted”.
• However, it can be argued that the biggest change is his attitude as he is filled with the Christmas Spirit and becomes a “good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man”.
• Through Scrooge’s change dickens shows the steps to being morally good person
What was the purpose of dual nature in the Victorian era?
Their purpose was to entertain but also to inform readers or act as a tool for social conformity.
What were many of the moral ideologies influenced by?
The bible and christian doctrines ( dickens was a Christian)
What does Scrooge being described as “covetous old sinner” link to?
Covetousness is a sin and exodus is mentioned in one of Ten Commandments.
True or false dickens was a Christian who also had beliefs which didn’t necessarily align with the bible
True for example dickens don’t believe that Christianity and salvation was the only way to change , he believed change was possible through a persons self awareness.
Did dickens believe being a good Christian was going to church every Sunday?
No more about finding opportunities to do good deeds.
How is dickens believe that deeds are more important than going to church represented?
This belief is echoed in Stave 3 by The Ghost of Christmas Present when he states that “There are some upon this earth of yours […] who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived.”
Why did Scrooge believe that the ghosts were God or as least related to God?
The Ghost is essentially saying that although some people may call themselves Christians claiming that they know God but instead the way they actually act is contradictory to what “what they lay claim to”. The listing of the sins builds on each other creating an overwhelming effect on the reader.
Through the voice of the Ghost Dickens hints that Christianity does not necessarily mean morality.
What does Marley’s ghost show the eternal consequences of?
Liven immoal life through Marley’s ghost.
Marley’s ghost has been trapped in purgatory.
He explains how if a “spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death” and because of his actions during his life he is “doomed to wander the earth”.
The “phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went”. What do the phantoms being audible suggest?
suggests the depth of their suffering, it can be argued that it even humanises them, the way in which another sense confirms what Scrooge is seeing with his eyes verifies the experience.
Marley’s ghost is a realisation of the Christian ideology that if you live immorally in life then you will be______
eternally damned. Victorian society was incredibly religious and so Marley’s fate would have resonated with many of the Victorian readers. Old Marley’s Ghost is a deterrent not just for Scrooge but towards the reader, it confirms beliefs or even fears which they may already have.
How does the ghost of yet to come show Scrooge’s effect of death on people?
Instead of people mourning people feel relief and joy because of it.
The three thieves illustrate to the reader a cycle of immorality (how)?
through the three thieves who come to profit off of Scrooge’s effects. His wicked and cruel behaviour in life has left the same legacy after his death and, because of this, others such as the thieves belief it is justice for them to mimic that same behaviour.
Mrs Dilber argues that “Every person has a right to take care of themselves” because “(Scrooge) always did. Therefore what they’re doing is _____?
Stealing from a deadman is not unethical or immoral but instead is just “a judgment on him”. The short 3 word sentence “He always did” expresses a stark truth, a simple fact. “He” is also italicised which put an emphasis on Scrooge, depicting him as the focus and showing that all which is happening to him after death is on him Scrooge bears the weight of it all.
What does dickens try to exihibit to the augience when mrs dilber says “everyone has a right to take care of themselves”?
Through this Dickens tries to exhibit to the audience the consequences of bad behaviour and shows the reader how immorality bleeds immorality; it is everyone’s duty to live a moral life not just for their own sake and their legacy but also for the sake of others.
