A Christmas Carol TOP GRADE ANALYSIS
Summary
TLDRThis insightful script explores the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge in 'A Christmas Carol,' suggesting his change begins with a visit to Fezziwig's party and deepens with his concern for Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim. It posits that Dickens' true message is a call to employers for fair wages and paternalistic care, not just charity. The script delves into themes of fatherhood, social responsibility, and the importance of education in poverty alleviation, revealing Scrooge's personal journey from fear of abandonment to embracing life fully.
Takeaways
- 🎄 The traditional view of Scrooge's transformation in 'A Christmas Carol' is challenged, suggesting that his change begins in Stave 2 rather than after the visit from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
- 👥 Dickens' focus on Scrooge's role as an employer and the wages of Bob Cratchit implies a message to his readers, who were likely middle-class employers, to improve working conditions and wages for their employees.
- 💼 The amount of Bob Cratchit's wage is emphasized to highlight Scrooge's initial miserliness as an employer, not just as a person, and the broader societal implications of fair wages.
- 🚶♂️ Research into the average distance a Victorian bank worker would walk to work is used to draw a parallel with Bob Cratchit's commute, reinforcing the relatability of Bob's situation to the novel's readers.
- 🏡 Dickens' detailed descriptions of locations in the novel serve to connect the experiences of Scrooge and Bob Cratchit to the real-life conditions of London during the Victorian era.
- 💰 The novel concludes with Scrooge deciding to pay Bob more, underscoring the importance of fair wages over charity as a means of social change.
- 👨👧 The theme of fatherhood is introduced through Tiny Tim and Scrooge's developing paternal role, emphasizing the societal expectation for men to take on a nurturing and supportive role.
- 👴 The inclusion of the ghosts of Ignorance and Want within the robe of Christmas Present serves as a warning about the potential for social unrest and the necessity of education as a means to alleviate poverty.
- 📚 Dickens' personal financial struggles and his passion for educating the poor are reflected in the novel's themes, suggesting that social improvement is closely tied to access to education.
- 🤑 The portrayal of Scrooge's death and the characters who steal from him is used to criticize the insufficient wages of the poor, suggesting that even criminals are victims of an unfair economic system.
- 🧳 Scrooge's past relationships, particularly with Belle, are analyzed to show how past experiences can unconsciously influence personality and decision-making, offering a nuanced view of his character development.
Q & A
What is the traditional interpretation of Scrooge's transformation in 'A Christmas Carol'?
-The traditional interpretation is that Scrooge changes once he has been confronted by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
At which point in the story does the script suggest Scrooge starts to change his mind?
-Scrooge first starts to change his mind in Stave 2 when he goes back in time to Fezziwig's Christmas party.
Why is Scrooge's inquiry about Bob Cratchit's situation significant according to the script?
-It is significant because it suggests that Dickens wants to reach his readers who are employers more than those who just give to charity, emphasizing the importance of fair wages.
What specific detail does Dickens use to show Scrooge is not a miserly employer?
-Dickens specifies the amount that Fred is going to be paid if he gets his job and how much Bob is paid, showing Scrooge is paying the going rate.
How does the script suggest Dickens wanted to connect with his London readers regarding Bob Cratchit's living situation?
-Dickens is careful to let readers know exactly where Scrooge's offices and where Bob lives, to make the connection that Bob's treatment is not worse than other employees in Victorian England.
What was the main message Dickens wanted to convey to employers through 'A Christmas Carol'?
-Dickens' main message is that social change should come through fair wages and not just charity, emphasizing the importance of employers paying a living wage.
Why were the first readers of 'A Christmas Carol' likely to be middle-class employers?
-They were likely to be middle-class employers because they could afford the first edition, which was expensive, and they typically employed serving staff at home.
What theme is introduced in Stave 3 that underpins the whole novel according to the script?
-The theme of fatherhood is introduced in Stave 3, which underpins the whole novel.
How does Scrooge's relationship with Tiny Tim develop throughout the novel?
-Scrooge develops a paternal role through Tiny Tim, which is emphasized at the end of the novel when Scrooge becomes a second father to Tiny Tim.
