Charles Dickens and His a Christmas Carol: the Society of Sentiment and Christmas

Home , Ghost of Christmas Past, The Battle of Life, The Chimes

Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Viktória Ľuptáková

Charles Dickens and his A Christmas Carol: the society of sentiment and Christmas

Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D.

2017

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Author’s signature

Acknowledgments: I would especially like to thank my supervisor, Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D., for helping me with this thesis and giving me valuable advice. I appreciate everything you have done to help me. Furthermore, I would like to thank the entire staff of our department for giving me much more than knowledge.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction ...... 1

2 Chapter One: Charles Dickens ...... 5

3 Chapter Two: The development of Christmas in

Victorian England ...... 15

4 Chapter Three: Analysis of A Christmas Carol ...... 24

5 Chapter Four: Christmas Books ...... 43

6 Conclusion ...... 52

7 Works Cited ...... 55

8 Resumé (English) ...... 62

9 Resumé (Czech) ...... 63

1 Introduction

This bachelor thesis deals with the story A Christmas Carol written by an English writer and social critic of Victorian era, Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol is a well- known story about a cold-hearted miser, Scrooge, who is visited by spirits which want to show him the true importance of one´s life and the meaning of Christmas. The aim of this thesis is to show that A Christmas Carol can be considered a story that depicts the defects of humanity and emphasizes the importance of charity. This thesis also presents the other four books with a Christmas theme that have been written by Dickens. All of them are referred to under one common name – Christmas Books. Last, but not least, the thesis provides the reader with an introduction to the development of Christmas in Victorian

England and examines if, and to what extent, Dickens and his A Christmas Carol contributed to the expanding popularity of the holiday.

The beginning of this thesis focuses on the life of Charles Dickens himself. It provides insight into his life from earliest childhood up until the time he became a popular novelist. Dickens´s life was not easy and his childhood memories, especially those that he gained during working at the blacking factory, had a great impact on his future life and career. His experiences helped him understand the social situation of his country and as an adult, he spent a lot of his energy trying to point out important social issues. He decided to become a writer in order to make people listen to (or read in this case) what he had to say. In his stories, Dickens often included personal experience. In his career as a novelist, he was primary interested in working-class and lower-middle-class, who, in his opinion, underwent the greatest injustices. Many of his works are packed with social criticism.

However, this criticism is often hidden, which means that he does not point out issues directly but instead uses various ways to make his readers aware of his opinions. This thesis shows that A Christmas Carol is an example of such a piece of work. A story that

1 may resemble a fairy tale Christmas book, is actually a story full of criticism directed especially towards upper social classes.

The second chapter of the thesis concentrates on the development of Christmas in

Victorian England. Even though Christmas as such was already celebrated in England before Dickens had written A Christmas Carol, there are many people who claim that this book, with its idea of charity, hope and possibility for a better future, had a great influence on the way people treat Christmas today. However, it is not only Dickens who should be given the credit for the expansion of the Christmas spirit. It was Queen Victoria, and particularly her husband Prince Albert, who brought the concept of the decoration of evergreens for Christmas and sending Christmas cards to family and friends to people in

England. During this time, there were also other innovations concerning Christmas such as Christmas crackers, roast turkey and the act of giving gifts to each other. Although neither the royal family nor Dickens invented Christmas in England, their influence on making the holiday popular among the widespread public is evident.

Moving on to the third and most crucial chapter, the thesis draws the reader´s attention to A Christmas Carol itself. The thesis provides citations from various part of the book supplemented by judgements of different writers to support the idea that A

Christmas Carol is more than just a fairy tale about Christmas. It shows to what extent

Dickens with his two main characters – Scrooge and Tiny Tim – criticises the upper social classes. Additionally, this chapter shows how Dickens uses the condition of Tiny Tim to appeal to the need for charity and humanity among all social classes. His concept of time travelling should make people reconsider the way of life they live and perhaps even make them feel the need of becoming better persons. The thesis portrays how Dickens incorporates his own past through Scrooge´s memories while travelling with the Ghost of

Christmas Past. Moreover, the usage of ghosts makes the story somehow frightening but fascinating, which may also be a reason why the book gained so such success.

In the fourth chapter, the thesis summarises the rest of the Christmas Books. It presents the general description of each of the story, illuminating the issues Dickens wanted to point out with these stories. Even though their popularity did not match that of

A Christmas Carol, they still share the “Carol philosophy” and no matter how critical they might have been, their main idea is still the celebration of family, friends, charity and goodness of people, which are all strengthened during the period of the special time of year – Christmas.

The thesis uses printed books and online sources (pdf files, websites) by various authors from different time periods to cover all of the above mentioned topics and to provide objective judgments supporting the thesis´ arguments. One of the most significant is Dickens (2002) by Peter Ackroyd. In this biographical book about Dickens, Ackroyd in detail depicts Dickens´s life from his early childhood, through working in a blacking factory and his later success as a writer till his death. The book is essential for the first chapter of the thesis which concentrates on Charles Dickens himself. Moreover, it contains a few pages about A Christmas Carol and Christmas Books. The next important secondary source is A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books edited with an

Introduction and Notes by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst (2011). The book provides a profound analysis of Dickens´s Christmas Books, particularly A Christmas Carol. It contains many valuable and relevant ideas about the story, which makes the book meaningful for the third chapter of the thesis – “Analysis of A Christmas Carol”. Many ideas of Douglas-Fairhurst are supported by Michel Faber in his article “Spectral pleasure,” published on The Guardian website (2005). Furthermore, Faber comments on various symbols used in A Christmas Carol. One more crucial work is an article by

Christine Lalumia titled “Scrooge And Albert: Christmas in the 1840s,” published online on the History Today website (2001). Lalumia here presents a development of Christmas in England and suggests to what extent Dickens and the royal family influenced what today´s Christmas looks like. Many arguments in the third chapter are drawn from this work to provide a thorough description of Christmas. All secondary sources used in this thesis are listed in “Works Cited”.

2 Chapter One: Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens (February 7, 1812 - June 9, 1870) was an English writer, social critic and by the end of 1870, as Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch in his book

Charles Dickens & other Victorians (1910) claims, “a great National Institution” (4).

Dickens was and still is a very popular author. F.E. Baily in his Six Great Victorian

Novelists (1947) even suggests that Dickens could be considered “a great enigma among novelists” (47). In the second part of From Dickens to Hardy (1982), R. C. Churchill supports these arguments when he states that Dickens´s books have great power and permanent interest and he is one of the English “classics” whose work is probably most acceptable to a wide range of readers who differ in age, social status or mental capacity.

Moreover, his books are not only read, but very often re-read and enjoyed by hundreds of people (117). Peter Ackroyd in his biography Dickens (2002) points out that Dickens in his writings “opened up the world for those who were already living in it” (144).

Dickens himself (as can be seen later in this chapter) had an advantage that he experienced both poverty and wealth, so he could empathise with a wide range of social classes. This fact could be the reason why he was adept at attracting various types of readers; he was very well aware of the feeling of being poor but he also understood the opposite. Notwithstanding, the power of his books also is that they are often read by children who, when grown up, come back to them and can see them from different a perspective. What once seemed to be a fairy-tale story is later considered a story with a deeper meaning. A Christmas Carol is a very good example, as the reader can see in the fifth chapter of this thesis which deals with the book itself. Nevertheless, as Ackroyd observes, Dickens was a novelist of his age and in his works we can see the “character of

19th century life” (xii) since he was trying to make as realistic an image of the era as he possible could. One might say that in today´s world he is still as well known among

5 scholars as among ordinary people who have at least some interest in literature. Baily makes the point that when alive, Dickens was popular because he was a reporter who

“reported life, or what he took to be life” (48). He did not bother, and very probably even did not want to bother, with any idealistic descriptions. He preferred picturing things as they were, or better to say, as he found them to be. One may sometimes find his works too critical, but generally it can be said that by the criticism he simply wanted to point at the things that should be changed or at least make people realize that there was something wrong with the country and/or society and it should be fixed.

Why it was considerably easy for him to write and why his works were so popular, according to Charles E. May in his “Charles Dickens” (2016), is due to several reasons.

First of all, in many of his works Dickens found an inspiration in his own life and the people he was surrounded by. Secondly, he was writing about English society, about ordinary people and everyday situations which were happening in the streets of London.

And thirdly, no matter how realistic his stories might have felt, they were still fiction, yet

Dickens was a master at storytelling and the characters “seem real precisely because they are so artificial” (May n.p.). Geoffrey Tillotson in his book A View of Victorian Literature

(1978) supports May´s argument, claiming that Dickens was an author who “had a power, beyond most writers, of so describing a common thing that we seem to be looking at it again with opened eyes” (124). Many of Dickens´s books including A Christmas Carol, were packed with social, cultural or political criticism but the criticism was somehow hidden so people may not have noticed it when reading the book for the first time. In A

Christmas Carol particularly, behind the touching story about Christmas which, because of its fantastic features resembles a fairy tale story, social criticism can be found (this argument is more profoundly discussed in the fifth chapter of the thesis).

Dickens´s works were published in a serialized way – he tried to approach different social classes and he pointed at issues that, in his view, needed to be changed or improved. Serialization as such might be considered as not the easiest way of writing regarding the fact that the writer was under constant pressure to finish his or her chapter on time. Dickens seemed to have no problem with that. What is more, once he finished a book, he was able to automatically switch and start a new one. In addition, Ackroyd also mentions Dickens´s love for theatres and the ambitions he had for his works to get to the theatrical platform, since he had written many of his books in a way to have at least “a potential for dramatic adaptation” (249). Yet this desire of his was never really fulfilled.

One way or another, Tillotson claims, Dickens had a mind of a novelist as well as a dramatist and like “Shakespeare, Dickens provides each fiction with its own ʻworldʼ or

ʻatmosphereʼ or ʻclimateʼ or ʻcolourʼ” (141). Even though he did not succeed as a play- writer, his literary qualities should not be denied.

Dickens was born to a family in which his father frequently had troubles with money. This is one of the strongest memories Dickens had from his childhood which, as

Baily observes, resulted in the fact that “he never knew the sense of security, which . . . is indispensable if childhood is to be happy” (49). Ackroyd also suggests that this insecurity made Dickens feel that only financial well-being could help him feel safe (106).

That is why he did not mind serialized writing. It meant that even though he was often very busy, as long as he was writing, he had a permanent income. But despite everything, as Baily observes, there was still this “plague by his parents” (54) which continued through all his adulthood as once Dickens got rich, he still had to help his father whenever he, again, got into debts. Ackroyd argues that there was a desperate fear in Dickens; “the fear of ruin, of being thrust down again into poverty, to go the way of his father into a debtors´ prison, all the success and fame he has achieved to be stripped from him” (234).

This memory from his childhood had a great influence on him even when he was not dependent on his parents anymore. The experience of poverty was for him a total bottom, a stage of life which cannot get worse. As a consequence, the fact that he knew the feeling of having financial problems meant that he could not bear the idea of returning to such a way of life. Tillotson claims that this fear can be seen in the majority of Dickens´s novels where there is “evidence that he was drawing on his own painful knowledge [and experience]” (150) and he did not want to go through it ever again.

