Media Essays: How Charles Dickens Changed Christmas

Written by TCH2

Greetings and salutations, friends and readers and fans! I am Thomas Holmes II, your friendly Mobian bard!

We all know the story of Charles Dickens' legendary classic A Christmas Carol - how a greedy, misanthropic moneylender named Ebenezer Scrooge learns to change his ways through ghostly encounters with his past, present and possible future. It's as synonymous with Christmas as trees, decorations, presents, family etc., and has been adapted more times than one could possibly count.

But what's perhaps less known is the real-life impact of A Christmas Carol. This story revolutionised the way the world celebrates Christmas and introduced a lot of traditions that are still being practiced even after 180 years. And that's what I'm here to talk about today.

So, allow me to be the Ghost of Christmas Carol Past as we journey back to Victorian times and see how Charles Dickens changed Christmas forever.

History of Christmas:

So before we talk about the novel and its influence, let's take a quick look at the history of Christmas itself.

Obviously, Christmas is traditionally associated with Christians celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and the subsequent redemption of mankind He brought. But celebrating winter actually dates centuries before the birth of the Christian Messiah - whether it was celebrating the winter solstice and the slow extension of sunlight henceforth, the Norse burning logs for 12 days to honour Yule, or Germans honouring, or hiding from, the pagan god Oden.

The Romans notably influenced when Christmas was celebrated, with their holidays Saturnalia and Juvenalia. The former was a indulgent time for the people, with slaves being treated as equals and all businesses closed. The latter honoured the children of Rome. Most notably, the upper class honoured the birth of Mithra, god of the unconquered sun, which was on December 25th.

While it is agreed that Jesus wasn't born during winter (given the shepherds were tending to their flocks at the time), December 25th was chosen as the date of Christmas by Pope Julius I, possibly to allow absorption of pagan traditions into Christianity.

Publication of a Classic:

In the time of Queen Victoria, Christmas was in decline in the public consciousness. What with the holiday being temporarily cancelled two centuries before by Oliver Cromwell, and the fact that the Industrial Revolution had turned England into a thriving, dusty and dirty cesspool of machinery, people just didn't have time or energy to celebrate the holidays. It was only really in rural areas that the old traditions were kept alive.

By 1843, Charles Dickens was in desperate need of money, what with a fifth child on the way, not to mention his previous book Martin Chuzzlewit, had done poorly in terms of sales. That October, he travelled to the Manchester Athenaeum, which sought to provide the hard-working men and women of Manchester with the education and recreation they needed. Having worked in a blacking factory at age 12, Charles sympathised with such labour-burdened people, and he gave a speech that would ultimately sow the seeds for his most famous work, which you can find here: https://www.charlesdickenspage.com/speech-manchester10-05-1843.html

Writing the book itself, once the idea took shape and evolved from a simple political pamphlet on the horrors of poverty, was both delightful and heartbreaking for Charles, with biographies saying he alternated between laughing and crying, as well as taking long walks in the middle of the night.

Despite some disputes from his publishers, A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, or just A Christmas Carol, was finally released the week before Christmas 1843, sold at 5 shillings so anyone, rich or poor, could purchase it to read. The story was an instant classic, beloved by millions despite initial financial difficulties and pirated copies, and frequently read by Charles himself in public appearances. And of course, since then, it's been adapted too many times to count, with Ebenezer Scrooge having been played by over 100 different people, such as Albert Finney, Alistair Sim, George C. Scott, Patrick Stewart, Michael Caine, Jim Carrey and more.

Reinventing Christmas:

When Charles Dickens passed away in 1870, aged 58, a young girl famously asked: "Mr Dickens, dead? Then will Father Christmas die too?"

So, going back to the main point of this article, how did A Christmas Carol make Christmas the wonderful holiday so many of us cherish today?

Well, for starters, the story was notably critical of material gain, what with Scrooge being portrayed as a greedy moneylender loathed to part with even a penny, and Jacob Marley being literally weighed down by his greed following death. There was next to no talk about receiving toys or presents or anything; instead, the story was about generosity, kindness, family and equality. The story encouraged people to open their hearts to others and treat everyone as equals, as said by Scrooge's nephew Fred in the first stave:

"But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- 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 people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

The welfare of those less fortunate, especially children, was prioritised, as shown with the charity workers asking Scrooge for a donation, and in Scrooge ultimately helping to treat Tiny Tim's (unknown) illness.

Secondly, the story was a perfect example of ghost stories being told at Christmas time. Such a practice was all the rage in Victorian England, with other writers like Elizabeth Gaskell and Wilkie Collins telling their own stories, but Dickens' take was by far the best, due to the brilliant atmosphere he weaved, not to mention the theme of redemption and confronting one's own demons and fears. In fact, one might say it tied well with the birth of Jesus Christ, who was sent by God to redeem mankind of their sins.