What was Dickens' financial situation when he wrote 'A Christmas Carol'?
-Dickens was in financial straits, having spent a lot on a tour of America and needing to earn money quickly, which led him to write a Christmas story.
What political message does Dickens convey about the importance of education for the poor?
-Dickens conveys that education is crucial for the poor to improve their lives and that denying them education could lead to violence and revolution.
How does the script suggest Dickens used the character of Scrooge to explore the impact of past relationships on personality?
-The script suggests that Dickens explores the impact of past relationships, such as Scrooge's with his father and Belle, on his personality and future decisions.
What does the script imply about Scrooge's choice of Belle as a bride and its connection to his past?
-The script implies that Scrooge's choice of a much younger Belle and their prolonged engagement created circumstances for her to leave him, mirroring the abandonment he experienced in his past.
How does the script interpret Scrooge's transformation at the end of the novel?
-The script interprets Scrooge's transformation as a result of overcoming his fear of abandonment, allowing him to embrace life and find joy in his fellow man.
Outlines
🎄 'A Christmas Carol': Dickens' Social Commentary
This paragraph explores the idea that Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' is not just a tale of personal transformation for Ebenezer Scrooge but also a social commentary aimed at employers. It suggests that Scrooge's change begins during the second stave, when he is taken to Fezziwig's Christmas party, and his concern for Bob Cratchit indicates a shift in his views on employment. Dickens is believed to be urging employers to pay fair wages, as evidenced by the detailed information about wages and the distance Bob walks to work. The author argues that the novel's message is more about social change through fair wages than charity, as the ending focuses on Scrooge's decision to increase Bob's pay rather than his charitable contributions.
👨👧 Fatherhood and Social Responsibility in 'A Christmas Carol'
The second paragraph delves into the theme of fatherhood and its significance in the novel. It posits that Scrooge's transformation is also influenced by his evolving relationship with Tiny Tim, which represents a paternal role that Dickens believed was crucial in a patriarchal society. The author suggests that Dickens wanted wealthy men to take on a more paternalistic role towards the poor, providing for them not just through charity but through fair wages and opportunities. The paragraph also discusses the importance of education as a means to lift the poor out of poverty, using the figures of Ignorance and Want to illustrate the potential for social unrest without proper education and living wages.
💔 Emotional Attachments and Patterns in Scrooge's Life
This paragraph examines the psychological aspects of Scrooge's character, focusing on how his past relationships and experiences have shaped his personality and decisions. It discusses Scrooge's relationship with Belle and how his longing for fatherhood is tied to his own feelings of abandonment. The author suggests that Scrooge's choice of a much younger Belle as a bride was a subconscious repetition of his own abandonment by his father, mother, and sister. The paragraph concludes by highlighting how Scrooge's transformation is not just about overcoming his miserly ways but also about healing from past emotional wounds and embracing life fully.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Scrooge
💡Transformation
💡Employer
💡Charity
💡Patriarchal Society
💡Living Wage
💡Education
💡Faith and Fatherhood
💡Social Change
💡Attachment
💡Grief and Loss
Highlights
The traditional interpretation of Scrooge's change is challenged, suggesting his transformation begins in Stave 2.
Scrooge's initial change of heart is linked to his visit to Fezziwig's Christmas party and his subsequent inquiry about Bob Cratchit.
Dickens' focus on the wages of Fred and Bob Cratchit emphasizes the importance of fair employment practices over charity.
The average Victorian bank worker's commute is compared to Bob Cratchit's, highlighting the relatability of his situation.
Scrooge's decision to increase Bob Cratchit's wages is presented as more impactful than his charity contributions.
The original readers of 'A Christmas Carol' were likely middle-class employers, making the message of fair wages particularly relevant.
Scrooge's transformation is not solely due to the ghosts but also his concern for Tiny Tim's future.
The theme of fatherhood is introduced through Scrooge's developing relationship with Tiny Tim.
Dickens' personal financial struggles influenced the novel's focus on the importance of education for the poor.
The novel's central message is the necessity of social change through fair wages and education, not just charity.
The presence of Ignorance and Want within the Ghost of Christmas Present symbolizes the potential for societal unrest without education.
