A Little Book about A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of its first publication. , by Linda Hooper assisted by Melissa Mann Katie Franco Michaela O'Connor JessicaSlater Gordon Walker blished by the Dickens Project University of California ©1993 The Dickens Projectof the University of aliforni i Contents a scholarly consortium devoted to pro moll ng lud y • nd enjoymentof the life,times, and work of harl I k,'n . The Projectconsists offaculty and grad uatc stud nls from Introduction the eight general campuses oftheUniversityof lifornia � as well as from other major American and international by ProfessorJohn 0. Jor 4 Charles Dickens, universities. Founded in 1981 and headquartered at UC 1812-1870 9 Santa Cruz, the consortium includes among its institu­ England, December 1843 tional members the City University of New York, the 18 The Illustrations University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University, the 27 University of Southern California, Rice University, the Adaptations California Instituteof Technology, and the Hebrew Uni­ 44 Further Reading versity of Jerusalem. 64 In addition to promoting collaborative research on Dickens and the Victorian age, the Project disseminates research findings througha series of annual confercn s, institutes, and publications, as well as through courses, theatrical performances,and other programs open to the general public. The Project also organizes fa culty ex­ changes,supports the professionaldevelopment of gradu­ ate students, and producescurricular materials for usein teaching Dickens in the schools and colleges. Introcfuction Dickens wroteA Christmas Carol in the 1840s.These were years of famine in Ireland as well as of severe economic depression worldwide. Dickens knew and un­ derstoodthe effects of poverty, and,by having Scrooge Inasmuch as the Dickens Project to promote seck notice homelessmothers huddled in doorwaysat the end study and enjoyment of the life, times, and work of of the firstStave, he was writ ing fromhi s own observat ion Charles Dickens,it isfittingthat on the150th anniv rsary and experience. So today,A Christmas Carolalong with of the firstpublication of A ChristmasCarol in Prose, Being other works by Dickens continues to direct attention to a Ghost Storyof Christmas , mark the sion by offer­ we occa the problems of homelessness and economicinjustice on ing a new publication which hope will futher the we ourverydoorsteps.Infocusingonsuchquestions,Dickens appreciationand understandingof Dickens'sbest known is a writerfor all historicalperiods, including our own. work. No other book or storyby Dickens or anyone else It is usefulto that Dickenshad writtenan earlier (savethe Bible) has beenmore enjoyed, criticized, referred recall version of A ChristmasCa ro severalyears beforetaking up to, or more frequentlyadapted to other media.None of his l the storyof Scrooge in October1843. His first novel, The other works is more widely recognized or, indeed, cel­ Pickwick Papers (1836-37), contains an interpolated tale, ebrated within the English-speakingworld. Some schol­ 'The Goblins Who Stole A Sexton," that anticipates A ars have evenclaimed that in publishingA ChristmasCarol Christmas Carolin several interesting respects. Told at a Dickens single-handedly invented the modem form of Christmas party,the storyrecounts how Gabriel Grubb, the Christmasholiday in England and the United States. a drunken,cruel, misanthropist,is visitedone Christmas As G.K. Chestertonnoted long ago, th A Christmas wi Eve by goblins, who torment him physically and show CarolDickens succeeded in transforming hrislma from him scenesof the happy domestic life fromwhich he has asacredfestivalintoafamilyfeast.In sodoln , h, brought deliberatelyexcluded himself. The lessons they teachhim the holidayinside t e home an husmad t • t . • • s bl•to h dt result in his redemption.He reformshis ways and even­ ordinary people, who w rc now •lit lo JMrl ·!pal • di­ tually leads a long and happy life. rectly in the celebration ralh r th.mn'"'''ly w trw sing its The majorchange that Dickensmade in 1843when he performance in hur h. revisedhis earlier tale was to transformits central charac­ terfrom a memberof the working cla8S--il sexton-into 5 soonerwas a new technologyinvented in the intervening a wealthy businessman, thereby introducing a different 150years than A ChristmasCarol was quickly adaptedto it. and considerably more"radical" social messageinto the Christmas story. Nevertheless,the basic situation in the two stories Reactions to A Carol have varied tremen­ dously over the years,with eachgeneration finding in it is quite similar. Both Gabriel Grubb and Scrooge are a message-5piritual, psychological, or political-appli­ spoilsports.That is, each refusesto