A Christmas Carol

"WARNING ALL HUMAN SYMPATHY TO KEEP ITS DISTANCE"

• "Warning" - he believes that he poses a threat to people
• "Human" - does Scrooge believe he is more superior than other humans? human, in the singular, recognises the only human (Belle) that ever caused him sympathy/emotion. He disregards human contact; not the contact of ghosts.
• "Sympathy" - cannot accept sympathy or emotion because he lacks it.
• "Distance" - Scrooge liked being an outsider, much like he likes the "darkness."

SOLITARY AS AN OYSTER"

• Can link to the saying, "the world is your oyster", whihc means take every opportunity you have. This highlights Scrooge's negative/pessimistic views on positive/optimistic views.
• "Oyster" - represents silence, secretiveness and concealment of a secret beauty.
• The pearl inside could represent Scrooge, who traps himself away from the world OR the poor people of London who are trapped and controlled by the wealthy.
• Oyster shells are hard to open, so is foreshadowing that a superior force will have to open it/unveil Scrooge's good within.

"HE CARRIED HIS OWN LOW TEMPERATURE ALWAYS"

• "his own" - was always alone, never with anyone to share anything with. Didn't know what proper company felt like. Therefore, no one could, or was allowed to "warm" him.
• "low" - cold-hearted, negative connotations
• He affected everyone with the cold air around him, even inflenced Marley with his "death cold eyes"

"HARD AND SHARP AS A FLINT"

• Hard - stuck up / stubborn / arrogant. No emotion and is affected by OR affects anyone.
• Flint - hard to break, they're common with little purpose. (They are practical, but they hurt people.)

"MARLEY WAS DEAD TO BEGIN WITH"

• Blunt sentence is blunt, andimplies that no one cares, reflecting Scrooge's harsh nature.
• "To begin with" - foreshadows him coming back as a ghost.

"TRANSPARENT"

• Describes Marley as a traditional ghost, shwoing that they can come in all different forms. (Exactly what the Victorians thought Ghosts would look like, creates more fear for the readers)

"I WEAR THE CHAIN I FORGED IN LIFE"

• Warning Scrooge that he is "condemned" in death, for the unrighteous life he lived. Explains that only now, in death, does Marley realise that "mandkind was my business" and that he had a SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY for everyone.
• "Chain", "cashboxes" and "padlocks" - heaviness and confinement, Marley feels trapped. Cashboxes, relates to the charity that Scrooge refused. "padlocks" - no escape

Opposites constantly used to describe this spectre because of the uneasy and confusing past/childhood that Scrooge experienced... Also represents that within his past, he had good memories too (Belle, Fran, Fezziwig etc.)

"LIKE A CHILD" / "LIKE AN OLD MAN"

"DELIACATELY FORMED LEGS AND FEET" / "LONG, MUSCULAR AMRS"

"SUMMER FLOWERS" / "CARRYING HOLLY"

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"BEAM OF LIGHT COMING FROM ITS HEAD"

• The light is the truth, and Scrooge is constantly trying to get rid of it with the "extinguisher cap"
• Light represnets purity, like the "WHITE TUNIC" it wore.
• This reflects Scrooge's past character, showing that he wasn't always "A TIGHT-FISTED HAND AT THE GRINDSTONE"

"DEEP GREEN ROBE"

• Original ideas of Father Christmas wearing green (Scrooge needs reminding that like the spirit, Christmas is a jolly and happy time)
• Creates image of royalty OR an informal character - respected and important person to others OR the comforting character that Scrooge needs.

"WHITE FUR"

• White - Father Christmas, again. Purity, light, hope...
• Fur - it's warm, opposite to Scrooge and could be used to warm Scgrooge's low temperature.

"ANCIENT SCABBARD"

• Ancient - a reminder that the phantom once had to capacity to hurt others, but no longer uses it. Could be a reminder to Scrooge that even with the luxuries that he had compared to others in Victorian London, he shoudld help them and not use his power for hatred; but for love.
• Sword - protection from the past

"NO FACE VISIBLE"

• Implies mystery or that Scrooge's future is motionless.
• Suggests unpredictabilty about Scrooge's future and that he is second guessing what the future is hiding from him

"THE PHANTOM SLOWLY, GRAVELY, SILENTLY APPROACHED"

• The future for Scrooge is approaching slowly, without him knowing ( or knowing the effects )
• "phantom" is the most sinister synonym for spirit, implying Scrooge should fear it.
• Triple, using the "ly" words, to emphasise the way the spirit is moving towards Scrooge = "LIKE MIST"

"IT WAS SHROUDED IN A DEEP BLACK GARMENT"

• Shrouded - not delicate, has connotations with a funeral, or death... FORESHADOW??
• the change in manour from "WHITE TUNICS" and "DEEP GREEN ROBES" highlights the sudden change in temperament of the play and reflects the severity of this part in the Novella.