The period when his father was imprisoned and the young Dickens had to work in the blacking factory was incredibly difficult and Ackroyd stresses that “for a talented and ambitious child there is no hell worse than this, all the dirt, all the dreariness, all the poverty” (40). Baily agrees with Ackroyd when he confirms that working in the factory truly had a huge impact on Dickens as he was considered to be a “bookish child who longed to learn” (51) and not to work, especially not at such an early age. While working in the factory Dickens used to visit his father in the prison. What influenced him was the way that all the images which surrounded him at a considerably young age were haunting him over and over again until he eventually reached the stage when, as Ackroyd states,

“within his fiction the whole world itself is described as a type of prison and all of its inhabitants, prisoners” (48). Many of his books which deal with lower-class society are written in this fashion; poor heroes who live in their poor houses with little chance for improvement, prisoners of their own lives. However, no matter how small the chance for improvement might have been, it was still a chance. Maybe that is the also the reason why people, especially the lower-middle classes, enjoyed reading his books, perhaps they gave them hope that their life could get better as well. In A Christmas Carol, the life of Tiny

Tim improves rapidly after being helped by Scrooge, a character from a higher social

8 class. Additionally, Scrooge, after showing the act of charity, also gains the feeling of satisfaction (this argument can be seen in the fourth chapter of the thesis).

Dickens´s childhood is thoroughly expressed in Ackroyd´s biography where he makes several observations. First of all, when Dickens was a little child, he was taught by his mother and even though he did get a chance to attend a school later on he, Ackroyd remarks, always found the majority of the schools to be, “archaic institutions” and was

“implacable in his hostility to them” (21-22). Although, once he was forced to quit school in order to start working in the blacking factory because of his father´s debts, he indeed missed school to a great extent and felt that, in spite of its faults, he would do anything just to be sent back to school again (40). He realized that even though the school system was not perfect, it provided him with an opportunity to gain knowledge needed for a better future. Secondly, the period when he was working in the factory was probably also the time when he started to long to escape, to go back to “his happier years . . . or going somewhere away, like the hero in a story to seek his fortune” (50) or to meet some “kind strangers” who would set him free from his misery (57). Someone like the spirits in his later piece of literary work A Christmas Carol, which came at the very last minute to make Scrooge open his eyes and helped him change his life while there was still a chance for him. Stronger in his personality, however, brings the idea of being a master of his own life, being independent and having control over the situation he was put into. Young

Dickens did not have this advantage. He was forced to work whether he liked it or not and his father´s situation left him totally helpless. Thirdly, it was here, in the factory, where his childhood “came suddenly to an end, together with that world of reading and of imagination in which the years of his childhood had been passed” (46). This period of his life had a great impact on him and even though it is not known for sure, for how long

Dickens worked in the blacking factory, what is known is that he felt very ashamed and

9 there were just a few people who knew about this period of his life (56-57). Clearly, given his popularity later on in his career, being a child labourer was not something he was proud of or wanted to share with others, especially when considering that it was something Dickens himself never entirely got through. He was able to talk about his father´s debts, about his relationship with his parents, but not about him working in the blacking factory.

Dickens was not an ordinary child. Baily claims that he was never really interested in playing games so he “spent majority of his free time reading books” (49). Ackroyd describes Dickens as a boy who was “making up his own fantasies and creating his own world” (34) which was better than the one around him so that, as early as in his childhood, he showed potential for being a writer in his need to create something new and exceptional. Young Dickens seemed to prefer reading books over the company of the boys of his age as they had not been through what Dickens had and were still at the age when there was no need for them making up any fantasies about a better world. The young

Dickens seemed to have been very sensitive, anxious, quick to get angry and keep emotions to himself and as Ackroyd observes “there is a reflection of this when in A

Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is led helplessly back to his childhood and sees his younger self, intent upon his reading,” all alone (Dickens 34-35). From this image it is clear that as Scrooge so Dickens “suffered, but suffered in secret; [as for Dickens] never once did he complain to his working companions, or even to his parents” (Ackroyd 50).

Ackroyd also claims that Dickens was full of sentiment and after everything he had been through it is natural that “Dickens was a man of infinite nostalgia about himself” (72) and that questions of emotionalism and as sentiment spills over into his fiction so also does it spill into his own life (183). Churchill, on the other hand, claims that even though it was not unusual that he “laughed and cried as he wrote” and his Christmas stories (along with

10 some other books) are considered to be one of the greatest sentiments especially in his later works, “the sentimentality is sometimes carried to ridiculous lengths” (119-120).

The question of whether or not he was too sentimental depends on what one considers to be too sentimental. What may seem to be just an ordinary piece of work can be regarded by someone else as oversentimental and certainly it also works the other way around.

Dickens was primary interested in the working-class and lower-middle-classes and as Tillotson observes, his audience was “mainly lower-middle-class” (121). This explains why, after he had started seriously writing, always when he had a chance he would, as Baily expresses, “strike a blow against injustice, oppression, and hypocrisy in high places, and against all the wretchedness and pain that they brought upon gentle and innocent creatures” (52) so to defend those who were not able to defend themselves. This is one of the reasons why he was popular among lower-middle classes; he was a writer who could empathize with these people and who wanted to show the rest of society the problems which were present everywhere around them. Ackroyd claims that “Dickens could directly intervene in social matters of the day” (260) and Churchill supports this argument saying that he was very good at “always putting his finger on the social evil which hurt the sufferer the most” (124). For example, in 1848 Dickens was writing a series of articles on baby-farming 1 which was quite an issue in Victorian England concerning mistreated children and, according to Ackroyd in 1839, “almost half of the funerals in London were conducted for children under the age of ten, carried off by sickness or malnutrition” (183). Dickens was very often criticised for the many deaths in his novels, but as one can see, death was something that surrounded him and was present every day and he wanted people to be aware of that. He was simply writing about things

1 Baby farming was a practise of accepting custody of a child in exchange for payment. See the article by Dorothy L. Haller “Bastardy and Baby Farming in Victorian England” 11 he had seen or experienced. Ackroyd also notes that Dickens “brought together many different aspects of the society he was surrounded by” (xiii). Even though he mainly criticised the society itself it was the people who created it and the fact that there was something wrong with the society meant there must have been something wrong the people as such. For people realizing this fact should be the first step in order to try to fix that and become more human.

Experiences from his childhood appear over and over again in his works. Baily suggests that it might have become some sort of obsession for Dickens to bring it up in nearly every story he had written (47) but Ackroyd argues that “his childhood does not pass untrammelled into his fiction; that is one reason why he was an artist and not a memoirist” (122). He was not writing memoirs but stories which were inspired by his childhood which is essential whereas a combination of personal experience and fantasy should, indeed, end up in a satisfactory piece of literary work. Moreover, as May points out, his strengths were also “his amazing aptitude for visualizing scenes in concrete detail, his ability to control and develop highly elaborate plots . . . his puzzling method of creating characters that . . . seem somehow more real in their fictionality than most realistic characters are” (n.p.).Additionally, Ackroyd observes that Dickens in his works used some “characteristics of the people whom he met or knew . . . perceived a striking characteristic, or mood, or piece of behaviour, and then in his imagination proceeded to elaborate upon it until the character bears only a passing resemblance to the real person” and the person very often happened to be a member of his real family (65, 251). This was another one of many reasons why his works were popular. The heroes were just ordinary people with ordinary lives; a person one could meet in the street but no matter how ordinary they seemed, they still were considered heroes and that is what made them exceptional.

Dickens, because of his job in the newspaper and demands of his readers, was basically constantly writing. Many of his readers were following him and bought every piece of work Dickens had written. May observes that the demand for “serialization” could be compared to “television soap operas today” (n.p.). Ackroyd argues that in spite of the fact that Dickens´s works might look like a mass production, unlike the producers of soap operas, Dickens had an intimate relationship with his readers as if “he were about to shake hands with them, fix them with his bright eyes, and hold them in leisurely converse” (358). Very often he read his novels aloud in front of the audience. Ackoryd also claims that “he had found a voice which penetrated the hearts of the high as well as of the low . . . he had created a national audience” (110). Tillotson says that Dickans knew how people behave, how they react and “when he read or spoke, the whole man read or spoke” and because there are “theatrical elements in [many of] his novels” (130, 143) his reading might be considered even more popular than the books as such. Radhika Jones in the article “Charles in Charge” (2012) comments that the readings Dickens used to preform created among his readers a sense of intimacy where his readers had a feeling like Dickens was talking right to them (52-55). He was good at getting close to the people since it was something he enjoyed and was naturally good at. He did not need to feign interest because he was interested, and even after he got popular, he remembered the life he lived before, the life when his family did not have enough so they had to send a little boy to work to the blacking factory.

Dickens, due to his life experiences, had a profound understanding for different social classes, particularly the lower-classes. His childhood was not easy and all the struggles he had been through influenced his future work. Many of his books are full of sentiment and nostalgia about himself and the world around him but he managed to make

13 stories popular with the public that includes both, his inner feelings and opinions written in a style that is considerably easy to read.

3 Chapter Two: The development of Christmas in Victorian

England

As the title of Charles Dickens´s A Christmas Carol suggests, the book itself deals with the period of Christmas. The festival as such has changed over the centuries and many people consider the period of Queen Victoria´s reign to be a period when Christmas was shaped to the form it is known today. However, Charles Dickens is also regarded as a person who, with his special treatment, influenced the way people in England acknowledge Christmas.

Since Christianity spread all over Europe, Christian holidays have gained more and more importance among people. Christmas as a holiday of celebrating the birth of

Jesus Christ was and still is one of them. Nonetheless, the way people treated Christmas differed from country to country and from century to century. Tom Pold in his article

“Fathering Christmas: Charles Dickens and the (Re)Birth of Christmas” (2009) claims that even though Christmas in England started to flourish in the second half of the seventeenth century, in the nineteenth century it started to “lose its Christian importance”

(Fathering Christmas n.p.). However, J.A.R. Pimlott in his article “Merry Christmas”

(1953) argues that regardless of the importance of Christianity “the English Christmas was [actually] largely reshaped in the nineteenth century” (n.p.) and it started to look the way people celebrate Christmas today. It became a popular holiday but not necessarily for purely religious reasons. It was a festival for family reunions and social gatherings.

Nevertheless, in a 2014 BBC article it is claimed that in the nineteenth century, Christmas in England was scarcely celebrated and many people did not even consider it to be a real holiday (History of Christmas n.p.). They used it just as an excuse for having rest at home and spending some time with their families but they did not attach any great importance

15 to it. Pold suggests that this changed when Queen Victoria ascended the throne and the truth is that many traditions which are popular nowadays such as Christmas trees, cards, carols, presents and a turkey for Christmas dinner were established during this period

(Fathering Christmas n.p.). These are the things many families cannot imagine their

Christmas without. They have become an essential part for celebrating the holiday and not only in England but in other countries of Europe as well.

Today, a fundamental part of Christmas is the Christmas tree. The idea of the

Christmas tree originally came from Germany. It was Queen Victoria´s husband, Prince

Albert, who, because of his German origin, brought to England the concept of decorating evergreens for Christmas. Shortly after the royal family started with the decoration and the celebration of Christmas around the Christmas tree, it quickly spread to the rest of the country (BBC History of Christmas). Pold even remarks that the Christmas tree became

“central to the identity of Christmas” (Fathering Christmas n.p.). The popularity of the tree was increasing and even now it is considered to be one of the most significant symbols of Christmas in a “Christmas-celebrating” world. However, Christine Lalumia in her article “Scrooge and Albert; Christmas in the 1840s” (2001) argues that bringing evergreens home and decorating them was a tradition long before Prince Albert came up with it. This tradition originated in the sixteenth century when people were using these trees to “bring light to the darkest days of the year” (25). As Christmas was a festival happening shortly after the winter solstice, the days were short and dark and the conifers were considered to have appropriate associations and because nature itself was already long “asleep” they were one of not many connections between people and Mother Nature.