join and participatein the communal festival or sacred"sport" of Christmas. In cableto the needsof differentaudiences. Oearl y the Carol both stories the spoilsportreceives supernatural visitors is an ideologicalwork. both in and forour owntime. The enormous success of its multiple adaptations testifies to who instruct him in the human values appropriateto the Christmas season,and in bothstories the spoilsport un­ its enduringvalue as a marketablecommodity. Ostensi­ bly its message is one that decriesthe commercialismof a dergoes a conversion that reuniteshim with the spirit of debased Christmas celebration. Yet ironically, the story community and fellowship. In both stories, moreover, a / itself continues to be bought and sold, packaged and child or group of children plays an importantrole in the repackagedto meet an apparently inexhaustibledemand. redemptive process. In A Christmas Carol, Dickens unites important fea­ Indeed, the bookyou hold in yourhands is itselfa result of the Dickens Project'sparticipation in the commercial­ tures of the two Christmasstories he wrotefor the Decem­ ization ofAChristmasCarol. Howeverpureourmotivesin bernumber of Pickwick Papers, joining the family feastof Dingley Dell with its games, intcrgenerational bonding, seekingto promoteenjoyment of the Carol, wealso knew thatwe could sell our littlebook and turn the profits to and domestic rituals together with the story of a supernatual visitiation leading to conversion. some practical use-a good one, we assure you! In the The various Christmas Caroladaptations listed below end, it may not matter that A Christmas Carol has been reflectonly afraction ofthemany waysin whichDickens's commercialized, itssince story of the strengthof commu­ nity and the power of love is not lostin the buying and original tale has been transposed to other media. In a sense, thestory itselfis already a multi-mediaproduction, selling. especiallythe sceneswhere Scroo ge is made to witnessa Curiouslyenough, Dickens himselfmade little money fromA ChristmasCarol, although he hadhigh hopesfor its series of visionary tableaux in which he can not partici­ commercial success. In its first edition, the Carol was a pate. It is almost as if Dickenswere writing a story to be beautiful little book, well made and lavish with illustra- told by medianot yet availablein the Victorianage. Yetno 6 7 tions. Our little book, not so lav ish nor so beautiful, C/U:Ir(utiJictens , 1812-1870 nev erthelessattempts to reproducesome of thesp iritthat 'Dictens s LifetJkfure tlie Caro{ animated the or iginal. May it br ing you pleasure and good cheer! InOctober of 1843,when he startedto writeA Christ­ mas Carol, Charles Dickenswas at thirty-one thesuccess­ John 0. jordan ful author of Sketches 1:Ty Boz, Papers, Oliver December1993 The Pickwick Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby Rudge,and AmericanNotes. Although his previous books had beenvery popular , with some numbers of Curiosity Shop selling as many as 100,000copies,his curren t novel,Martin Chuzzlewit, was only sellingabout 20,000 per monthly •· number.His publishers . · .Jif"' · threatenedto reducehis salaryfrom £200 to £150 per month. His wife Catherine wasexpect­ their fifth child. a solution to pressures, Dickens was Charles Dickens, 1844 planning to 8 9 leaveEngland for Italy, who hi family couldlive more drencorrespond to the six Dickenschildren at that time, cheaply. including Dickens'sy oungestbrother, a sickly boy,known Money had la ways • worry � r Di kens.He was as "finy Freci." born into a strugglinglow cr-middl lass family. When Even withthe move to London,his family could not he was ten, Dickens's father moved Lh family from affordto send Dickensto school,and insteadhe was free Chathamto a smallerhouse in Camden Town, London. to explore the urban neighborhoods around him. When The four-roomhouse at 16 Bayham Street is su pposcdly he was twelve,his fatherfound workfor him in a factory, the model forthe Cratchits' house. The six Cratchit chil- and he boarded with another family, much as David Copperfield boarded with the Micawbers.Soon after­ ward,his fatherwas imprisoned fordebt, and the whole family moved to the Marshalsea debtors' prison save for Charles, who kept working. He felt abandoned and ashamed of this experience for the restof his life, and althoughhe fictionalized it in his novels,during his lifehe told the truth to only one person,his friend and biogra­ pher, John Forster. Dickens was later sent back to school,but when his parents could again no longeraffo rd to pay fortheir son's education,he foundworkfirst in a law offi.ce,and thenas anewspaperreporter,coveringthe proceedings ofParlia­ ment.He taught himselfshorthand and soon was known as the fastestand mostaccurate parliamentaryreporter