The structural placement of the Ignorance and Want scene at the center of the novel emphasizes its significance.
Scrooge's encounter with the thieves after his death reveals the desperation of the poor due to insufficient wages.
Scrooge's character is analyzed for psychological depth, with his past relationships influencing his personality and decisions.
The novel suggests that embracing life fully can help overcome the grief and loss prevalent in Victorian society.
Studying the novel's themes is suggested as a way to achieve a deeper understanding, with a follow-up video promised.
Transcripts
let's consider some of the grade nine
ideas that will fit almost any essay on
a christmas carol
[Music]
the traditional interpretation is that
scrooge
changes once he has been confronted by
the ghost of christmas yet to come
however
did you notice that he first started to
change his mind in stave 2
when he goes back in time to fizzy wig's
christmas party and then asks the ghost
about bob cratchit he's thinking about
changing his role as an employer now
this is a really important clue that
dickens wants to reach his readers who
are employers much more than he wants
them to give to charity
charity seems to come around at
christmas but an employer is going to
benefit everybody all the time
this is why he's so specific about the
amount that fred is going to be paid if
he gets his job and how specific he is
about how much bob is paid because
dickens wants to point out that scrooge
is a miser but he's not a miserly
employer and by that i mean he is paying
the going rate when i wrote my guide i
even researched how far the average
victorian bank worker would walk to work
three miles exactly the same as bob has
to walk from scrooge's back to camden
town where he lives and remember dickens
is really careful to let us know exactly
where scrooge's offices and where bob
lives he wants his london readers to
make that connection to understand that
bob is not treated in a way which is
worse
than all other employees in victoria and
england are treated
because his most passionate message is
to employers social change can't just
change through christmas
through charity it must change through
the way that people are financed through
their wage packets
and that is also why the novel ends with
scrooge deciding to pay bob moore
that is much more important than the
extra contribution he makes to charity
he doesn't even tell us how much scrooge
contributes to charity because it's not
as impactful it's not as important to
society as what he's proposing his
readers should do and something that you
might not know
nearly all of dickens original readers
with that first edition of the book
which they had to pay an absolute
fortune for would have been
very middle-class employers
why because everybody employed serving
staff
you had a cook you had a maid of all
work at the very least and probably a
number of other staff serving you in
your house every reader was an employer
every reader is being asked to pay more
by this novella
[Music]
another typical interpretation
is that scrooge is motivated
by a combination of all the ghosts
examining his past and his presence and
then his future and it's this cumulative
effect that makes him transform however
we've already seen that he began to
transform in stage two in stave three he
asked the ghost of christmas present
about the prospects for tiny tim to see
if tiny tim will survive in the future
this introduces the theme of fatherhood
that underpins the whole novel we see
the issues that scrooge has had with his
relationship with his own father who was
entirely absent and then
scrooge develops this role of father
through tiny tim and that is drummed
home to us very very specifically at the
end of the novel when scrooge becomes a
second father to tiny tim and those are
almost the last words of the novel
because this idea is so important
one reason this is so important of
course is that we are dealing with a
patriarchal society and dickens wants
the males the people who hold the
financial pur strings in society to
loosen those purse strings contribute
more to charity but also pay more he
wants
these men to take on a paternalistic
role to act like fathers to the poor
rather than being dismissive of them and
resorting to this malthusian
interpretation that the poor deserve
their poverty because they don't work
hard enough they belong in the workhouse
or the prison
[Music]
another fascinating bit of context that
we can use here
is that dickens needed to write this
novel to earn money he was in financial
straits having spent a fortune on a tour
of america and he wasn't able to recoup
those expenses he needed a hit christmas
was coming so obviously he wrote a
christmas story but before he discovered
how much money he needed he was
desperate to write about the education
of the poor he'd visited ragged schools
and he wanted to write a political
pamphlet to persuade people to fund
schools that would educate the poor why
because education is the way out of
poverty even more so then than it is
today and this is why we have this
fascinating and weird edition of two
ghosts you might not have considered
they are the ghosts hidden inside the
robe of christmas present these are