Then, there's the cheerful greeting of 'Merry Christmas' that people like to do this time of year. That tradition was popularised by A Christmas Carol, first stated by Fred in the first stave, and uttered repeatedly by Scrooge following his redemption.

You might remember how Scrooge took issue with giving his clerk Bob Cratchit a day off work on Christmas, claiming it was 'not convenient and not fair'. By today's standards, it shows Scrooge as the nasty old codger he initially is, but back in Victorian times, many businesses stayed open on Christmas Day, so Scrooge's behaviour reflected the time in which he and Cratchit lived. Dickens believed Christmas should be a time for being at home with the family; thus, nowadays, most businesses close on Christmas Day, except for emergency response workers and restaurants.

There was also the vivid descriptions that Dickens gave in his story: how his prose about food could be enough to make a reader's mouth water for a good spread; how it helped paint a Christmassy picture with lavish and beautiful decorations; and, of course, its shameless promotion of generosity and goodwill toward man, initially exemplified, as shown above, by Fred's words.

And of course, the term 'Scrooge' has come to be applied as a nickname to anyone who's greedy, unpleasant and/or contemptuous towards Christmas. And there's Tiny Tim legendary closing line: "God, Bless us, everyone!"

A Brief Review:

On the subject of A Christmas Carol, I feel it is also appropriate to talk briefly about my favourite adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic: the 2009 adaptation, often known as Disney's A Christmas Carol, courtesy of cinema legend Robert Zemeckis and his company ImageMovers. Filmed with CGI motion-capture, similar to The Polar Express, Monster House and Beowulf, the film starred Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright and Cary Elwes and is now 15 years old.

So, why is this adaptation my favourite? Well, quite a few reasons, actually.

Firstly, the visuals are absolutely stellar! The mo-cap used for the characters remains some of the best ever put to cinema. Never once do they stray into the uncanny valley; they remain vibrant and full of life. And the direction is incredibly well-done. You feel you're actually there throughout the story, especially when Scrooge is taken on a journey through his past, across the present and in the future. The angles are striking and sell the scope of the picture.

In terms of faithfulness, this movie gets top marks from me, as it not only follows the book to a T, but truly captures the emotional weight of the story, the wonder and beauty of Christmas, and the dark tone surrounding the ghosts (even if it can go a bit overboard in that regard, especially with the Future Ghost chasing a tiny Scrooge, which was also pointless).

Then, there's the voice-acting, especially Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge. Going in blind, you'd think such a casting choice would equal a ridiculous, hammy, over-the-top demeanour with Scrooge. But amazingly, Carrey never once hams it up; he plays the role incredibly straight, nailing the sneering and cruel voice and delivering the right amount of emotion at the right time while still injecting his usual charm. Frankly, he's one of the best Scrooges I've ever seen.

Jim also plays the three Ghosts of Christmas that visit Scrooge and help change his outlook on life. Having the Ghosts be played by the same actor as Scrooge can lead to some interesting interpretations, like they represent different parts of him or are the voices of his conscience.

Gary Oldman once again shows just much of a powerhouse actor he is with his performances as Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim (visually). As Jacob Marley, he sells the sense of unease and tragedy surrounding his fate; staring off into space, coming off rather like a zombie at times and really selling those ghostly howls. As Cratchit, he captures the timid and fatherly nature of the character remarkably well, especially during the scene where he mourns Tiny Tim's death where he inadvertently shows Scrooge his pain.

The rest of the cast are stellar too. Bob Hoskins was amazing as Fezziwig with his bombastic and fun-loving performance; and Colin Firth nailed it as Scrooge's cheerful, kind and passionate nephew Fred. Robin Wright sells how precious Fan was to her big brother Ebenezer despite such a short time on-screen, as well as how lovely Belle was before Scrooge lost her. And everyone else does a great job as well.

Finally, there's the music, by Alan Silvestri. It's grand, beautiful, majestic, unnerving, eerie, sad, cheerful and Christmassy all in one. By far the best music in the entire movie is the song 'God Bless Us, Everyone', sung by Andrea Bocelli during the closing credits, which celebrates the joy and charity of the Christmas spirit. Andrea has such an amazing voice, might I add?

Conclusion:

So, I hope you've all learned something remarkable, everyone. Almost everything that we love about Christmas today, we owe to Charles John Huffam Dickens and his passionate views on society. Christmas really wouldn't be Christmas without A Christmas Carol, and I cannot recommend the story enough, whichever version you check out (book, audiobook, stage, series, film etc.).

Thank you very much for reading. Merry Christmas, and as Tiny Tim observed:

God bless us, every one!