Lalumia states that in Victorian England, in addition to the decoration of the trees, there was already a habit of giving gifts to one another (26) and according to BBC, at first, gifts were rather simple and small, often hanging on the Christmas tree, but as they got bigger

16 they were moved underneath the Christmas tree. Even though gift giving was not a

Christian tradition, it eventually moved to Christmas time as “Christmas became more important to the Victorians” (History of Christmas n.p.). This is also one of the traditions which is present up to this date. Even though it is evident that Queen Victoria and Prince

Albert were not the first ones to come up with the idea of decoration the evergreens and creation of the Christmas trees, it was they who made it popular among the widespread public, so the tradition has persisted to this day.

There were also other innovations which appeared at this period. One of them was the rise of Christmas cards. Their history is described in detail on the BBC webpage. It all started in 1843 when Henry Cole had an artist design a card with a Christmas theme for an affordable price for a middle-class Victorian to be able to buy it. The idea of

Christmas cards became very popular and many children started to make their own hand made ones. Thanks to advancing technology, the price of card production became lower and lower and “by the 1880s sending of the cards had become hugely popular, creating a lucrative industry that produced 11.5 million cards in 1880 alone. The commercialisation of Christmas was well on its way” (History of Christmas n.p.). But actually again, it was

Queen Victorian and her own children who produced their own hand made Christmas cards and their actions encouraged society to start sending Christmas cards to each other.

The advanced technology and relatively low price caused the increasing popularity of the cards. One of the ideas of these cards was not only creating a new Christmas trend but it also meant that people started to send their Christmas wishes to their family and friends.

It became an important part of social life and Christmas as a period for family gathering was the right time for sending them.

Besides Christmas cards, there was another new product: Christmas crackers. As

BBC points out, “a British confectioner Tom Smith invented a striking new way to sell

17 sweets”. When he returned home from France he came up with the idea of the “Christmas cracker: a simple package filled with sweets that snapped when pull apart” (History of

Christmas n.p.). It was nothing extraordinary but because the Christmas spirit was already gaining popularity, simple crackers with a “Christmas attribute” could easily become a good product for business and a good way for commercialisation of the holiday.

The next important thing, which became popular during the reign of Queen

Victoria, was roast turkey. It became a popular Christmas dinner in the Victorian period but at the beginning only wealthy people could afford to buy it (History of Christmas n.p.). The reference to turkey can also be seen in A Christmas Carol when Scrooge asks a little boy to go and buy the biggest turkey in the Poulterer´s and he wants to give it to his clerk Bob Cratchit (Dickens 80-82). Scrooge looks forward to Cratchit´s reaction as he knows the turkey is not something they would eat often; Cratchit´s children may not even have tried it yet. In Dickens´s description it can be seen that turkey, no matter how popular it was, and even though Christmas was a special occasion, was an expensive thing to buy and it was not affordable for everyone. Scrooge, after the visit of the three spirits, realized that Christmas was the right time for being unselfish whilst making others happy.

This was one of the main ideas Dickens wanted to present to his readers; the idea of charitable acts towards one another.

As was already mentioned, the importance of Christmas and its celebration in

England developed gradually. When it comes to England at the beginning of the eighteenth century Christmas did not receive much attention. Lalumia in her article makes several observations about this. First of all, the upper-class “tended to view Christmas as a rather down-market festival and reduced their celebrations to nothing more than elegant dinner parties” (25). It was an opportunity for making a special evening event but they did not regard it as a serious festival. The change, though, came with Queen Victoria and

18 her husband. It was not only the fact of introducing Christmas to British society but it was the way the royal family celebrated it. They did not make it as an excuse for some social gathering but, as Lalumia claims it was one of the occasions when the whole family managed to get together and celebrate. It provided them with relief from their daily routine and official life (25). For the royal family at that time Christmas had similar meaning as it has for many people today and this way of celebrating became popular among the public and “Christmas was once again fashionable” (Lalumia 26). It is common for mankind that if the most important and influential people of the society do something, the rest of the country intend to do the same and because the Queen and her family not only celebrated Christmas but they particularly showed why Christmas was important and worth celebrating, the common people did follow them. Pold comments that during the Victorian period “the family emerged as the centre of Christmas celebration” (Fathering Christmas n.p.) and according to the BBC expect for spending time with the family, the celebration was also centred on decoration of houses and gift giving (History of Christmas n.p.) and especially, as Lalumia adds, on children (26). This all became an essential part for the Christmas celebration and something that many people, even nowadays, cannot imagine their Christmas without. It was not just some social celebration but also it was a time for family to enjoy each other´s company and make each other happy by giving them gifts they were longing for. Naturally, children were the ones who enjoyed this atmosphere the most.

It is not just the royal family, though, who influenced the way people celebrate

Christmas today. Charles Dickens and his Christmas books, especially A Christmas

Carol, are considered to have had a huge impact on this as well. Many agrees that even though Charles Dickens should not be considered a founder or inventor of Christmas, his role in the people´s perception of Christmas should not be doubted. BBC claims that A

Christmas Carol helped popularised the festival and his “themes of family, charity, goodwill, peace and happiness encapsulate the spirit of the Victorian Christmas” (History of Christmas n.p.). Pold suggests that thanks to the atmosphere Dickens created with

“cosy homes, hearty dinners, and festival pleasures” he managed to bring about the idea of Christmas as we know it up to today and “his contribution, most notably his propagation of what the festival should mean, are essential to the establishment of the culture of Christmas” (Fathering Christmas n.p.). Lalumia states that he managed to

“express, through an examination of Christmas, contemporary social concerns . . . [and his words] captured the hearts and minds of the nation” (26). Janzen Lorraine Kooistra in her “Victorian Christmas in Print” (2010) also points out that “he did contribute substantially to a print culture vigorously engaged in defining the matter and meanings of a revitalized seasonal holiday” (131). In A Christmas Carol, Dickens showed many different aspects of the world he was living in. He was aware of injustice and huge gap between social classes. With his A Christmas Carol, he tried to help people open their eyes and realize the social situation of the country. He managed to do this in an amiable way. Having written a ghost story with a serious subject which is easy to read he succeeded in bringing up the ideas of love and caring not only within the family but also towards other people. It can be claimed, that Dickens was always concerned with social issues but the fact that he set up the character of a selfish rich man, devoted clerk and sick little boy at Christmas time, which is traditionally viewed as a time of happiness and joy, could have been the reason why many people found it touching and why the story became and still is popular. The Christmas period was a suitable time for society to be better, forget about vanities and enjoy the little things and through his writings, Dickens tried to remind people about that.

A Christmas Carol and the royal family both played a significant role in the development of Christmas. Geoffrey Rowell in his article “Dickens and the Construction of Christmas” (1993) claims that Dickens in his work “both reflected and contributed to the Victorian revival of Christmas” (History Today n.p.). The Queen showed people how to celebrate Christmas properly and Dickens gave them reason to celebrate it.

Nevertheless, Pimlott makes an observation when comparing two of Dickens´s works which deals with Christmas; Pickwick Papers and A Christmas Carol. He claims that whereas “Pickwick stressed the material side of the festival, and looked back to the eighteenth century,” A Christmas Carol on the other hand “looked forward, and was largely responsible for the fact that Dickens . . . is associated with the modern conception of Christmas” (Pimlott n.p.). In spite of the fact that he had written several works with a

Christmas topic, it is A Christmas Carol which is Dickens´s best known Christmas story.

It is a story which is often read and reread by many children and adults during the period of winter vacation. Pimlott also states that A Christmas Carol “without neglecting the good things of the season dwelt upon the spiritual, though not specifically the religious, aspects of the festivity” (Merry Christmas n.p.). The idea of the visit of the three spirits which come to Scrooge in order to show him the true importance of one´s life through demonstrating him his own past, present and very possible future gives the reader the feeling of magic and spirituality without any Christian or other religious motives. The spirits are like characters from fairy tales read during childhood, which can show the reader hidden secrets and truths. Pold explains that in A Christmas Carol Dickens aimed, with “a strong sense of nostalgia” that results in “an increased interest in childhood and, more particularly, of Christmas as a time for children,” to put children in the centre of

Christmas celebration as Christmas was supposed to be a special time particularly for children (Fathering Christmas n.p.). This nostalgia can be seen in the second stave of A

Christmas Carol when the first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, visits Scrooge and shows him memories from his own childhood. There the reader can see Scrooge himself sitting all alone when he should be enjoying the holiday with his friends and family

(Dickens 24-30). Pold claims that this is “one of the most pathetic images in the story” but still “the sense of childhood abandonment is essential for creating this mood”

(Fathering Christmas n.p.). The idea of an innocent child who does not have anyone who would help him, take care of him and make him happy, is somehow sentimental but

Dickens was trying to point on on the fact that in those times, there were many children like this. Children without parents were suffering and many of them were not even provided with basic health care and education. For Dickens, Christmas was the right time to remind people about that as Christmas ought to make people more caring, more helpful and more empathetic. Pold further explains that this shows the way Dickens was looking at Christmas, as in his writing, so in his personal life. There was “the enthusiasm for looking backwards” the fact that people wanted to prepare for their children special holiday as they remembered it from their own childhood and the belief that Christmas, as the holiday from past needs to be cherished and kept for the next generations (Fathering

Christmas n.p.). What Pold suggests here has, again, a feeling of nostalgia, but it should not be considered to be something bad. Nostalgia was an essential part of A Christmas

Carol as “the nostalgic, child-centric, and charitable aspects of the holiday became increasingly important during the nineteenth-century” (Pold n.p.). Furthermore, it was the easiest way to get under the people´s skin because fiction stories with a realistic idea written in a way that would get into men´s hearts was a guaranteed success.

The family was, for many Victorians, an important part of their lives and

Christmas was supposed to be the period when they cared about family even more. Pold suggests that A Christmas Carol helped to create “new and distinctive traditions” with an

22 attention on the family and mutual understanding (Fathering Christmas n.p.) which can be seen in a personal change of Scrooge, who eventually realises that no matter how much money he has, there is nothing that could compare to the time spent with family (Dickens

84). Moreover, Lalumia states that family was considered “the most acceptable social unit” and that Christmas emphasized the social and moral beliefs of the Victorian society

(24). She also expresses that Christmas, since the Victorian period up to this date, “has been a festival of family and kinship in which charity towards others was perhaps the strongest element” and that with Christmas, the Victorians tried to create a society which would be better than the previous one (24). Whether they have succeeded or not is questionable and not relevant for this thesis, but the fact is that regarding social and religious aspects, the period of Christmas can be considered the most appropriate time for trying to change and improve things, as Christmas is considered to be the time when people are more willing to accept these changes.

Neither Queen Victoria and her husband nor Charles Dickens and his A Christmas

Carol invented Christmas, but their influence on the way Christmas is celebrated is obvious. Christmas is a festival which was known long before they came onto the scene, but they were important figures who managed to change society´s approach towards it.

Regardless of the religion aspect, the celebration of Christmas became a tradition in the

Victorian society, which, in very similar fashion, lasts till today.

4 Chapter Three: Analysis of A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol was the first from the Christmas Books series Charles Dickens wrote. It took him only two weeks to write it and the book became an immediate success.

