Say what you will about Charles Dickens’ personal life (I know all about it) his novels all have a focus on redemptive themes. He always created dark characters; characters fraught with all kinds of misdeeds and wrongdoings towards others. Take Steerforth in David Copperfield, for example. He is charming, yet extremely manipulative. When we first become acquainted with Steerforth, it is through David’s naïve young point of view. Later on, we learn how dastardly he actually is. And yet, he begs David to remember him at his best. Even though Steerforth does not come to a moment of redemption within the action that we as the readers see within the action of the novel itself like so many other of Dickens’ characters, he is aware of his sinful nature, and knows that it will eventually come to light, thus shattering David’s illusion of his “good” character. The point remaining though that with that little line- “think of me at my best”- we have a sense that despite Steerforth’s uncouth behavior, perhaps he too is redeemable.
To understand just how Charles Dickens came to have such an immense influence upon the Christmas that we know today (one could even go as far as to say that he actually “saved” Christmas) it is important to understand how extremely and astoundingly popular Dickens was within society, and culture, both in the UK and America.
After hearing Dickens read aloud in Boston, Ralph Waldo Emerson stated: “too much talent for his genius; it is a fearful locomotive to which he is bound and can never be free from it nor set to rest. . . . He daunts me! I have not the key.” People were deeply moved and affected by his works. I don’t remember where I read this, but I wrote a paper on Dickens in 7th grade and I remember reading in a book that a man on a train grew so distraught over Little Nell in the last installment of “The Old Curiosity Shop”, that he threw his copy of the paper out the train window, sobbing and saying “He shouldn’t have killed her!” over and over. (I believe it was an Irish diplomat, but I can’t be sure. Kudos to Dickens for upsetting said diplomat if ‘tis true). The actor William Macready wrote in the wake of Little Nell’s demise: "I have never read printed words that gave me so much pain. . . . I could not weep for some time. Sensations, sufferings have returned to me, that are terrible to awaken."
Charles Dickens was not just a writer; he was also a wildly famous public figure due to his phenomenal readings of his works, and his skill as an amateur actor. He had a rare ability to completely emotionally manipulate people, and he took full advantage of it in his writing. Anyone who is at all acquainted with his work knows the pictures of injustice that he paints: the poor, the needy, the orphans, the child labor, the unkind step-parents. And he himself could relate to a lot of it. He grew up in squalor, the debtor’s prison so tragically described in both Little Dorrit and David Copperfield became his home at a young age, and so he was no stranger to the darker walks of life in Victorian England.
Aww look at tiny Daniel Radcliffe
During the period that Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, England was going through a terrible depression. There were thousands of unemployed and starving people in the streets. His grief at seeing such injustice is what fueled his writing- that and the fact that he was broke. He finished A Christmas Carol in just six weeks. Despite the fact that he was in financial straits, he requested that the novella be sold for an affordable 5 shillings, so that many people would be able to read it. The book was an instant and smashing success. There were three stage productions created within two months of the book's publication, and Dickens did popular readings of the book every Christmas,for nearly twenty years in a row after it's publication. His creation of the Christmas that he envisioned for England created new traditions, and family oriented celebrations of the holiday emerged as a result.
Before his novella was published, England had almost completely ceased to celebrate Christmas. The old medieval traditions of celebrating the birth of Christ annually decreased rapidly under Oliver Cromwell, who wanted the festivities of the season to return back to simply somber and a strictly religious observance. Christmas, and the observance thereof, became almost obsolete. Prince Albert introduced many of the holiday traditions that we know today to England in the mid 1800’s, such as Christmas trees, cards, and Christmas carols. But with the Industrial Revolution in full swing, most of England was constantly at work, even on Christmas, with children working 10 or 12 hour days. It was not a holiday observed by the public at large.
It's a hard knock life for these kids...
The redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge is quite obvious: he goes from a penny pinching miser to a good master and citizen, keeping Christmas all year. But what always strikes me the most about the book is the scene in which The Ghost of Christmas Present reveals Ignorance and Want to Scrooge. The scene in which he sees his own dead body and uncovers his own name on his future tombstone is chilling:
But it is when he gazes upon Ignorance and Want in the form of sad, hungry, ragged children, Dickens’ point is made. First of all, this scene is incredibly bizarre and more than just mildly disturbing due to the fact that Ignorance and Want are revealed to be hiding under Christmas Present's robe...which means they have been walking around with Scrooge the entire time. Scrooge is completely appalled by the appearance of these shriveled children, and asks the Spirit “Are they yours?” He replies: “They are Man’s”. Scrooge expresses his disgust, and asks the ghost to hide them so that he cannot see them. The spirit does so, but forebodingly declares "But they live on". Society’s utter abandonment of the poor is here brutally laid bare for Dickens’ readers. Even more significant, in the earlier scene in which Scrooge and Christmas Present pay a visit to the Cratchit’s home, the Spirit throws Scrooge’s rashly spoken words back in his face when they observe the slowly dying Tiny Tim hobbling around on his crutches: "Man," said the Ghost, "if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked can’t until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!" These scenes, and these lines are extremely harsh. “A Christmas Carol” is not just a lighthearted novella to read during yuletide, it is heavy with reproach towards mankind, and it was this reproach that preserved Christmas for the masses.
(This video clip contains the two scenes described above. I watch this movie every single year. That last scene with Ignorance and Want disturbed me so much as a kid, and it still send shivers up my spine.)
You could read this post as “Right on, Dickens, way to take employers on a giant guilt trip, cheers for paid holidays!” But whatever. Point being, he made a huge difference, and actually reinstalled a lot of the traditions that we hold dear today. He made Christmas accessible to the poor, not just to those who could afford not to work on that day. His influence was so palpable over the holiday season, that upon his death a little girl remarked: “Mr. Dickens dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?” Such was the affect he produced upon the world, with his little Christmas Carol.
Fun Fact: Dickens came up with the name “Ebenezer Scrooge” when he misread a tombstone in Scotland that said: “Ebenezer Scroggie, Meal Man” (It was common back in the day to write a person’s profession on their tombstone. “Meal Man” meant corn merchant.) Dickens read it as “Ebenezer Scroggie: Mean Man”.
I’ve linked below an article I used for this post, but a lot of this just came from muh brain, because I’ve read a massive amount on Dickens. ‘Cause I love him.
