a christmas carol analysis essay

A Summary and Analysis of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in six weeks during October and November 1843, and the novella (technically, it is not counted among his novels) appeared just in time for Christmas, on 19 December. The book’s effect was immediate.

The Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle went straight out and bought himself a turkey after reading A Christmas Carol, and the novelist Margaret Oliphant said that it ‘moved us all in those days as if it had been a new gospel’. Even Dickens’s rival, William Makepeace Thackeray, called the book ‘a national benefit’.

Both ‘Scrooge’ and ‘Bah! Humbug’ are known to people who have never read Dickens’s book, or even seen one of the countless film, TV, and theatre adaptations. But what is A Christmas Carol really about, and is there more to this tale of charity and goodwill than meets the eye? Before we offer an analysis of A Christmas Carol , it might be worth briefly summarising the plot of the novella.

The novella is divided into five chapters or ‘staves’. In the first stave, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge rejects his nephew Fred’s invitation to dine with him and his family for Christmas. He reluctantly allows his clerk, Bob Cratchit, to have Christmas Day off work. On Christmas night, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley.

Marley, bound in chains, warns Scrooge that a similar fate awaits him when he dies unless he mends his ways; he also tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits.

The second, third, and fourth staves of A Christmas Carol are devoted to each of the three spirits of Christmas. First, the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Scrooge and reminds him of his lonely childhood at boarding school, and the kindness shown to the young Scrooge by his first employer, Mr Fezziwig (whom we see at a Christmas ball).

Scrooge is also shown a vision recalling his relationship with Belle, a young woman who broke off their engagement because of the young Scrooge’s love of money. The Ghost of Christmas Past then shows Scrooge that Belle subsequently married another man and raised a family with him.

The third stave details the visit from the second spirit: the Ghost of Christmas Present. This spirit shows Scrooge his nephew Fred’s Christmas party as well as Christmas Day at the Cratchits. Bob Cratchit’s youngest son, Tiny Tim, is severely ill, and the Ghost tells Scrooge that the boy will die if things don’t change. He then shows Scrooge two poor, starving children, named Ignorance and Want.

The fourth stave features the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who shows Scrooge his own funeral taking place in the future. It is sparsely attended by a few of Scrooge’s fellow businessmen only. The only two people who express any emotion over Scrooge’s passing are a young couple who owed him money, and who are happy that he’s dead.

Scrooge is then shown a very different scene: Bob Cratchit and his family mourning Tiny Tim’s death. Scrooge is shown his own neglected gravestone, and vows to mend his ways.

The fifth and final stave sees Scrooge waking on Christmas morning a changed man. He sends Bob Cratchit a large turkey for Christmas dinner, and goes to his nephew’s house that afternoon to spend Christmas with Fred’s family. The next day he gives Bob Cratchit a pay rise, and generally treats everyone with kindness and generosity.

A Christmas Carol wasn’t the first Christmas ghost story Dickens wrote. He’d already written ‘ The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton ’, featuring the miserly Gabriel Grub. This was featured as an inset tale in Dickens’s first ever published novel, The Pickwick Papers (1836-7).

The tale shares many of the narrative features which would turn up a few years later in A Christmas Carol : the misanthropic villain, the Christmas Eve setting, the presence of the supernatural (goblins/ghosts), the use of visions which the main character is forced to witness, the focus on poverty and family, and, most importantly, the reforming of the villain into a better person at the close of the story.

But the fact that Dickens had already developed the loose ‘formula’ for the story that would become, in many ways, his best-known work does nothing to detract from its power as a piece of storytelling.

Like a handful of other books of the nineteenth century – Frankenstein and Jekyll and Hyde spring to mind – A Christmas Carol has attained the force of a modern myth, an archetypal tale about the value of helping those in need, in the name of Christian charity and general human altruism. Oliphant’s description of the novella as like a new gospel neatly captures both its Christian flavour (though its message is far broader in its applications than this) and its mythic qualities.

But there is also something of the fairy tale – another form that was attaining new-found popularity in 1840s Britain thanks to the vogue for pantomimes based upon old French tales and the appearance of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales in English – in the story’s patterning of three (three spirits visiting Scrooges), its supernatural elements, and the (spiritual or moral) transformation of its central character.