This book is a ghost story about an old miser Scrooge who is visited by spirits who are about to show him the true meaning of Christmas and values of life. Even though it might be considered a fairy-tale story for children, A Christmas Carol is a book in which

Dickens points out the defects of humanity, criticises English society and addresses the need for charity. Moreover, the book provides an insight to Dickens´s own past.

Bernard Darwin in his book Charles Dickens (Great Lives) (1946) claims that

“there is nothing strikingly original about the Carol” (76). In spite of Darwin´s opinion that there may be nothing out of the ordinary about A Christmas Carol, the book gained not only national, but worldwide success. One of the reasons why it happened might be the fact Edgar Johnson in his book Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph (1997) points out, which is that “in A Christmas Carol . . . he [Dickens] would appeal to people´s essential humanity” (256). He used sentiment to touch their soft spots so he wrote a story which would appeal to their emotional site. The story of two worlds: a sick little boy and his poor family on one side and a rich cold-hearted man on the other, joined by spirits which should help (not only) Scrooge realize what really matters in life. In addition, the atmosphere of Christmas holiday, sympathy, mercy and love towards each other, made the story more emotional.

Dickens describes the holidays as "a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable,

pleasant time: the only time I know of in the long calendar of the year, when men

and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think

of other people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave,

and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys." This was what

Dickens described for the rest of his life as the "Carol Philosophy" (David Perdue

“Christmas Books”)

Dickens seemed to be fond of Christmas. For him, Christmas was a period when people presented better sites of themselves and cared more about each other. Inspired by the

Scottish Enlightenment Dickens in his “Carol Philosophy” shows his beliefs in the natural goodness of people. In A Christmas Carol, he celebrates the atmosphere of love and peace, something which is still considered to be the main message of Christmas. Except for

Dickens´s glorification of Christmas in the book, this chapter analyses the story of A

Christmas Carol as a story in which Dickens not only shows his hope for better future of mankind but also criticises English society and the theory of utilitarianism. Last, but not least, it displays a portrait of Dickens and Scrooge where Dickens through Scrooge´s life shows his own personal experiences and feelings.

During the Victorian period the Industrial Revolution was still developing. This period brought many innovations not only to British people but also to the rest of Europe.

Nevertheless, Zachary Allentuck in his article “A Dickensian Utilitarianism” (2016) points out that it was the Industrial Revolution that caused the “growth in income inequality” (11-12). It can be claimed that the rich were becoming richer and the poor were becoming poorer. At that time, Dickens wrote his A Christmas Carol with his appeal to charity. Christmas for Dickens was the best time for acts of charity. According to

Allentuck, A Christmas Carol more than any other of his books “focuses heavily on the idea of charity . . . as well as the consequences of not acting charitable” (23). These consequences may be seen in Dickens´s A Christmas Carol when Scrooge with the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come discovers his own possible death and the fact that nobody cares about him. Unlike Tiny Tim whose death is mourned, the death of Scrooge makes people indifferent (Dickens 67-70). Allentuck also adds that “Dickens does not want just people

25 to feel charitable during Christmas; he wants people to feel charitable all the time . . . (that is why) A Christmas Carol is a story about the need for human charity” (23). By showing the importance and necessity of compassion, Dickens wanted to motivate people in

England to be less self-centred and help those in need. He did so by demonstrating the persona of Scrooge who managed to overcome a great change of his personality and his act of charity caused significant consequences to Scrooge and his business so to his employee Bob Cratchit.

Even though A Christmas Carol, unlike Hard Times or some other of Dickens´s books, is more about moral than political or economic aspects, it still comments on the situation in the country. Dickens was influenced by an English philosopher and social reformer Jeremy Bentham. Bentham with An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and

Legislation (1789) is regarded as a founder of the theory of utilitarianism. A very simplified definition of utilitarianism is the idea that an action of utilitarianism means the greatest good for the greatest number of people. According to Askin Haluk Yıldırım in his article “On the Path to Social Change: Dickens and Victorian Conflict” (2012)

“utilitarianism theorized by Jeremy Bentham, stressed the significance of resorting to reason rather than moral and cultural values in the resolution of social problems . . . [and]

Dickens presents the conflict between utilitarian principles and humanitarian values”

(164). The greatest issue was that “people were becoming things and things were becoming more important that people” (170). Thus, Allentuck agrees that “Dickens dislikes the idea of treating people as objects” (34). Additionally, Elaine Ostry in her book

Social Dreaming: Dickens and the Fairy Tale (2002) suggests that “Dickens´s protest against utilitarianism was particularly important in the Hungry Forties . . . [and] his Carol

Philosophy was intended to address the problems of the poor that the utilitarians were, in his view, neglecting” (82). It seems that even though, there was the idea about the greater

26 good, the target group did not involve the very bottom of the society. The lower classes in England did not belong to the important part of the English society as they could not contribute much to the new industrial and market era. Dickens did not agree with this uneven concept.

Sarah Winter in her chapter “Scottish Enlightenment Concepts of Equity in the

Nineteenth-Century British Novel” in The Scottish Enlightenment and Literary Culture

(2016) claims that “nostalgia or even dread could accompany the [English] novel´s adaptation of Scottish Enlightenment conceptions to configure increasingly meditated social relations as analogous to participation in a reading audience” (265). The Scottish

Enlightenment was a period in the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth century Scotland characterized by importance of human reason and rejection of the authority. It gave raise to many intellectuals, philosophers and artists. The most significant representatives are

David Hume and Adam Smith. Paul Schilicke in his article “Boz in the North” (2012) claims that Adam Smith in his Theory of Moral Sentiments points out that “sympathy, by arousing interest in the feelings of others, provides the source of moral judgements” (n.p.).

For Dickens, who “grew up in the shadow of Sir Walter Scott, and some of his deepest convictions had been articulated by Scottish Enlightenment thinkers of the 18th century”

Schilicke continues, “sensibility, the faculty of feeling, predominated over reason, and sentiment, the capacity for moral reflection, was innate” (n.p.). That is why, Schilicke comments, Dickens from the Scottish Enlightenment “derived the image of the man of feeling, predisposed instinctively to benevolence” (n.p.). Additionally, Winter suggests

“moderate and mediating novelistic forms of equality can entail for the reader the pleasures of friendship and the possible solidarities of citizenship” (266). These arguments suggest that Dickens was inspired by the Scottish Enlightenment. It can be noticed in Dickens´s A Christmas Carol where one of the main ideas is the transformation

27 of Scrooge from a self-centred indifferent person into a man of feelings and sentiment, eager to help those in need. By the great changes of his personality, Scrooge confirms the theory of natural goodness in people which eventually comes out. No matter how cold- hearted he might have seemed, the feeling of sentiment and compassion gained victory over his previously demoralized character.

“If I could work my will . . . 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!” (Dickens 4). At the very begging of the story the reader can see a clear evidence that Scrooge truly does not like Christmas. Johnson describes

Scrooge as a man whose “entire life is limited to cashboxes and bills of sales. He underpays and bullies his clerk. All sentiment, kindness, generosity, tenderness, he dismisses as “humbug.” All imagination he regards as a species of mental indigestion”

(256). As a businessman Scrooge finds Christmas vain, not worth the fuss and totally overrated. Not only is he indifferent towards the holiday but also he considers people who celebrate it “idiots”. In this image of Scrooge Dickens did not point out people who do not like Christmas but he presents exaggerated persona of Scrooge so that the change he overcame by the end of the book would be even greater.

It seems that Dickens used Christmas as an example because it belongs to the most important Christian holidays, people are looking forward to spend time with their families, enjoy themselves and simply have fun and relax. The character of Scrooge operates as an antihero who hates everything that everyone else likes, an ideal person no one should want to become. He also represents that part of society Dickens criticised in his book. He is a person who is rich enough to help the others but he prefers keeping all the money just for himself as can be seen in the part when two gentlemen come to

Scrooge´s office to ask for financial support for those who are in need, but Scrooge makes

28 himself clear saying “I don´t make merry myself at Christmas and I can´t afford to make idle people merry . . . if they would rather die . . . they had better do it” (Dickens 7). He is so arrogant and self-centred that even the period of Christmas cannot make him more kind. He does not care that there are some poor people out there and even if there are, they should take care of themselves. He simply ignores them. If they are in need it is totally their problem and if they die they at least “decrease the surplus population”

(Dickens 7). There is no sign of humanity in Scrooge´s behaviour. The only thing that matters to him is money. This is again something Dickens criticised. As was already mentioned in the first chapter of this thesis Dickens experienced poverty and wealth as well and he was aware of social differences. That is why, as Ackroyd claims, Dickens

“stood up for the rights of the poor” (362) and according to Humphry House in The

Dickens World (1942) with A Christmas Carol Dickens wrote about “great Victorian problems . . . and the use of Charity” (54). He longed for people to open their eyes, not to be blind towards social problems in the country. Just because some people did not have as much money as others, it did not mean they were worse human beings. Although they presented a great part of society, their voice was not loud enough. That is why they needed someone like Dickens, someone who would try to stand up for them and try to protect their basic human rights and interests.

The other side of the story presents a poor Cratchit family with their little son Tiny

Tim who represents the lower-class. Dickens uses the character of crippled Tim to appeal to people´s feelings. Tim is just a little innocent child who, because of financial reasons, is not given a proper health care which may cost him his life. When Scrooge travels with the Spirit of Christmas Present, he is told that “if these shadows remain unaltered by the

Future, the child will die” (Dickens 50). Given this information, Scrooge is “overcome with penitence and grief” (Dickens 50) a feeling that was before unknown to Scrooge.

The Spirit also adds that “if he be liked to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population” (Dickens 50). The Spirit uses Scrooge´s own words which he said when two gentlemen came to ask for charity support. Suddenly Scrooge understands that what he said earlier was not right and that people do not die just like that, but because there is no one to help them and maybe they would not if they had enough money and proper care.

In Tiny Tim´s case it is also because his social status was not high enough. Again, the reader can see that the utilitarian theory about “the greater good” does not imply to the whole society.

Here is the point when it seems that Dickens wants people to feel empathy with others. Tiny Tim is a character Scrooge has never met before and he does not know him at all, but still he cannot bear the idea of death of an innocent child. The reader here should feel the same. S/he should demonstrate some emotions because emotions are essential for human beings. It is not important that Tiny Tim belongs to the lower-class but the fact that he is a person like everyone else and he does not deserve to die at such a young age.

Dickens here shows that the social status is not relevant and all people should be equal.

The choice of a crippled child as one of a main characters of the story was a clever one because according to House “the proper heroes and heroines are those who suffer and are helped” (61). A Christmas Carol is a story of suffering Tiny Tim who is helped eventually when a reader comprehends that he “did not die” (Dickens 85). This information should make the reader feel sentimental and emotional but better. Even though Dickens makes a criticism in his book, he does not give up hope on people. Nevertheless, the death of Tiny

Tim shows the amount of control Scrooge, as an employee, had over the family. Allentuck suggests that Dickens here “emphasises the utilitarian idea that a member of government

(or employee in this case) can help create happiness” (38) and he continues stating that

“so long as the middle-class continue to remain ignorant about the plight of the

30 impoverished and working-class, the latter classes will be doomed to eternal poverty and starvation” (39). It was the change of Scrooges personality and his following acts of charity that saved Tiny Tim´s life. Had it not been for Scrooge, Dickens suggests that Tim would not have survived. The same principle could apply on society. If the poor are about to get better, they need help from the rich. This way, there can be the greater good for the greater number of people.

