A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Tradition
by Charles Dickens
2015
 Dickens applied his unique
power of observation to the
city in which he spent most of
his life. He routinely walked
the city streets, 10 or 20 miles
at a time.
 His descriptions of nineteenth
century London allow readers
to experience the sights,
sounds, and smells of the old
city. This ability to immerse
the reader into time and place
sets the perfect stage for
Dickens to weave his fiction.
Then and Now – London 1843 and Today
London in 1843
 Victorian London was the
largest, most spectacular
city in the world. While
Britain was experiencing
the Industrial Revolution,
its capital was both
reaping the benefits and
suffering the
consequences.
 In 1800 the population of
London was around one
million souls. That
number would swell to
4.5 million by 1880.
 While fashionable areas
like Regent and Oxford
streets were growing in
the west, new docks
supporting the city's
place as the world's
trade center were being
built in the east.
 Perhaps the biggest
 Imagine yourself in the
impact on the growth of
London of the early 19th
London was the coming
century. The homes of the
of the railroad in the
upper and middle class exist
1830s which displaced
in close proximity to areas
thousands and
of unbelievable poverty and
accelerated the
filth.
expansion of the city
 Rich and poor alike are
 The price of this
thrown together in the
explosive growth and
crowded city streets. Street
domination of world
sweepers attempt to keep
trade was untold squalor
the streets clean of manure,
(poverty) and filth.
the result of thousands of
horse-drawn vehicles.
Imagine
 The city's thousands of
chimney pots belch coal
smoke, resulting in soot which
seems to settle everywhere.
 In many parts of the city raw
 Pick-pockets, prostitutes,
sewage flows in gutters that
drunks, beggars, and
empty into the Thames.
vagabonds add to the
colorful multitude.
 Personal cleanliness is not a
big priority, nor is clean
laundry.
A Christmas Carol London…
 In 1843, about one third of the
people in London, England
lived in poverty.
 The Poor Law of 1834 forced
the homeless into workhouses
that were little more than
prisons.
 Dickens wanted to (1.) show
people the suffering of the
poor and (2. )convince people
who read his play that these
conditions needed to be
changed.
Elements of Drama
1. stage directions – instructions for actors, and stage crew
2. drama – a story to be performed before an audience
3. climax- the moment of highest tension and excitement in
the plot of a drama
4. dialogue – a conversation between characters in a drama
5. script – drama written form, including character’s lines
6. foil – a character who provides a sharp contrast to the
qualities of the main character (antagonist)
7. props – the objects the actors use during the play (cup,
chair, book)
8. scenes/acts – divisions in a drama (similar to chapters in
a novel)
Stage Directions
Vocabulary
1.
2.
3.
solitude – the state of being alone
charitable – generous in giving
incoherent – Unable to think or express one's
thoughts in a clear or orderly manner
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
finale – at the end, the concluding part
odious – causing or deserving strong dislike
currency - money
welfare – a supplying of needs
emerge – to come into sight
provision - a supplies of food or other basic needs
summon – to call for with authority or urgency
Match the vocabulary words to the pictures
Vocabulary (cont.)
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
mortal – human, of the earth
surplus – extra, more than is needed
abundance - great amount or supply
macabre – suggesting the horror of death and
decay
endeavor - to try
transform – to change the form or appearance of
pledge - word of honor, oath
reassurance – a restoring of confidence
anonymous – not having one’s name known
destitute – lacking the necessities of life
Match the vocabulary words to the pictures
A Quick Review
 Setting- The time and place of a story
Example: It was December 24th, 1824, on a snowy
Christmas eve in Victorian London.
 Personification- Giving human characteristics
to non-human things
Example: The knife and fork looked on happily as
father began to carve the turkey.
 Foreshadowing- Hinting at things to come
Example: Scrooge wished he could rid himself of the
sick feeling in his gut that told him something
terrible was going to happen.
What do you already know?
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
 Overview-- Ebenezer
Scrooge, a tight-fisted and
bitter man, is visited by
three spirits to bring about
his redemption before his
death. He learns to love his
fellow man after being
shown the love and
generosity that symbolizes
Christmas.
Introduction by Charles Dickens
foreshadowing…....
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (1812-1870), English
Victorian era author wrote numerous
highly acclaimed novels.
•Dickens‘ writing style is flowing and
poetic, with a strong comic touch.
• Many people thought of Dickens as an advocate for the poor, at a
time when there was little sympathy towards those in
poverty.
• Dickens other works include: Great Expectations, David
Copperfield, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Bleak
House, Nicholas Nickleby, The Pickwick Papers
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (1812-1870), was the
second child of John and Elizabeth Dickens.
• The Dickens family was on shaky financial ground from the beginning
• John Dickens did not have a good head for numbers and he dabbled
in journalism, which influenced his son, but failed to bring the family
much income.
• By 1823, things had gotten so bad that Dickens was forced to
withdraw from school because they could not afford it.
• Two days after his 12th birthday, Charles was sent to work at
Warren’s Blacking Factory. His father was sentenced to prison
because of failure to repay a debt. The entire family with the
exception of Charles and his older sister Fanny moved into John’s
prison cell.
Charles Dickens
• Charles lived alone at a boarding house while his family was in prison.
This situation was more than the sensitive 12 year old could bear. He
became very sickly.
• Finally his father inherited some money and was able to arrange to
have his debt paid off and the family moved in together at the boarding
house where Charles had been living. He was able at that time to go
back to school.
• Charles never got over his terror of poverty. Nor did he ever forget the
deprivations he endured during his family crisis.
• Scenes from the factory, the boarding house, and the debtor’s prison
are seen throughout his fiction.
• At 14 he got a job as a law clerk, and started hanging out around
London’s Theater district. He got his first gig as a professional writer at
16, working as a freelance court reporter.
A Christmas Carol
 It’s hard to imagine a
Christmas season without the
story of old Scrooge, Bah
Humbug! and “God bless us,
every one.” At the time this
story was written (1843), the
generous spirit of Christmas
charity didn’t exist in England.
Many people did not believe in
generosity to the poor.
Instead, they believed the poor
somehow brought poverty upon
themselves.
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A Christmas Carol
 In a clever play on
words, Dickens divides
the book into 5 “staves”
instead of chapters.
Staves is a musical term,
in keeping with the title,
A Christmas Carol–
which, of course, is a
song.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
The character of the Grinch
is based on the protagonist
of “A Christmas Carol” –
Scrooge. As we read the
drama, note similarities in
the two main characters
and the plot of both the
book and the play.
Protagonist & Antagonist
“A Christmas Carol” is unusual because
Scrooge, the Protagonist (usually the good
guy), is a very BAD guy. The antagonist
(usually the bad guy) is the good guy.
Remember that the antagonist is the person
who causes the conflict
for the protagonist. They
are not always good guys
or bad guys.