Indeed, it has almost become something of an origin-myth for many Christmas traditions and associations, and was published at a time when many things now considered typically Christmassy were coming into vogue: Prince Albert’s championing of Christmas trees at the royal court, for instance, and even the practice of sending Christmas cards (the first one was sent in 1843, the same year that A Christmas Carol was published). No wonder many people, when they hear talk of ‘the spirit of Christmas’, tend to think of goodwill to all men, charity, and benevolence.

Dickens invented none of these associations, but his novella helped to cement them in the popular consciousness for good. Even the association of Christmas with snowy weather may have partly been down to Dickens: there are a dozen references to snow in A Christmas Carol , and it’s been argued that Dickens associated snow with Christmas time because of a series of white Christmases in the 1810s, when he was a small child: memories which stayed with him into adulthood.

As with his previous novels, especially Oliver Twist , one of Dickens’s chief aims in A Christmas Carol , along with entertaining his readers, is to highlight to his predominantly middle-class readers the state of poverty and ‘want’ that afflicted millions of their fellow Britons. One of the most telling details in the novella is the revelation, following Scrooge’s conversion, that he will take on the role of father figure to Tiny Tim.

Since Tiny Tim already has a father, the point is perhaps not as clear to modern readers as it would have been to Dickens’s contemporaries: namely that the children of the poor were the responsibility of all of Britain, and if their own parents could not provide for them, then charity and generosity from the well-off was required.

Scrooge ensures this not only by improving Bob Cratchit’s financial situation (giving him a pay rise) but by becoming a friend to the family: money is needed to help fix the problem, Dickens argues, but it’s more valuable if accompanied by genuine companionship and communion between rich and poor, haves and have-nots, and if society works together to help each other.

On a stylistic note, the remarkable thing about A Christmas Carol is that it is entirely representative of Dickens’s work, even while it lacks many of the qualities that make him so popular.

In reflecting Dickens’s strong social conscience and his exposure of the plight of the poor and the callousness of those who refuse to play their part in making things better, it is emblematic of Dickens’s work as a champion of the poor. Its focus on money – and the dangers to those who place too much faith in money and not enough in their fellow human beings – it is also a wholly representative work.

But there are none of the wonderfully drawn comic characters at which he excelled and which, arguably, make his work so distinctively ‘Dickensian’. As a rule, the shorter the Dickens book, the less Dickensian it is, at least in this sense: Hard Times , A Tale of Two Cities , and the five Christmas books all lack those supporting comic characters which make his large, sprawling novels, whatever their shortcomings in plot structure, his most successful books.

But what it lacks in Fat Boys, Sam Wellers, Major Bagstocks, or Mr Micawbers, it more than makes up for in its concentrated plot structure and heart-warming portrayal of a man who learns to use his wealth, but also his sense of social duty, to help those who need it most.

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › British Literature › Analysis of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol

Analysis of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on June 19, 2022

The first of Charles Dickens’s Christmas Books, A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas is a fairy-tale-like ghost story that has contributed much to the formation of the Christmas story as a genre. Written in October and November 1843, it was specifically produced for the Christmas season, which began to be transformed into and was increasingly commercialized as a family celebration during the mid-Victorian era. A Christmas Carol was followed by The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (1845), The Battle of Life (1846), and The Haunted Man (1848).

The story recounts the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge’s spiritual transformation through four ghostly visitations. “[A] squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner . . . secret, and selfcontained, and solitary as an oyster,” he is “an excellent man of business on the very day of [his partner’s] funeral,” which he “solemnised . . . with an undoubted bargain” (7–8). As the opening thus assures the reader of Jacob Marley’s death seven years earlier, it moreover emphasizes Scrooge’s spiritual death-in-life. Scrooge then ridicules his nephew’s seasonal greetings, begrudges his clerk his half-holiday, and repulses charitable organizations, which he regards as interference with the natural “decrease [of] the surplus population” (12). He has little patience with the trappings or the spirit of Christmas: “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!” (10).