The happy ending of the story suggests Dickens´s beliefs that mankind can be changed and get better. Furthermore, what House observes about A Christmas Carol is that “why Dickens´s benevolent sentiment still has power to bring tears to the eyes . . . is that it has been so well prepared for: he has built up so carefully and realistically scenes of poverty, depression, and unhappiness that the ultimate release . . . brings a break of tension also for the reader” (63). Even though the upper-class might have seemed indifferent towards the lower-class, it was not totally blind. They were aware of differences they just did not mind them because it did not personally concern them. A

Christmas Carol was a story that was meant to be sentimental in order to appeal to the wide public. The character of Tiny Tim might not be exceptionally out of the ordinary but that might be the thing that makes him beautiful. The persona is simple and realistic and people believe it. Moreover, he represents all the kids who are left alone in the streets of England. All the images are carefully described to provide believable picture of the lower-class so when considering whether Dickens succeeded in making a touching story one can say that he did and Tiny Tim should be acknowledged as the most important feature in making a valuable atmosphere.

In the second stave of the book the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge to his younger years. There is Scrooge´s sister who approaches him saying “‘I have come to bring you home, dear brother!’ said the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bending down

31 to laugh. ‘To bring you home, home, home!’ . . . ‘Home, for good and all.’ (Dickens 28).

Ackroyd claims that “in A Christmas Carol he [Dickens] returns to his childhood and relives it.” (229). In this stave, where Scrooge travels back to his past Dickens makes a connection with his own young self. In this passage where his sister comes to tell him he can come back home it might remind of the period when Dickens, as a child, was working in the blacking factory because his father was in the debtor´s prison. His sister then would represent the period when his father came back and little Dickens could have returned home. Not literally return to his house but go back to his previous life, the life before the blacking factory, back to attend school and behave in accordance with his age. He uses the word “home” repeatedly so it raises a feeling of a long-expected finale.

Although, after everything Dickens had been through and the experience in the factory, he was not able to get totally over it and start again. He had problems to integrate with his school fellows. He is described as “alone, friendless, bereft of any possible future or any alternative life” (Ackroyd 41). To compare Dickens´s life with the one of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol there is an image of Scrooge as “a solitary child, neglected by his friends” (Dickens 26). Scrooge is depicted as a child who does not get on well with his classmates and prefers reading books, being on his own. Dickens was considered to be the same. He spent great amount of time on his own, reading books. It is claimed that the books Scrooge was reading are the ones Dickens was fond of as well. Ackroyd (30) makes a comparison of both of them and mentions that main characters of some books that

Dickens was reading such as Ali Baba and Robinson Crouse, are the very same characters that show up in Scrooge´s past (Dickens 27). This shows the close connection between

Dickens and the hero of his A Christmas Carol. One needs to be careful when comparing them as even though, Dickens used some of his personal features to give an idea of

Scrooge´s life, Scrooge was still mainly the representative character whose role served to criticise society, not to bring the sentiment of Dickens´s past.

“It is required of every man . . . that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world . . . and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!”

(Dickens 15-16). The spirit here mentions travelling. It is not travelling as such, it is more an idea of spiritual travelling. House states that “the experience allegorized in the journeys with the three spirits . . . implies a complete change in his [Scrooge´s] values, the birth of love, and a new vision of the world” (53). When considering this, a reader should look at travelling in a spiritual way. It could be a tool in the process of mental growing and development. In the context of this growing, the Spirit also suggests that sharing is important. A man is a social being for whom it is essential to be part of a greater social life. Whether he likes it or not he needs to be part of a community. Dickens suggests that people should not be so self-centred and should pay more attention towards one another and share not only their feelings and opinions but also material things.

For people like Scrooge, who represents the rich business man, it is essential to be selfish, not to bother about poor people from the lower class. This fact is not something typical for Victorian society but it is more typical for mankind itself. It might seem that

Dickens makes an appeal on people to stop for a while and consider the purpose of their lives. They should rethink their values and realize what is important. He wants people to become better persons, to behave more humanly. If they do not, then as the Spirit claims, they would find the punishment in the afterlife. This is a somehow frightening part of the book. Spirt, as a powerful creature, represents something which is not scientifically proved to exist but in a spiritual level many people may consider the probability of its

33 existence. As the Spirit so the idea of the afterlife is something that catches people´s attention and curiosity. Dickens uses the unknown reality of its existence to make people start thinking about their own lives and question whether they live their lives in a way that when the last day comes, they will not be afraid of what comes afterwards.

The Spirit can be viewed as a representative of people´s fear of death. This fear is essential because no one knows what will happen after s/he dies. When the Spirit takes

Scrooge to the churchyard to show him one particular gravestone, Scrooge is afraid what he will find there and he “crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave with his own name, EBENEZER SCROOGE.”

After realizing his own death “he cried, upon his knees” (Dickens 77). This is the time when Scrooge realizes that the life he had been living was far from good and that this is not how he wants it to end up; unloved and lonely. When he eventually wakes up and understands that he is alive it changes everything for him. He is “best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!” and he was “laughing and crying in the same breath” (Dickens 79). Darwin claims that “it is impossible to read the story without feeling as Scrooge did in Christmas morning” (77). It is a crucial point in his life as he is given a second chance to do things better and he is happy and grateful for that.

The reader should feel the same and be happy for Scrooge´s salvation.

Michel Faber in his article “Spectral pleasures” (2005) suggests that “Scrooge's triumph is that he stares his own corpse in the face, and, instead of despairing, defiantly resolves to enjoy the gift of life to the full . . . [as] fun for him was the only compensation for death” (n.p.). This is the part when Dickens appeals on his readers the most. He shows them that it is never too late to take the second chance and Christmas, for Dickens, represents the perfect time for taking this chance. What is necessary is not to forget that life is a gift. Farber even claims that what is important to realize is the fact that for Dickens

“Christmas should not be predictable and rational . . . for him, Christmas is a time when everything is capable, with the greatest ease, of being changed into Anything" (n.p.). After all, Christmas time is a time when people are reminded to believe in miracles. It was a miracle that Scrooge was visited by the Spirits, it was a miracle that he had a chance to see his probable future in order to be able to change it, it was a miracle that Tiny Tim did not die, it was a miracle that Scrooge managed to change this much and it would be a miracle if people learn their lesson and become better persons; a miracle that could come true on Christmas. Johnson claims that this “Scrooge´s conversion is the conversion for which Dickens hopes among mankind” (257). Faber adds that “gesture of kindness can rescue . . . the most grievously damaged souls” (n.p.) and Robert Douglas-Fairhurst in his

Introduction to A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books (2011) agrees claiming

“what does Scrooge learn about himself . . . [is] precisely what Dickens´s readers are expected to learn about themselves . . . [and realize] that our actions are “for good” in the twin sense of being both morally improving and permanent” (xiv). Dickens tried to show people that it is never too late to become better human beings and that it feels good to be good and to do good things. As “Scrooge was better than his world” (Dickens 85) so everyone can get better and make the world a better place not only for themselves but for everybody. Even though the whole book has an intention to criticise, it does that in a nonviolent way with an intention to appeal on the good side of people. Dickens did not mean to show people how bad they can end up but he tried to make an image of a good character that would inspire others to be good.

The presence of Spirits is an impressive feature of A Christmas Carol. As was already mentioned they may represent some unknown magical reality. Faber suggests that

“A Christmas Carol is an extravagantly symbolic thing” and that this presence of Spirits

“promises supernatural fun” (n.p.). In the book itself the Spirit clarifies the role of spirits

35 saying to Scrooge that "there are some upon this earth of yours . . . who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all out kith and kin, as if they had never lived.

Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us” (Dickens 45). Dickens here portraits a feature which is typical for mankind. When people do something, no matter if it is good or bad, they tend to refer to some superior force not to put the blame of their doings on themselves. It is a conventional human characteristic. The message

Dickens gives to people through the Spirit´s speech is that he wants them to be more critical towards themselves and bear the responsibilities for their actions. Blaming some

“spirits” or bad luck for the flaws caused by inappropriate behaviour or bad temper is childish and people should realize that.

However, making characters of the spirits has more reasons than just the criticism itself. It makes the story more thrilling and gripping. Faber claims that “the real secret of

A Christmas Carol . . . [lies] in the dark, joyous energy . . . [and] in the weird magic of

Scrooge's adventures, the awesome visions of the Spirits” (n.p.). Nonetheless, Douglas-

Fairhurst argues that A Christmas Carol could work as “an alternative Christmas story to its more obviously religious rival, in which the three wise men are replaced by three instructive spirits, and the pilgrimage to a child in a manger is replaced by a visit to the house of Tiny Tim” (viii). These are two slightly different views on characters of the spirits and none of them should be considered wrong. Faber suggests that the spirits make the story more adventurous and more attractive. Ghost stories fascinate people because the author can use a wide range of fantasies to shock or please his/her readers. In A

Christmas Carol the idea of travelling in time and having a chance to see the future in order to be able to make it better is something many people long for. How much easier

36 life would be if one was given an opportunity to correct his/her mistake before they are even done.

Douglas-Fairhurst´s ideas about the spirits representing the three wise men is also worth considering. As A Christmas Carol is a Christmas tale the similarity between

Dickens´s story and the original story of Christmas is not accidental. It somehow gives the story even greater Christmas feeling. The spirits then would represent men who save the child from his destiny by showing Scrooge that he is the only one who can help Tiny

Tim and Tiny Tim would represent the saved child who brings the feeling of love and sympathy back to people´s heart. In this way Douglas-Fairhurst idea corresponds with

Faber´s in a way that A Christmas Carol is a symbolic story. Ackroyd also agrees with the idea claiming that Dickens managed to “remove his private concerns into a larger symbolic world” (308). When reading not only A Christmas Carol but also other

Dickens´s books it is always good to look at the text from a symbolic perspective and read in between the lines in order to get what he really wanted to say by his story.

Considering Christmas as such Christopher Hibbert in his book The Making of Charles

Dickens (1967) claims that “it was still a special time for him [Dickens], not as a religious festival but as time in which selfishness was transformed into charity, friends and families were reunited” (256). Ackroyd argues that Dickens transformed the holiday “by suffusing it with his own particular mixture of aspirations, memories and fears. He invested it with fantasy and with a curious blend of religious mysticism and popular superstition” (231).

Dickens did not consider the Christian aspect of the holiday to be the most crucial one.

He tried to make it special in his own way. Therefore, with his A Christmas Carol he managed to attract people regardless of religion. He wanted them to enjoy the festival while taking care of the others.

Dickens presents an idea that happiness gets even better when it is shared. This is one of the signs that makes the book special. G. K. Chesterton in his Introduction to

Christmas Books (1910) claims that there is a “mystery connection” between Christmas and Charles Dickens. He suggests that Dickens in his A Christmas Carol reached a stage of “pure joy” and happiness (vii-xiv). The book made people laugh and cry at the same time. It brought them joy and fun. Dickens liked A Christmas Carol and so did his readers.

Even though it includes some sad parts, such as the possible death of Tiny Tim, eventually everything ends up well. In A Christmas Carol, there is a passage saying “every man on board, waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had a kinder word for another on that day

[Christmas day] than on any day in the year; and had shared to some extent in its festivities; and had remembered those he cared for at a distance, and had known that they delighted to remember him” (Dickens 54). Douglas-Fairhurst said about the book that it should be “a reminder of the simple pleasures that seem to have been lost sight of in the seasonal scrum of shoppers, an annual invitation to the pleasures of nostalgia” (viii). Even though it was written in the nineteenth century the topic of A Christmas Carol is still up to date. It should remind everyone how important it is to care not only about oneself but about the others and that little things matter. Nostalgia and sentiment are typical for this

Dickens´s book because it provides a trustworthy feeling Dickens tried to evoke in people.

