A Christmas Carol-Context

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  • Created by: ape02.99
  • Created on: 16-12-19 17:18
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  • A Christmas Carol-Context
    • A novella about a bitter man called Scrooge which after a visit from 4 ghosts he becomes kind and generous
    • Charles Dickens
      • Born in 1812 and lived in Kent for his first 9 years of his life
      • Dickens father was a kind and likeable man but he was financially irresponsible piling up debts throughout his life
      • When Dickens was 9 his family moved to London and when he was 12 his father was arrested and sent to debtor's prison
        • Dickens had to give up education and work in a factory
          • His father then inherits money and Dickens goes to private school for 2 years
      • 1843 "A Christmas Carol is published"
      • Dies of a stroke in 1870
    • Message behind novella
      • The three months Dickens worked in the factory were traumatic for him.He viewed his job as a miserable trap.
      • Dickens wanted his novella to draw attention to the condition of England's poor
      • The novella emphasises the importance of social responsibility
        • Dickens used it to argue that people have a responsibility to help the less fortunate
        • Dickens saw Christmas as a special time of year when people treated each other with kindness-he believed this attitude should continue all year round.
    • New Poor Law 1834 was introduced to combat the large number of people at the time.It stated that in order to receive any financial assistance anyone without a job was required to enter the workhouse
      • There was a belief that poor people were lazy s they were a very difficult place to be in and Dickens writes this novella to discourage people from wanting to go

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