Charles Dickens Museum/Oliver Clyde/Rex/Shutterstock

At home in his “gloomy suite of rooms” (14), he finds them haunted, as the knocker is transformed into Marley’s face. Scrooge soon hears an ominous clinking of chains, and Marley’s ghost appears through the door, dragging, like a tail, a chain made of “cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel” (17). The ghost’s gothic paraphernalia have been updated to suit the Victorian businessman. Marley has come to warn Scrooge that his dead partner’s fate might become his own, yet he promises hope of escape. Scrooge is to be haunted by three spirits: the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The first ghost takes Scrooge on a journey back in time, which reflects the Victorians’ growing fascination with time travel. Scrooge sees “his poor forgotten self as he used to be” (27) at school and then working at a warehouse, increasingly eaten up by “the master-passion, Gain” (34). Vicariously reliving the past, he weeps over his childhood self, remembers his nephew as he sees his now-dead sister, and compares the joyful family Christmas of his old love with his own loneliness.

His sympathy with humankind reawakened, he welcomes the Ghost of Christmas Present to teach him another “lesson” (40). He is led to see the festive joy in the suburban dwelling of his clerk, Bob Cratchit, overshadowed by Tiny Tim’s declining health, and with horror, he notices two wretched children, Ignorance and Want, the outgrowths of human indifference, attached to the ghost. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come proceeds to show him his own death, his corpse “plundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for” (64). As Scrooge wakes up on Christmas Day, he rejoices in a new “glorious” day (72). Feeling reborn, he goes forth to send a prize turkey to the Cratchits, donates money, and becomes “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew” (76).

As its full title, A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, promises, the story experiments with different genres (Miller, passim). The preface announces it as a “Ghostly little book” aimed to “raise the Ghost of an Idea” to “haunt [the readers’] houses pleasantly.” While Ebenezer Scrooge is clearly meant to be frightened into compliance with the spirit of Christmas, the description of his encounters with the ghosts remains intently humorous, at times verging on the comical. Thus, when alerted to the “ponderous chain” that will fetter him after his death, “Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable” (19). Haunted by the ghost of his former bunsiness partner Jacob Marley, he likewise attempts to exorcise the vision by blaming it on a “disorder of the stomach”: “You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!” (18). Yet his jokes, as his reliance on a commonsense rejection of the supernatural, quickly wear thin. If Scrooge dismissed the Christmas spirit with his famous exclamation, “Bah! [. . .] Humbug!” (9), in the opening chapter, after the first visitation, he “tried to say ’Humbug!’ but stopped at the first syllable” (22).

The story’s popularity has rested as much in the brilliant simplicity of the tale as in its evocation of 19th-century London and Victorian Christmas festivities. Peter Ackroyd speaks of “the poor, the ignorant, the diseased, the wretched” beyond the hearth, who induce us to “enjoy the flames of the Christmas fire more because of the very shadows which it casts” (414). Yet its themes have also been seen as peculiarly modern and ultimately contemporary. The 1988 film Scrooged, starring Bill Murray, recast Dickens’s tight-fisted businessman as a successful yuppie; a 2000 film version more directly turned him into a loan shark. The countless adaptations also include a Disney production in 1983, with Scrooge McDuck appropriately playing Scrooge; The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992); and Blackadder’s Christmas Carol (1988), evincing the extent to which Scrooge’s story (Davis, passim) has entered popular culture.

Analysis of Charles Dickens’s Novels

BIBLIOGRAPHY Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990. Collins, Philip. “The Reception and Status of the Carol,” Dickensian 89 (1993): 170–172. Davis, Paul. The Lives and Times of Ebenezer Scrooge. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990. Dickens, Charles. Christmas Books. Edited by Eleanor Farjeon. 1954. Reprint, London: Oxford University Press, 1966. Miller, J. Hillis. “The Genres of A Christmas Carol,” Dickensian 89 (1993): 193–206.

Themes and Analysis

A christmas carol, by charles dickens.

'A Christmas Carol' is a well-loved and commonly read novel that focuses on themes of Christmas and poverty.

Article written by Lee-James Bovey

P.G.C.E degree.

Part of the reason that ‘ A Christmas Carol ‘ is so widely studied is the abundance of different themes that it touches upon. Below one can explore the themes, symbols, and more that appear throughout the novel.

A Christmas Carol Themes

Meaning of christmas.