It can be claimed that he wanted to use people´s own emotions against them. What is unfortunate is that after Christmas is over many forget about its message and start to deal with only their business again. Many may even blame “the spirits” and claim that everything was done in their name. What is, as was mentioned earlier, just a poor excuse and everyone should be responsible for his or her doing. Good thing is that thanks to the great popularity of the book many people read it over and over again and they are

38 reminded of the main message of the story, so it may cause the improvement of their personality at some point.

At the beginning of the books Scrooge is describe as “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as ﬂint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous ﬁre” (Dickens 2). Not only he refuses to provide any charity but also, as Allentuck claims, he does not “just keep the money for greedily use for himself; he has a compulsion to hoard it; even though doing so does not even benefit him . . . Scrooge´s fear of losing money dominates his life, even to the point of ruining it” (24). The reader knows that Scrooge has money, but Dickens never mentions what does he use them for. Allentuck even suggests that “just as Scrooge does not even use his money to “make himself comfortable,” England’s philosophy did not encourage using its money to improve the lives of its citizens” (25). However, after Scrooge´s journey with the spirits, he woke up and the first thing he did was that he charitably bought a Christmas turkey for his employee Bob and his family. Not only he did so deliberately, but also he had a great feeling about that (Dickens 81). This, according to Allentuck, matches with Bentham idea about happiness and success and he adds that “in Bentham´s eyes, a good employer, presumably, would be one who cares about his employees and treats them well . . . and doing so helps the business” (34). This idea goes back to the idea of charity as “each charitable act towards the community, showing us that charity adheres to the principle of utility, by producing happiness” (Allentuck 29). Dickens suggest that if the system is supposed to work well, every part of it should be able to benefit somehow.

Thus, theoretically if the society is supposed to be happy, every part of it needs to gain some profit. This can only be reached, if every social class has an opportunity to develop itself and every member of it has a real chance for success.

At the first stave of A Christmas Carol there is a part when Scrooge is visited by his dead business partner Marley who tries to warn Scrooge from what can happen to him. All that mattered to Marley when he was alive was money and after he died he found himself bounded in chain as a punishment for his sins. Scrooge´s “Bah! Humbug!” attitude is full of greed, selfishness, indifference, and a lack of consideration for one's fellow man. All of these negative characteristics predestined him for fate similar to

Marley´s. “Business! . . . mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” (Dickens 17). Lisa Toland in her article “The Darker Side of A Christmas

Carol” (2009) suggests that what one can see here is a “portrayal of a social and economic world of great inequity and deep suffering. It is a world more brutal than we sometimes imagine, and one that in many ways is not too different from our own” (44). House claims that in the book “the effect is largely got by giving a proper importance to money” (63) and Rose adds that “Victorian society could be quite pleasant, but only depending on your financial status” (n.p.). Marley as well as Scrooge are “personification of economic man”

(Johnson 256). Marley himself confesses that all in his life was about business and money.

He took a very inhuman stand on everything around him. The less the businessman cares about the poor, the better. Poor people are a useless part of the society and economy because they cannot afford to contribute to the market.

The rich did not appreciate the poor. For a businessman, what is important is to make as much money as possible while spending as little as they can. The main goal was to gain the profit regardless of the means used. If it should be at the expense of the others so be it. What Dickens tried to show was an absurd situation in the country. He pointed out the differences among social classes and criticised especially the upper-class for its

40 indifferent attitude towards the rest of the society. There were many poor men, women and children all around England and nobody did anything about it. Yet the rich people cared only about their businesses and nothing else. Dickens was s man who was far from being satisfied with the way social situation looked like. In A Christmas Carol, he used the image of a dead man bounded in chain as a warning signal. He wanted people to open their eyes, consider their values and show sympathy with those who need it the most. He wanted them to be the exact opposite of Scrooge or Marley. He tried to remind his readers of the importance in taking notice of the lives of those around them. The social gap and differences were huge. This is another up to date topic of A Christmas Carol because today´s society is far from equal as well and many people suffer from poverty while others have so much money that they do not need to work anymore and they can get by easily for the rest of their lives.

A Christmas Carol is a story packed with social criticism. Dickens does not point out this criticism directly, that is why the story can be considered symbolic. He criticises mainly the upper class but he also refers to people´s selfishness as such. He uses the atmosphere of Christmas and characters of the Spirits to appeal to people in order to make them stop pretending to be blind towards the situation in the society. He also provides a slight insight into his own life through the memories of his main character. Even though

Dickens criticised the upper classes and their indifference towards the poor the aim of A

Christmas Carol was also to entertain people. House suggests that for Dickens

“Christmas means the breakdown for a season of the restraints imposed by normal social life, a sort of psychological release” (52). Although, he mainly wanted people not to think just about themselves for a while, he also wanted them to enjoy the story. As a matter of fact, the story needs to be good if the author wants people to buy it and enjoy it. Christmas time was a time for rest and joy so he needed to make a story that would accompany

41 people while enjoying the holiday. A story which would be easy to read but it would still contain a moral Dickens wished to spread among the nation. The fact that A Christmas

Carol is still re-read and many people come back to it especially during Christmas time suggests that Dickens succeeded in this task.

5 Chapter Four: Christmas Books

After the success of Dickens´s Christmas book A Christmas Carol Dickens decided to continue in this fashion and by 1848 he had written four more books; all of them can be referred to as Christmas Books. None of them, though, enjoyed the popularity

A Christmas Carol did. Nevertheless, they were something like a seasonal necessity for

Dickens´s readers for several years. They are short stories that share the idea of A

Christmas Carol, referred to as a “Carol philosophy,” celebrating family, friends and goodness of people, all strengthened during Christmas time.

A year after A Christmas Carol Dickens wrote the second Christmas Book called

The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year

In (1844) which again, as well as A Christmas Carol, deals with ghosts, spirits and magical visitations. Ackroyd claims that “Dickens believed The Chimes would be even more successful than A Christmas Carol” (245). However, this dream of his did not come true and A Christmas Carol can still be considered his most famous Christmas Book.

Nevertheless, Ackroyd adds that “the book [The Chimes] caused some sensation as in this book, Dickens presented his radical opinions, mainly towards the political system in

England” (247). Perdue agrees with Ackroyd saying that The Chimes was “more topical than A Christmas Carol, citing social problems more specific to the 1840s” (n.p.). In The

Chimes Dickens continued with his criticism towards society while making a touching story about Toby “Trotty” Veck who represents a poor working-class man who lost his faith in humanity and believes that his poverty is the result of his unworthiness. Similarly, as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Trotty is visited by spirits; this time they are spirits of the chimes. Trotty is given a chance to see what would have happened to his family if he had lost his life on New Year’s Eve. This visit should help Trotty restore his

43 faith and show him that people are not born evil, but rather that things like crime and poverty are created by man.

Rob Breton in his “Bourdieu, The Chimes, And The Bad Economist: Reading

Disinterest” (2012) suggests that The Chimes is “a more political story than A Christmas

Carol . . . [it shows that] the economically-preoccupied middle and upper classes never adjust their attitude toward working people, and the story ends with the classes socially, politically, and ideologically divided” (85). Breton´s argument also points out the fact that in spite of the Christmas mood, the main idea of The Chimes is once again the criticism of, especially, middle and upper middle classes and their indifference towards the poor. As in A Christmas Carol so in The Chimes, Dickens tries to show the flaws of society and his hope for their change for the better. Paul Hechinger in his article “̒The

Chimesʼ - Charles Dickens´ New Year´s “Carolʼ” (2013) also makes an argument about

The Chimes claiming that “as in all of Dickens’ works, greed, insensitivity, and social injustice are the true obstacles to happier new years, although The Chimes seems to be more directed against specific social problems and attitudes of the time than A Christmas

Carol” (n.p.). All of the arguments above suggest that even though The Chimes may not receive such a fame as A Christmas Carol did, it seems to be a carefully elaborated piece of literary work, maybe even more elaborated than A Christmas Carol. Moreover, The

Chimes may be considered less fairy-tale and more serious story which points out the current social issues of the country.

Concerning The Chimes, Philip V. Allingham in his article “The Chimes: A

Goblin Story of Some Bells That Rang An Old Year Out and a New Year In” (2007) makes several compelling arguments. First of all, he claims that Dickens in his book

“focuses upon the pressing necessity for a middle-class change of heart and the

44 development of a social consciousness as correctives for the ̒Condition of Englandʼ

(n.p.)”. This again shows that Dickens in his books repeatedly tried to give an impulse for a change and improvement of the social surrounding he lived in. He tried to make sometimes more and sometimes less evident allusions in order to make people see the real England they lived in. According to Allingham Dickens tried to direct readers´ sympathies “by making the working-class characters three-dimensional and central to the narrative whereas the middle- and upper-class characters remain flat or undeveloped. His characterization is perfectly consistent with his intention to . . . strike a blow for the poor”

(n.p.). As the working-class characters are main heroes of his books it is essential that their persona overcomes the greatest change. It seems that because the middle and upper- middle classes were indifferent towards the poor, Dickens tried to make them aware of the situation of England by placing the poor to the centre of his stories.

However, Allingham claims that “much of the point of Dickens's social critique and political satire is probably lost on the modern reader because for its effectiveness satire relies upon an intimate knowledge of the people and conditions satirized” (n.p.).

Although nowadays for some, especially young, readers it may be difficult to imagine

England in 1840s the fact, that Christmas Books are written in a style that is easy to read for various generations, maintains the popularity of the books. However, some readers in early age can miss the criticism and see only the fairy-tale features. Later though they can reach the point as Kathryn Hughes in her article “God bless Tiny Tim” (2007) reached when she claimed that The Chimes is “a dark and bitter book” (n.p.). This happens when the reader focuses on the book as a whole and reads in between the lines and tries to understand what the author with his story wanted to say. Hughes later in the article agrees that Dickens´s Christmas Books were some kind of a project “to use Christmas as a time to wake up the dozing conscience of the prosperous urban middle classes” (n.p.). As

Christmas was and still is believed to be the period of happiness and human understanding, it could mean that it also would be a period when people stop with bare talking and try to do something to make things better.

A year after The Chimes Dickens promoted his new, already the third, Christmas

Book: The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home (1845). The book was associated with folk-tale and it was a story which Dickens hoped, “would allow him to enter people´s homes in a winning and immediate way” (Ackroyd 256). The Cricket on the Hearth is believed to be the “best-selling Christmas Book” (Gitter 675). The story centres on John

Peerybingle and his much younger wife Dot. When confronted with the possibility of

Dot's infidelity John consults the spirit of the cricket on the hearth. When things go well, the cricket on the hearth chirps; if there is sorrow, it is silent. Tackleton, a Scrooge-like character, is a jealous old man who poisons John´s mind about Dot. In the story though, the cricket through its supernatural powers restores John´s confidence and all ends happily. Race in his article “Introduction by Paul D. Race for Family Christmas Online” suggests that “in England a century ago, having a cricket on the hearth meant that you were prosperous enough to keep fire burning . . . [or] simply meant good luck” (n.p.). In the article, he also adds that “the Cricket is really a household fairy who supervises all of the other household fairies in their work to bring blessings to the Peerybingle family”

(n.p.). It can be seen that even though, in this Christmas Book there is no presence of spirits, which all of sudden appear and show the main character what could happen if s/he continued to live the way s/he did, fairy-tale and spiritual features can still be found here

– this time it is the cricket itself. The cricket represents a creature that watches over the

Peerybingle family and gives them blessings. It is believed that as long as the cricket is on the hearth, it would bring good luck to the family. It may be considered a guardian

46 angel to the family. Therefore, it can be claimed that more than a moral story, The Cricket on the Hearth is a story of family and love.