ignorance and want
ignorance is the one who is going to be
most dangerous according to the ghost
well what he means is revolution only a
few short years after the publication of
the novel we had revolutions spreading
across europe in 1848
and dickens is saying look politically
the poor will only find a way to improve
themselves through violence if you deny
them education but if you give them
education the poor will be able to get
better jobs and cease being poor in
order to improve society you must
educate them
now here's a cool structural point for
you this happens at the very end of
stave three so it's if you think of the
structure of the novel right at the
center it's the pivot on which the plot
pivots well damn
it's the fulcrum on which the plot
pivots and in this way
dickens dramatizes how important it is
it's a tiny little scene that he can't
really go into because that wouldn't fit
the rest of the novel
but giving it such prominence asks us to
consider
why has he done this why is this so
important
[Music]
dickens also wants his readers to
understand that the living wage is not a
living wage everybody who's working
their socks off in society amongst the
poor
are suffering because the middle classes
are not paying them enough and he
dramatizes this when the ghost of
christmas yet to come take scrooge to
see what happens after his death we have
the char woman the laundress the
undertaker's man and they have all been
forced to steal from scrooge
now you might say hang on a minute they
weren't forced they had a choice didn't
they they were just criminals dickens
puts them in for some comedy value and
to shock scrooge into realizing how
awful he was that these people now have
utter contempt for his dead body well
yes that too
but consider this they go and visit what
we would call a fence a dealer in stolen
goods he is a very old man and the
description of his poverty is hilarious
his parlour is just behind a scrap of
curtain there's absolutely no decoration
he has to draw on the wall with chalk to
work out the prices of what he's going
to pay he's an old man who's not got
enough money and he still needs to
benefit from crime well what's ticking's
message it is these people are not being
paid enough to survive and even
criminals aren't getting enough to
survive and all that would be flipped on
its head including crime if employers
paid a proper wage
[Music]
it's also traditional to see scrooge as
a kind of two-dimensional character he's
an exaggerated comic figure and we can't
actually believe that he's a realistic
one however dickens is very careful to
introduce this idea of attachment the
idea that our past so dramatically
influences our personality that it
affects the future decisions we make
without us even being aware
and as evidence of this i'm obviously
going to put forward his relationship
with his father that we dealt with
earlier but let's go a little deeper
[Music]
what about his relationship with belle
well when the ghost takes him to see
bell enjoying her christmas now
what scrooge focuses on isn't his lost
love
it is the daughter that he can't have he
imagines bell's daughter being his own
and he reflects that he will never get
that experience of fatherhood so we can
see the way he has pushed bell away in
his past mimics the way his own father
pushed him away now this of course is
not what scrooge wanted it was his
unconscious mind repeating that pattern
of his youth
but
let's go even deeper
[Music]
this daughter is belle's oldest child
and she also has a number of younger
children we can infer when we play
around with the ages that she is no more
than about 45 at most whereas scrooge
himself is a very old figure in other
words
when he fell in love with bell he picked
a bride who was far too young for him
then he stayed engaged to her for many
years he created the circumstances in
which his fiancee would see the benefit
in leaving him because he's simply too
old he chose someone who would be much
more likely to abandon him just as his
father abandoned him just as his mother
presumably abandoned him in death
because she's never present in the novel
and just as his sister definitely
abandoned him in death
[Music]
to show how important this is
dickens corrects it at the end because
fred no longer symbolizes that
abandonment scrooge seeks fred out he
goes to fred's party and has a wild and
vivacious time fred has cured him of
this feeling of abandonment and
therefore that psychologically allows
him to transform allows him to take joy
in his fellow man because he's no longer
afraid
of losing everything precious instead he
embraces life to the full
[Music]
now this isn't just a message for
scrooge because death was everywhere in
victorian society about 40 percent of
children died before the age of five so
so many of dickens readers would be
living with grief and loss often
repeatedly through the figure of scrooge
dickens is saying he understands how
that would affect the personality of
parent and he's offering hope
embrace life to the full and even if you
are alone you can still find meaning the
other way to get grade 9 of course is to
study all the themes of the novel
that's the video that i've got coming up
next
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