With the title of the book being ‘ A Christmas Carol ‘ you would expect Christmas to feature prominently throughout the novel. What is interesting is that a lot of the traditions that Dickens writes about weren’t quite so commonplace before his novella. So while he did not invent these particular traditions many people credit him with popularizing them. The book also explores what you might call “the true meaning of Christmas” and while this might not be true from a Christian standpoint, from a morality/spiritual view, you could claim that it really does help to make that point.

The Poor in Victorian England

Of course, there is still a massive equality gap between the rich and the poor. I’m sure you will all e familiar with the “one percent” statistic. However, how the poor were treated was far more extreme in Victorian England. Any study of the time will tell you about the working conditions for the lower classes. Workhouses were a terrible place and menial and dangerous jobs such as sweeping chimneys still existed.

Charles Dickens only really scratched the surface of this. I think he wanted to make it accessible to all classes so he could better spread his message. I think this is why the character of Fezziwig exists to show that Scrooge is not representative of all the upper classes. He is designed to show that the wealthy can make a significant difference.

Gothic Conventions

‘ A Christmas Carol ‘ is rarely classified as a gothic novel. Partially because of the nature of its main character. But it does share a lot of gothic conventions. For a start, there is the use of ghosts throughout. Ghost stories were very popular during the Victorian era. Then there are some of the settings contained in ‘ A Christmas Carol ‘. Such as the graveyard at the end.

A Christmas Carol : Key Moments

Being such a short story there is very little that is extraneous. Of course, Dickens does use his trademark lengthy descriptions but nearly everything has a point. However, some of the scenes are to help develop Scrooge’s character and add backstory. So we have tried where possible to focus on the most vital sections of the novella.

Scrooge meets the charity collectors

At this point, Scrooge’s character has become fairly well established but the reason that this particular meeting is of such importance is that it highlight’s Scrooge’s outlook towards the poor as well as provides his comments about how the poor should be treated. These words are then used against him by the ghost of the Christmas present.

Scrooge meets the ghost of Jacob Marley

Jacob Marley’s demise is possibly part of what shaped Scrooge into the person that he is. Losing a business partner around Christmas time could not have been easy. That being said the fact that Marley is suffering damnation suggests that he too led a similar path to Scrooge. Marley’s ghost is the one that kicks everything off but also acts as a mirror to Scrooge to show him the error of his ways. However, this in itself would probably not have been enough to alter his ways.

Fezziwig’s party

Fezziwig’s character is an understated part of the story of ‘ A Christmas Carol ‘ . It acts as a mirror for Scrooge’s wealth and position but also as a stark contrast in approach. Fezziwg really represents what Scrooge has and what he could (and eventually does) become. This scene is very clever as well because not only does seeing the Fezziwig’s party give Scrooge’s character the chance to see how much power he wields and how that influence could be used but it also offers us the opportunity to see some of the aspects that shaped Scrooge into the person that he was.

Seeing Tiny Tim

If you watch any of the adaptations of ‘ A Christmas Carol ‘ Tiny Tim is almost always one of the loveable characters and with good reason. In many ways, it is the child who can most tug on Scrooge’s heartstrings.

We see when Scrooge is presented with the poor children (Want and Ignorance) how instinctively and perhaps despite his character that he is compelled to want to help. However, these are two children that he has no control over. When he sees Tiny Tim and his jubilance despite his disadvantages, Scrooge cannot help but feel compassion and by association guilt, as he has seen from the effect Fezziwg had on his staff that he could have a similar influence on Tiny Tim.

Hearing comments made about himself

Dickens is very clever in his use of dialogue in this section of the story as the Ghost of Future Yet To Come shows Scrooge the people that are talking about his death. There is a very real suggestion that Scrooge knows that the people are describing him. And perhaps it’s because we know the story so well, or maybe because it is pretty obvious, most readers will probably understand that they are in fact commenting on Scrooge. Of course, the suggestion that people might be talking about him is beastly to Scrooge.

The idea that anybody would be so callous about the dead is quite jarring and would have been especially impactful with a conservative Victorian readership. Of course, the fact that this is obvious does not detract from the big reveal due to the way that Dickens masterfully creates tension.

Being given a second chance

You could make a strong argument for this being a tale of redemption. Scrooge can see the error of his ways and then acts accordingly to become a better person. Of course, these changes seldom happen so quickly in reality and perhaps that’s part of the reason that ‘ A Christmas Carol ‘ does not receive the critical acclaim that you could argue it deserves.

