A Christmas Carol is the most famous and heart-warming festive story of them all. Written in 1843, Dickens wrote his novella in response to British social attitudes towards poverty, particularly child poverty, and wished to use the book as a means to put forward his arguments against it. It is studied by our Bushey Meads students in Year 11 and features in their GCSE English Literature exams.

The main character is Ebenezer Scrooge, whose name is synonymous with being greedy and miserly: ‘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’. This attitude is soon challenged when the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley, returns from the grave to haunt him on Christmas Eve. Scrooge is then visited by three spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future, each one revealing the error of his ways and leading him on a pathway of redemption.

The story highlights the need for kindness and generosity not only at Christmas but all year through.

There is an excellent article on the BBC website that provides the context to Dickens’ published piece. It makes for a valuable read and timely reminder of how far we have come since the Victorian era.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20171215-how-did-a-christmas-carol-come-to-be

Why not feature this novella as part of your Christmas reading list?

Merry Christmas Everyone!