Elisabeth G. Gitter in her article ̒”The Blind Daughter in Charles Dickens´s

“Cricket on the Hearth”ʼ (1999) claims that The Cricket on the Hearth is a bit different story than the rest of the Christmas Books. She argues that “the plot of The Cricket on the

Hearth is organized around seeing, watching, and spying” (678). What Dickens criticises in the book is attitude of the characters towards each other while pointing out general behaviour of people in England towards one another. People often occupy their minds with trifles and lives of others, instead of being concerned on important social issues in the country. Moreover, Gitter argues that the characters are often being “blind to what is going on around them” (680). “Being blind” is a good metaphor for the upper middle classes that are blind or at least they pretend to be blind towards social problems, especially, to problems of lower classes. This human attribute is probably typical for human race. It seems to be natural for people to close their eyes when there is a problem and wait that it will get solved somehow.

Even though one may miss the Christmas spirit here, Dickens´s message, which is contained in every Christmas Book, is still present. Philip V. Allingham in his earlier article “The Roots of Dickens´s Christmas Books and Plays in Early Nineteenth Century

Melodrama and Pantomime” (2002) argues that in The Cricket on the Hearth “there is still something of Dickens´s earlier emphasis on . . . poverty, misery, miserliness and misshaping as well as the generosity, lovingness and redemptive capacity of the human heart” (n.p.). Martha Stoddard Holmes in her annotation on The Cricket on the Hearth

(1998) suggests that The Cricket on the Hearth “was the most popular of Dickens´s

Christmas Books, which he wrote both to support his large family and to generate readers´

47 sympathy and charitable giving, often through characters who are poor, suffering, and/or physically disabled” (n.p.). Similarly to A Christmas Carol, Dickens again uses an image of disabled, this time blind, young girl in order to try to soften people´s hearts. He uses different story to show the same ideas and give the same criticism about the social issues.

The title of another Dickens´s Christmas tale was The Battle of Life: A Love Story.

While working on this book Dickens was busy working on several projects at once so he may not have been absolutely focused on writing this Christmas story. However, it seemed that he wanted to finish it. At the beginning of his writing he seemed to consider the story to be “too good to be thrown away” as in that story “lies the real importance of

Dickens´s creed where he suggests that all life is a struggle” (Ackroyd 282). Nevertheless later on, as Douglas-Fairhurst argues, “Dickens himself confessed to Forster ̒ I really do not know what this story is worthʼ” (xxiii). It seems that Dickens was not sure about the outcome of the story, but he published it anyway. Douglas-Fairhurst continues with his studies claiming that after publishing, Dickens was confident about the power of The

Battle of Life but “the critics were less convinced. The Times described . . . (The Battle of Life)ʼ as the worst . . . the very worstʼ” (xxiii). Nicholoas Clark is his article “Mary

Hogarth and The Battle of Life Dilemma: Fidelity in a Dickensian Christmas Book”

(1997) supports this argument saying “the novel's earliest critics found flaws that emphasised its weakness when compared with other of Dicken's popular works” and he also quotes The Times´ reviewers who “summarise the strongest and most bitter of these attacks by way of a description that suggests the book is ̒intrinsically puerile and stupid,ʼ ̒a twaddling manifestation of silliness,ʼ and ̒simply ridiculousʼ” (n.p.). From the beginning the story seemed to have been in criticsʼ disfavour. The criticsʼ opinion though, is not always the most significant one as ordinary people find literature mainly as a means of entertainment and they often do not search for a deep literal message. Moreover, the

Christmas Books were already a seasonal sensation. People bought it regardless the story, just in order to fulfil the collection. Either way, it can be claimed that this book never did, and probably never will, belong to Dickens´s most popular and greatest piecse of work.

Additionally, the book can be acknowledged as the least popular of his Christmas Books.

The central idea is a story of two sisters, Marion and Grace, who make sacrifices in love and help each other. This story though, unlike the rest of the Christmas Books, does not use any supernatural elements that would help the characters in their battle.

According to Clark the main conflict lies “between Marion's sense of self-control and the desire to break free from the will of other characters to manipulate her” (n.p.). She manages to win her battle eventually and helps not only herself, but also her sister. More than his traditional criticism, Dickens points out the relationship within the family and between siblings. Even though the story is a bit different than the rest of the Christmas

Books, everything ends up with a happy ending which is typical for all the books from

Dickens´s Christmas series.

Although, his The Battle of Life did not gain much of a success, Dickens decided to write one more Christmas Book. The Haunted man and the Ghost´s Bargain: A Fancy for Christmas Time was the fifth and the last of Dickens´s Christmas Books. Dickens finished the book short after his sister´s death in 1848. Therefore, according to Ackroyd one should not wonder that the book is “mainly concerned with the revolving years, memories of sorrow and the significance of time past” (303) and a reader can see there

“features from his own life; the main character, a solitary man is linked with a death of his beloved sister” (307). It seems that his sister´s death had a great impact on him and it influenced his writing and the general idea and mood of the book. Douglas-Fairhurst summarizes the content of the book as a story of “an embittered scholar, Redlaw, who is offered forgetfulness by his ghostly double, and is brought to recognize that without his

49 memories of suffering he is unable to sympathize with anyone else” (xxiii). It seems, though, that in this book Dickens moves from general criticism of society to individuals.

The central idea of “being offered forgetfulness” may look tempting; one could forget all his misery, sorrow and mistakes s/he had made. However, what should be realized is that along with forgetting the bad, one would also forget all the good feelings and memories.

Yet, it is the feelings and experiences that make people who they are. Even though, the book may seem a bit gloomy, it brings an idea of hope and redemption.

The Haunted Man, similarly to A Christmas Carol and The Chimes, contains supernatural element, this time represented by the phantom that offers forgetfulness.

However, James P. Bernens in his article “Dickens´ Forgotten Christmas Tale: The

Haunted Manʼ” (2013) claims that it is not the supernatural elements that make Dickens´s

Christmas Books, and especially The Haunted Man exceptional. He argues that “the most remarkable aspect of The Haunted Man is the way in which it showcases Dickens’ keen understanding of the complexities of the human soul” (n.p.). He adds that except for criticism, Dickens in this book “very capably illustrates that there are, in fact, hurts more severe than the most crushing poverty, and faults which are less easily healed. In a mark of irony, Redlaw’s craving to banish every recollection of sorrow is framed as the universal desire of humanity” (n.p.). Probably the combination of approaching Christmas, ending of a year and his sister´s recent death made Dickens re-evaluate his values. The book may be considered a bit more sentimental than the rest of his Christmas Books but maybe that is why it received quite a popularity. He moved from general criticism of mainly upper-middle classes to deep criticism of the nature of human beings as such.

Ackroyd claims that writing this book could have been difficult for him and so The

Haunted Man happens to be the last of the series of Dickens´s Christmas Books. It is as

50 if “he had come to the end of that series which had combined private memory, religious feeling and social satire in equal measure” (308).

All in all, Dickens´s Christmas Books are short seasonal stories popular more in

1840s than today. Except for A Christmas Carol they did not gain much of an acceptance as Dickens´s more popular books did. Although, they vary in their themes – from rural love story (The Battle of the Life) and story about the danger of jealousy (The Cricket on the Hearth) to ghost stories (A Christmas Carol, The Chimes) and story about lost memory of past unhappiness that should help the main character discover love and compassion grow from the painful memories (The Haunted Man) – they share some common features. They are written and published shortly before the Christmas period and in spite of the importance of the (mainly) social criticism hidden in the books, their main idea is to entertain the reader and bring them some joy during long winter nights.

Moreover, Dickens in these books celebrates mercy and charity and the books “provide an important extension of his relation to his audience” (Ackroyd 230). He wants to get closer to his readers, provided stories that should entertain and teach at the same time. In order to maintain the good festival mood of the Christmas, all his Christmas Books end with a happy ending.

6 Conclusion

Charles Dickens was a novelist of Victorian era whose works gained not only national but worldwide success. One of the aims of this thesis was to introduce Charles

Dickens as a writer for the reader to have a better understanding of his novella A

Christmas Carol. The thesis showed that he was a man whose life (especially his youth) was a struggle but eventually he became an important person in English society and he had the power to make his readers listen to (or better say read) his words. Even after becoming famous, his past haunted him and he did not forget about experiences from his childhood. Because he was very well aware of poverty he devoted a great amount of his life to help those in need to fight for their better social conditions and future. He stressed the importance of charity and justice for the people in England. Many of Dickens´s books are full of social criticism but they are written in a way that makes his books get under people´s skin so they were appreciated already during his life. A Christmas Carol is an example of the piece of work which, ever since had been written had not lost its popularity and many people read it again and again, particularly during the period of the Christmas holiday. Even though it may not be Dickens´s finest literary work, it deserves a significant respect and should be studied thoroughly.

Writing about A Christmas Carol would not be completed without devoting a couple of pages to the institution of Christmas. Christmas time is the time when people are supposed to slow down for a while, spend time with their families and friends and try to think about their lives. The thesis depicted two most important aspects that contributed to the development of Christmas during the Victorian period – the royal family and Charles

Dickens. For Dickens, Christmas had a significant value and he believed that it was the special time of year when there was the greatest possibility for people to be willing to accept the changes needed for the improvement of society. That is why he decided to

52 write another of his critical books shortly before Christmas 1843 – A Christmas Carol.

There is no doubt it was a smart move as the book became an immediate success and by the end of 1840s Dickens wrote four more books with the theme of Christmas. A

Christmas Carol is considered to have a significant influence on the widespread public.

The story about a poor crippled child, old misery man and the spirits that can travel in time contributed to the expanding popularity of Christmas. The idea of love, mercy, charity and hope for better future together created what is known as a “Carol Philosophy”.

Credit for the development of Christmas should also be granted to Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. During their era things like Christmas trees, Christmas cards,

Christmas crackers, roast turkey and the idea of giving presents to each other were introduced. It can be claimed that even though Christmas was already a holiday in

England, it was they who made it popular among the widespread public.

The most important aim of the thesis was to make a research about A Christmas Carol itself. It was in detail studied in the third and longest chapter of the thesis. The chapter supported the idea presented in the Introduction that A Christmas Carol is a story in which

Dickens pointed out the defects of humanity, criticised English society and appealed on the need of charity. Moreover, he wanted people to stop pretending to be blind towards the things which were happening around them every day on the streets of Victorian

England and which should not be ignored. With A Christmas Carol, Dickens managed to write a story of a deep literary value. As the story was easy to read, it was appreciated among various social classes and age categories. Besides all of the above mentioned topics, the thesis provided a general introduction to the rest of Dickens´s Christmas

Books. However, none of them can compete with A Christmas Carol which is still considered to be his most famous Christmas story. Nonetheless, they all share some common features which is why they all belong to this specific category.

To sum up, the thesis concentrated on the novella A Christmas Carol while providing information crucial for the reader to have a complex idea about the meaning of the book so to be able to link all the contexts together. This means that except for the analyses of the story, the thesis focused on Charles Dickens as an author, his life, opinions, feelings of nostalgia, the importance of Christmas for him, but above all, it focused on his ways to show his criticism and what he actually criticised.