What I think is really clever is that the story is framed so that when we see the ghost of Christmas past, seeing the things that shaped Scrooge into the man he is at the beginning of the play starts to let us feel sympathy for him so that when he is offered a second chance as a reader, we are glad he gets to redeem himself.

Style, Tone, and Figurative Language

The style of ‘ A Christmas Carol ‘ is conversational and direct. His narrator describes events as they happened and doesn’t spend a great deal of time on extraneous details. The tone is impatient as he does so. The speaker is clearly fed up with Scrooge’s behaviour and wants him to get to the end of his journey and realize his mistakes as soon as possible.

Throughout the book, Dickens makes use of metaphors, personification, imagery, and more. For example, the first ghost is a metaphor for how memories and the past shape one’s experience, while the last ghost is a metaphor for death and one’s legacy.

A Christmas Carol Symbols

Marley’s chains.

Marley’s chains symbolize the mistakes he’s made in life and the greed that controlled him. They now drag him down in death, and he’s forced to wander the earth, unable to undo what he did before.

The Ghost of Christmas Future

The ghost of Christmas future symbolizes death and the mistakes that are sure to haunt him after his death. Without the ghost of Christmas future, Scrooge would’ve been unlikely to change.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

The ghost of Christmas yet to come is a symbol of the effect that memories have on someone as they age. Without the trauma from Scrooge’s youth and the death of his sister, Fran, it’s unlikely that he would’ve become the person that he did.

What are the 4 major themes of A Christmas Carol ?

4 major themes of this novel are forgiveness, the influence of the past, greed, and poverty.

What does fire symbolize in A Christmas Carol ?

Fire symbolizes emotion and warmth. The dying fire at the beginning of the novel symbolizes Scrooge’s lack of either.

What is the problem in A Christmas Carol ?

The problem is internal, within Scrooge’s heart. He begins with no compassion for others but eventually learns a better way to live.

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About Lee-James Bovey

Lee-James, a.k.a. LJ, has been a Book Analysis team member since it was first created. During the day, he's an English Teacher. During the night, he provides in-depth analysis and summary of books.

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A Christmas Carol

Charles dickens, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Books — A Christmas Carol

Essays on A Christmas Carol

Prompt examples for "a christmas carol" essays, redemption and transformation.

Discuss the theme of redemption and transformation in "A Christmas Carol." How does Ebenezer Scrooge's journey from a miserly and cold-hearted man to a generous and compassionate one illustrate the possibility of change and personal growth?

The Impact of the Ghosts

Analyze the roles and symbolism of the three spirits—Past, Present, and Future—in the novella. How do they influence Scrooge's understanding of his own life and the consequences of his actions? Discuss the lessons imparted by each ghost.

Social Critique and Poverty

Examine Charles Dickens' critique of social inequality and poverty in Victorian England. How does the novella shed light on the hardships faced by the poor and the indifference of the wealthy? Discuss the contrast between Scrooge's wealth and the Cratchit family's poverty.

The Symbolism of Christmas

Discuss the symbolism of Christmas in the novella. How does the holiday represent themes of joy, love, and goodwill, and how is it contrasted with Scrooge's initial disdain for it? Analyze the significance of the Cratchits' celebration.

Scrooge's Character Development

Analyze the growth and development of Ebenezer Scrooge as a character. How do his experiences with the spirits and the visions of his past, present, and future shape his personality and actions? Discuss the factors that lead to his transformation.

The Role of Tiny Tim

Explore the significance of the character Tiny Tim in the novella. How does his vulnerability and need for assistance highlight the importance of compassion and social responsibility? Discuss the impact of Tiny Tim on Scrooge's transformation.

Hook Examples for "A Christmas Carol" Essays

Anecdotal hook.

"As I delved into the heartwarming tale of Scrooge's redemption and transformation, I couldn't help but reflect on the timeless message of generosity, compassion, and the power of second chances."

Rhetorical Question Hook

"What does it take for a miserly old man to undergo a profound change of heart and rediscover the true spirit of Christmas? Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' invites us to explore themes of redemption and the human capacity for change."

