a christmas carol background. charles dickens one of the greatest english writers wrote to show the...
TRANSCRIPT
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A Christmas Carol Background
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CHARLES DICKENS
• One of the greatest English writers
• Wrote to show the injustices of the world and to make readers, hopefully, change things
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Dicken’s Life
• Born in 1812• Family was poor, so he did not get a good
education, but he read all the time• Father went to prison and Charles had to work in
a factory at the age of 12• Later had the same job that Bob Cratchit had• Began publishing stories and became a huge
success with publication in 1837• Produced more popular novels• Dickens was probably the most famous living
writer during his time
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Dickens and Charities
• Because Charles grew up in poverty, he fought against many injustices
• He supported– Schools for poor children– Education for adult working people– Better sanitation– Public health in London
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Public Readings
• Read A Christmas Carol publicly, to raise money for a literacy institute and children’s hospital
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Readings for Money
• Began traveling and doing readings for money; A Christmas Carol was the favorite
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Unforgettable Energy
• Always busy: had 10 children, edited magazines, traveled frequently, produced & acted in plays, wrote over 14 novels
• Died in 1870
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Dickens’ Characters
• Created memorable characters by exaggerating their personalities
• Dickens used four main characters that others before him did not– Children– Really, really bad villains– A hero that survived large problems– Women
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A Christmas Carol
• Acclaimed as a classic as soon as it was published
• Created an ideal Christmas scene and inspired people to make Christmas better for the poor
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The origins of the story
• Same storyline as an earlier work of Dickens, with a vision of a Christmas of a poor family
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The writing of the book
• Wrote it in six weeks
• Dickens was very emotional during the writing: crying, then laughing, then crying, etc.
• Rushed to the shelves before Christmas, had to be reprinted before New Year’s Day
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Friendly Ghosts
• Most stories have ghosts that bring bad luck
• A Christmas Carol had ghosts that come to teach Scrooge about his life
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Ghost Stories
• Ghostly tales were popular at this time, but Dickens’ ghosts were not sinister like others
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The Legacy
• A Christmas Carol created a season of charity
• For the first time, an American factory owner decided to give his workers Christmas day off
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Stage and Screen
• Nine London theatres staged the story the year after it was published
• Ever since, A Christmas Carol has been a popular production
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Christmas Stories
• After the popularity of A Christmas Carol Dickens wrote a Christmas story each year (none were as popular as the one with Mr. Scrooge – Scrooge was even added to the dictionary)
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Dickens’ London
• Though rich, Dickens understood the hardships of the poor and tried to explain this in his writing
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Exploding city & the London streets
• London grew rapidly in the 1800s
• Rich and poor were crowded together on the streets
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Dickens’ City
• London was Dickens’ home and he wandered the streets his entire life, soaking in the culture
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Working Children
• Children began working as young as 5 years old
• A common job for children was crossing-sweeper – cleaning dirt off the road as people crossed it
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The smells of the city
• London smelled of horse dung from all the carriages
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Working London
• Business owners could fire and hire at will• Government did not pay the unemployed• “Scrooges” of London paid their workers as little
as possible (usually $130 per year!)– Bob Cratchit was paid half this amount!!!– Many workers toiled 12 hours a day, 6 days a week– Workers were off Sundays, May Day & Christmas
Day (IF the employer allowed it) – poor workers did not get Christmas off
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Industrial City
• London was the first industrial city of the world
• Being industrialized caused– Diseases – typhoid, cholera, scarlet fever– Pollution – air & water
• Thames River – polluted and smelled – 200 sewers ran into it, but much of London used the water for cooking, washing and drinking
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Rich and Poor
• In London, there was an extreme contrast between rich and poor
• For Christmas – Rich feasted; poor were lucky if they scraped together a meal; very poor saw Christmas as just another day
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The fortunate few
• Didn’t worry about money & had servants to do the work
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The working poor (the Cratchits)
• Sickness was a large worry: in 1839 almost half of the funerals in London were children under the age of 10
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Poor children, servants, and workhouses
• Servants worked long hours, like Mrs. Cratchit – she had to work Christmas morning
• Many children were sick and poor• A few of the poor children had the chance to get
an education• The poorest went to a workhouse where they
worked for basic shelter and food (Dickens wrote about these terrible conditions in Oliver Twist)
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Housing
• The poorest, including children, lived and died on the streets
• Poor families that had shelter could have up to 8 people living in a single room
• Rich families lived in splendid houses with many servants
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Food
• Rich families had lavish meals
• The poor lived on scraps (from markets and restaurants) or handouts – usually bread and potatoes