"THE CLERK'S FIRE WAS SO VERY MUCH SMALLER THAN SCROOGE'S"

• Suggests that Scrooge believed he was superior to Bob Cratchit, especially because he is referred to as "THE CLERK" and not "Bob"
• Was grateful for the fire and respected Scrooge, didn't ask for more coal. Instead, he "tried to warm himself at he candle"
• Despite the awful working conditions and treatments, Bob pursued for the sake of his family, needed the money desperately.

"HE RAN HOME TO CAMDEN"

• Camden - in 1842 the area was blighted by extreme poverty. As a youngster, Dickens himself experienced life as a Camdenite and was well-placed to comment on the severe poverty there.

"BOB'S VOICE WAS TREMULOUS WHEN HE TOLD THEM THIS"

• Shows he was a kind, gentle Father who cared deeply for his family.

TOLERANT AND CORTEOUS -

"The clerk's fire was so much very smaller than Scrooge's" and returns Fred's greetings "cordially" whilst adressing Scrooge as "Sir"

A GOOD-HUMOURED FATHER -

"For he had been Tiny Tim's blood horse all the way from Church" ALSO SHOWS OMNIPOTENCE TOWARDS CHILDREN

LOVING -

"hugged his daughter to his heart's content" showing how highly he regards faimly being together at Christmas.

FORGIVING -

"Mr Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!" Also shows that he can be "cheerful with them", despite travelling home after a long day working and despite having "no coat".

GOOD NATURED AND BUSY - The Christmas "goose" NOT TURKEY, has been "eked out" to feed the whole family.

Despite thinking Scrooge is an "odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man" she still drinks to him.

When Tiny Tim dies, she's PROTECTIVE - she speaks in a "steady, cheerful voice" to hide her "weak eyes"

FRAGILE AND ILL - he described himself as a "cripple" but said that seeing him, may remind people "who made lame beggars walk and blind men see"

A GOOD CHARACTER WHO WAS RELIGIOUS - goes to Church, echoes his Father's toast - "God bless us everyone!" Looks towards God for hope.

^^similar to his Father, whom he looks up to. Knows the importance of family.

*Religion was very important in the Victorian Era and had a strong influnce on many aspects of day to day life even though, at the time, Sabbatarianism (as Scrooge recognises in Stave 3) "deprives" poor families from "opportunities of innocent enjoyment"

PROUD AND APPRECIATIVE - Peter proudly wears Bob's "shirt collar" that was an old shirt of his and "yearned to show his linen in the fashionable Parks"

HARDWORKING - Bob is eager to make Peter a "man of business" while Martha "works hard" as a milliner's apprentice. Dickens' inention is to emphasise that the Cratchit family aren't lazy or unwilling to work to challenge the Victorians who believed poverty was linked to lethargy.

EXCITABLE - they "crammed spoons into their mouths" after preparing the Christmas meal as a family.

THE CRATCHIT FAMILY MAY BE POOR, BUT RICH IN LOVE. OPPOSITE TO SCROOGE, WHO IS RICH; YET LONELY!

THEY ARE PRESENTED AS A PERFECT, GOOD FAMILY. DICKENS IDEALISES THE CRATCHITS SO THAT MIDDLE AND UPPER CLASS READERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO SYMPATHISE THEIR UNFAIR PLACE IN SOCIETY, AND PITY THE FAMILY DURING THEIR GRIEF FOR TINY TIM!

Scrooge's redemption is foreshadowed throughout the play...

• his father is "so much kinder than he used to be"
• the scene with Belle shows that he is capable of love
• the visions from Stave 2 show that Scrooge wasn't always a "miser"

"SCROOGE REGARDED EVERYONE WITH A DELIGHTED SMILE" -Shows his change from the beginning og the Novella, "if they would rather die, they better do it now and decrease the surplus population"

• Shows that each spirit has taught his something, to allow him to embrace Christmas.
• "everyone" - at the start, he "warned all human sympathy" "solitary"
• "delighted" - Scrooge's "oyster" has been opened. Not only is he happy that he appreciates Christmas, he is delighted at the feeling it brings.

He is redemmed by learning the value of empathy...

He fells pity for the "solitary child, neglected by his friends" he feels pity for Tiny Tim ; "Oh no, kind spirit! Say he will be spared" He is then described as a "second Father" to Tiny Tim.