Startling Quote Hook

"'I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.' Ebenezer Scrooge's vow serves as a poignant reminder of the novella's enduring message of goodwill and transformation."

Historical Hook

"Set in Victorian London during a period of social and economic upheaval, 'A Christmas Carol' provides a window into the challenges and inequalities of the time. Exploring this historical context adds depth to the narrative."

Narrative Hook

"Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his extraordinary journey through the past, present, and future as he confronts his own life choices. This narrative captures the essence of Charles Dickens' storytelling."

Character Transformation Hook

"Witness Scrooge's remarkable transformation from a cold-hearted miser to a benevolent soul. Analyzing the character arc adds depth to the narrative."

Moral Lessons Hook

"What moral lessons can we learn from the experiences of Scrooge and the spirits? Exploring the ethical dimensions of the novella prompts reflection on our own values and actions."

Christmas Spirit Hook

"How does 'A Christmas Carol' capture the essence of the holiday spirit? Delving into the themes of generosity, family, and community sheds light on the novella's enduring appeal."

Social Commentary Hook

"In a time marked by social disparities, 'A Christmas Carol' serves as a commentary on the plight of the poor and the responsibilities of the wealthy. Examining the novella's social impact offers valuable insights."

Dickens' Literary Legacy Hook

"How does 'A Christmas Carol' contribute to Charles Dickens' literary legacy? Exploring the novella's place in Dickens' body of work reveals its enduring significance in literature and culture."

Future Ghost in a Christmas Carol

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19 December 1843, Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas

Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Fred, Fezziwig, Belle, Peter Cratchit, Martha Cratchit, Fan, The Portly Gentlemen, Mrs. Cratchit

1. Jaffe, A. (1994). Spectacular sympathy: visuality and ideology in Dickens's A Christmas Carol. PMLA, 109(2), 254-265. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/spectacular-sympathy-visuality-and-ideology-in-dickenss-a-christmas-carol/5B6363CBCC63BF021719079F3B1269BB) 2. Davis, P. (1990). Literary History: Retelling A Christmas Carol: Text and Culture-Text. The American Scholar, 59(1), 109-115. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/41211762) 3. Butterworth, R. D. (1993). 'A Christmas Carol'and the masque. Studies in short fiction, 30(1), 63-70. (https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA14085617&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00393789&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E3330b394) 4. Rossetti, C. G. (1887). A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Hobby horse, x-xi. (https://www.proquest.com/openview/b179c1c578656647/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=14714) 5. Ferrari, A., Signoroni, S., Silva, M., Gaggiotti, P., Veneroni, L., Magni, C., ... & Massimino, M. (2017). “Christmas Balls”: a Christmas carol by the adolescent cancer patients of the Milan Youth Project. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.5301/tj.5000597?journalCode=tmja) 6. Hancock, P. (2016). A Christmas carol: A reflection on organization, society, and the socioeconomics of the festive season. (https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amr.2016.0038?journalCode=amr) 7. Hancher, M. (2008). Grafting A Christmas Carol. SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, 48(4), 813-827. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/254074/summary) 8. Burleson, D. R. (1992). Dickens's a Christmas Carol. The Explicator, 50(4), 211-212. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00144940.1992.9935321?journalCode=vexp20) 9. Preston, S. (2012). Existential Scrooge: A Kierkegaardian Reading of A Christmas Carol. Literature Compass, 9(11), 743-751. (https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1741-4113.2012.00909.x)

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A Christmas Carol

Keep an eye out for a christmas carol games, puzzles and quizzes throughout the site..., a christmas carol revision, below, you'll find everything you need to revise for a christmas carol - and if you need anything else, just let us know and we'll do our very best. it's what we ask of you, so it's the least we c ould offer in return....

Revision Materials

Social Injustice

Essay Writing

Ten Key Essays

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What are the AOs?

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Miss Huttlestone's GCSE English

Because a whole class of wonderful minds are better than just one!

Model Grade 9 ‘ACC’ essay: Christmas as a Joyful Time

Starting with this extract, explore how far Dickens presents Christmas as a joyful time. (30 marks)

Throughout Dickens’ allegorical novella, his aim is to passionately highlight how such a joyful season can create positive role models for Scrooge. The constant succession of images relating to joy around Christmas may well have been utilised to demonstrate how readers too can learn and improve from the inspirational characters during the novella.