7 Works Cited

Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens. Vintage Press London. 2002.

Allentuck, Zachary. “A Dickensian Utilitarianism”. Senior Honour Project.

Janes Madison University, JMU Scholarly Commons, pp 4-49. May

2016,

http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1188&context

=honors201019. Accessed 10 March 2017.

Allingham, Philip V. "The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells That Rang

An Old Year Out and a New Year In". The Victorian Web, n.p. 16

January 2007,

www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/xmas/chimes2.html. Accessed 1

February 2017.

Allingham, Philip V. “The Roots of Dickens´s Christmas Books and Plays in

Early Nineteenth-Century Melodrama and Pantomime”. The Victorian

Web, n.p. 14 October 2002,

www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/pva/pva56.html#cricket.

Accessed 1 February 2017.

Baily, F.E. Six Great Victorian Novelists. MacDonald & co (publishers) Ltd,

1947.

Bernens, James P. “Dickens´ Forgotten Christmas Tale: The Haunted Man”.

Crisis Magazine, n.p. 19 December 2013,

www.crisismagazine.com/2013/dickens-forgotten-christmas-tale-the-

haunted-man. Accessed 5 February 2017.

Breton, Rob. “Bourdieu, The Chimes, And The Bad Economist: Reading

Disinterest.” College Literature, vol. 39, no 1, pp 74-93. Winter 2012

Academic Search Complete.

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=aff5a432-

38af-4837-93c6-

b46c3f29645c%40sessionmgr4007&hid=4210&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBl

PWlwLGNvb2tpZSx1aWQmbGFuZz1jcyZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZlJnNj

b3BlPXNpdGU%3d#db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.279893480. Accessed 15

February 2017.

Chesterton, G. K. Christmas Books with an Introduction by G. K. Chesterton.

J. M. Dent & Sons, London, 1910.

Churchill, R.C. From Dickens to Hardy. Edited by Boris Ford. Part II., pp.117-

139. Penguin Books, 1982.

Clark, Nicholoas. “Mary Hogarth and The Battle of Life Dilemma: Fidelity in a

Dickensian Christmas Book”. Deep South, University of Otago, vol. 3,

no. 3, n.p. Spring 1997, www.otago.ac.nz/deepsouth/vol3no3/nick.html.

Accessed 15 February 2017.

Darwin, Bernard. Dickens by Bernard Darwin. Great Lives. Duckworth,

Western Printing Services, Bristol, 1946.

Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. Batman Books, 1965.

Dickens, Charles and Douglas-Fairhurst, Robert. A Christmas Carol and Other

Christmas Books. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Robert

Douglas-Fairhurst. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Faber, Michel. “Spectral pleasures”. The Guardian, n.p. 24 December 2005,

www.theguardian.com/books/2005/dec/24/featuresreviews.guardianrevi

ew22. Accessed 15 December 2016.

Gitter, Elisabeth G. “The Blind Daughter in Charles Dickens´s ̒ Cricket on the

Hearthʼ.” Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, vol. 39, no. 4, pp.

675-689. Autumn 1999, Rice University. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/1556268. Accessed 16 February 2017.

Haller, Dorothy L. “Bastardy and baby farming in Victorian England”. Loyal

University, n.p. 2009. http://lx.iriss.org.uk/content/bastardy-and-baby-

farming-victorian-england. Accessed 3 October.

Hechinger, Paul. “̒The Chimesʼ - Charles Dickens´ New Year´s ̒Carolʼ”. BBC

America, n.p. 2013, www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/12/the-

chimes-charles-dickens-new-years-carol. Accessed 27 January 2017.

Hibbert, Christopher. The Making of Charles Dickens. The Chaucer Press,

Bungay, Suffolk 1967.

“History of Christmas”. BBC, n.p. Edited 2014,

www.bbc.co.uk/victorianchristmas/history.shtml. Accessed 1

November 2016.

Holmes, Martha Stoddard. “Annotation to The Cricket on the Hearth”. NYU

School of Medicine, n.p. 18 May 1998,

http://medhum.med.nyu.edu/view/1317. Accessed 5 February 2017.

House, Humphry. The Dickens World. Oxford University Press. London 1942.

Hughes, Kathryn. “God bless Tiny Tim”. The Guardian, n.p. 22 December

2007,

www.theguardian.com/books/2007/dec/22/classics.charlesdickens.

Accessed 1 February 2017.

Johnson, Edgar. Charles Dickens his Tragedy and Triumph. Penguin Books

Ltd, London, 1977.

Jones, Radhika; Sachs Andrea. “Charles in Charge” Time, vol 179, no. 4, 30

January 2012, pp. 52-55. Academic Search Complete.

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=566b7a5d-0d7f-4438-

a4b6-

f00053324758%40sessionmgr104&vid=5&hid=103&bdata=JkF1dGhU

eXBlPWlwLGNvb2tpZSx1aWQmbGFuZz1jcyZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZl

JnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d##AN=70569739&db=a9h. Accessed 3

October 2016.

Kooistra, Lorraine Janzen. “Victorian Christmas in Print.” Victorian Studies.

Vol. 53, no 1, pp 131-133. Autumn 2010. Academic Search Complete,

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=aff5a432-

38af-4837-93c6-b46c3f29645c%40sessionmgr4007&vid=6&hid=4210.

Accessed 29 October 2016.

May, Charles E. “Charles Dickens”. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia,

Academic Search Online, n.p. January 2016

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=7f582c85-4d7f-48a2-

9d24-

bbc893364e4f%40sessionmgr4008&vid=1&hid=4210&bdata=JnNpdG

U9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=88806937&db=ers Accessed 10

October 2017.

Lalumia, Christine. “Scrooge And Albert: Christmas in the 1840s” History

Today. Vol 51, no 12. December 2001. Academic Search Complete.

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=aff5a432-38af-

4837-93c6-

b46c3f29645c%40sessionmgr4007&hid=4210&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBl

PWlwLGNvb2tpZSx1aWQmbGFuZz1jcyZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZlJnNj

b3BlPXNpdGU%3d#AN=000172509800015&db=edswah. Accessed

26 October 2016.

Ostry, Elaine. Social Dreaming: Dickens and the Fairy tale. Studies in Major

Literary Authors. Routledge, New York, 2002.

Perdue, David. “Christmas Books”. David Perdue´s Charles Dickens Page,

n.p. www.charlesdickenspage.com/christmas_books.html. Accessed 20

January 2017.

Pimlott, J.A.R. “Merry Christmas”. History Today. Vol. 3, no. 12, n.p.

December 1953, www.historytoday.com/jar-pimlott/merry-christmas.

Accessed 1 November 2016.

Pold, Tom. “Fathering Christmas: Charles Dickens and the (Re)Birth of

Christmas”. Victorian web, n.p. 14 December 2009,

www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/xmas/p1.html. Accessed 30

October 2016.

Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur. Charles Dickens & other Victorians. Cambridge

University Press, 1927.

Race, Paul D. “Introduction by Paul D. Race for Family Christmas Online”.

Family Christmas Online, n.p. 2006-2009.

www.familychristmasonline.com/stories_other/dickens/cricket/cricket_i

ntro.htm. Accessed 2 Februry 2017.

Rowell, Geoffrey. “Dickens and his construction of Christmas”. History today.

Vol. 43, no. 12, n.p. December 1993, www.historytoday.com/geoffrey-

rowell/dickens-and-construction-christmas. Accessed 19 October 216.

Schilicke, Paul. “Boz in the North”. Scottish Review of Books, n.p. 2 March

2012, https://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/2012/03/boz-in-the-

north/. Accessed 25 March 2017.

Tillotson, Geoffrey. A View of Victorian Literature. Oxford University Press,

1978.

Toland, Lisa. “The Darker Side of ̒A Christmas Carolʼ.” Christianity Today,

n.p. 2 December 2009,

www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/december/3.44.html. Accessed 10

December 2016.

Yıldırım, Askin Haluk. “On the Path to Social Change: Dickens and Victorian

Conflict. International Journal of Contemporary Economics and

Administrative Science, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 155-175. November 2012,

Academic Search Complete,

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6d6a5c38-

d930-4e49-8237-6c4ec4436e7c%40sessionmgr120&vid=0&hid=103.

Accessed 10 March 2017.

Winter, Sarah. “Scottish Enlightenment Concepts of Equity in the Nineteenth-

Century British Novel.” The Scottish Enlightenment and Literary

Culture. Edited by Ralph McLean, Ronnie Young, and Kenneth

Simpson. Bucknell University Press, Lewisburg, 2016 pp. 245-269.

8 Resumé (English)

This bachelor thesis focuses on a well-known novella A Christmas Carol written during the period of Victorian England by the novelist and social critic Charles Dickens.

The aim of the thesis is to present A Christmas Carol as a book in which Dickens criticises the English upper social classes because of their indifference towards the lower ones by depicting two main characters – Scrooge and Tiny Tim – where Scrooge represents a rich businessman, whereas Tiny Tim stands for a poor crippled child predetermined to die soon. The thesis is divided into several chapters. Introduction presents the main idea of the thesis and brief information about the following chapters. Chapter One deals with

Charles Dickens himself while providing the basic information about his life and gives some reasons why, in many of his books, Dickens concentrates on the social criticism.

Chapter Two examines the development of Victorian Christmas in England and shows the role Dickens and the royal family of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert played in the popularising of Christmas. Chapter Three should be considered as crucial and the most important one as it provides the analyses of A Christmas Carol demonstrating not only the criticism but also the strong feeling of nostalgia and the need of charity Dickens tried to point out, on specific examples. Chapter Four introduces the remaining four out of five series books, all known under one common name – Christmas

Books. Conclusion summarises the whole thesis showing whether or not the thesis fulfilled the aims written in Introduction.

9 Resumé (Czech)

Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá známou povídkou Vánoční koleda napsanou v éře viktoriánské Anglie spisovatelem a kritikem společnosti Charlesem Dickensem.

Cílem práce je představit Vánoční koledu jako knihu, ve které Dickens kritizuje vyšší společenské vrstvy Anglie za jejich bezohlednost vůči nižším třídám, a to tak, že poukazuje na dva hlavní hrdiny Scrooge a malého Tima, přičemž Scrooge je bohatý obchodník, zatímco malý Tim je chudé a zmrzačené dítě, které je předurčeno brzy zemřít.

Práce je rozdělená do více kapitol. Úvod podává stručné informace o následujících kapitolách. První kapitola se zabývá samotnou postavou Charlese Dickense, základními informacemi o jeho životě a důvody, proč se ve velkém množství svých knih zaměřuje na kritiku společnosti. Druhá kapitola pojednává o rozvoji Vánoc ve viktoriánské Anglii a poukazuje na roli, kterou sehrál Dickens a královská rodina v čele s královnou Viktorií a jejím manželem princem Albertem, při popularizaci Vánoc. Rozhodující a nejdůležitější je třetí kapitola, která obsahuje samotnou analýzu Vánoční koledy a která poukazuje nejen na kritiku jako takovou, ale také na silný pocit nostalgie a potřebu charity, a to na konkrétních příkladech. Čtvrtá kapitola představuje zbylé čtyři knihy z pětidílné série, které jsou známé pod společným názvem Vánoční povídky. Závěr je shrnutím celé práce a demonstruje nakolik, pokud vůbec, práce splnila cíle dané v úvodu.