Primarily, within stave 1 of the novella, Dickens utilises the characterisation of Fred as the embodiment of the Christmas spirit with all the positive virtues associated with Christmas. This is evidenced when Fred is described as coming in ‘all in a glow’ with ‘his face ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled.’ Here the use of the noun ‘glow’ connotes light and warmth which is strongly linked to hope and purity. This highlights the contrast between Fred and his uncle Scrooge, who was described as ‘hard and sharp as flint.’ Structurally, introducing Fred immediately after Scrooge focuses the reader’s attention on the clear variation between the two and all of the positive qualities that Scrooge lacks. Furthermore, Fred highlights the belief that Christmas is a time for unity within the social hierarchy although it ‘never puts a scrap of gold or silver’ in his pocket and he frowns upon his uncle, completely consumed in the greed for money. Dickens may have done this to foreshadow Scrooge’s transformation into a better man as a result of the inspirational role models around him during the novella. Alternatively, Dickens may have used Fred and Scrooge together to challenge the situation in Victorian Britain during the Industrial Revolution. Scrooge highlights all of the negative traits of upper class men during this time and Fred is a caring and benevolent character, who cares for people lower down on the social hierarchy.

Secondly, within the extract, Dickens utilises the characterisation of Fezziwig to suggest a clear contrast in the two employers. This is evidenced when Fezziwig ‘laughed all over himself, from his shoes to his organ of benevolence.’ The use of the abstract noun ‘benevolence’ suggests the joy and love Fezziwig has for Christmas time. Fezziwig’s kind, caring personality is another role model and catalyst for Scrooge’s transformation. Furthermore, Dickens presents Christmas as a joyful time through Fezziwig’s Christmas party. ‘Fuel was heaped upon the fire’ and the warehouse was transformed into a ‘snug, and warm’ ballroom filled with light. The use of the adjective ‘warm’ connotes kindness and comfort. The detail here in Fezziwig’s scene overwhelms the senses; his generosity is physical, emotional and palpable. As an employer he is the foil of Scrooge and presents all of the positive virtues that Scrooge lacks. Dickens may have done this to highlight a different side to capitalism. Alternatively, presenting Fezziwig as the embodiment of Christmas suggests the importance of Christmas and all of its positive qualities on everyone in society.

Thirdly, within the novella, Dickens utilises the Ghost of Christmas Present to personify Christmas itself. When the ghost appears it has set up an impressive feast of lights and food. This is evidenced when Scrooge’s room is filled with ‘the crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there, and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney.’ The scene is hyperbolic and creates a clear contrast with the frugal state of Scrooge’s past Christmases. The use of the light imagery here provides a clear and undeniable tableau of the joyful Christmases Scrooge can afford but chooses to shun. Dickens may have done this to portray Christmas as a bright and familiar celebration which everyone should celebrate in harmony. A modern reader may feel hope that Scrooge will use his wealth to celebrate Christmas with all of the festivities that Christmas should include and celebrate it with the people that care for him, like his nephew Fred.

Finally, in ‘A Christmas Carol’ Dickens reinforces the theme of Christmas spirit through the Cratchit family. Dickens utilises Bob Cratchit to symbolise the true spirit of Christmas and the importance of family. This is evidenced at the Cratchit’s dinner where nobody remarked that it was ‘a small pudding for a large family’. The adjective ‘small’ emphasises the Cratchit’s lack of luxury and yet their enthusiasm in the scene is palpable. This highlights that this ‘small’ pudding was seen as an indulgence to them which is something Scrooge takes for granted. Furthermore, the Cratchit’s ‘four roomed house’ is filled with an overwhelming sense of energy and excitement, which exists as an antithesis of Scrooge’s ‘old…dreary’ abode. This is evidenced as the youngest Cratchit children ‘danced about the table’ this suggests the sense of energy despite their lowly status in society on this festive day. Dickens may have done this to suggest the importance of Christmas to all members of society. Although the Cratchit family are less fortunate than Scrooge or Fred their Christmas is filled with the love they have for each other. A reader may feel delighted to see this family enjoying Christmas day, contented with what they own and hope that Scrooge will see this family as a role model for his transformation.