The Victorian Era and Charles Dickens, the Man Who "Invented" Christmas
The Victorian Express, Classroom Articles (Issues 1-7)
A More Detailed Look into the Life and Times of Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol as performed by the Bethany Lutheran College Theatre Department
A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
Act I
Setting: 1843, Victorian Age, London, Christmas Eve
Characters: Jacob Marley, Scrooge, Fred (Scrooge’s nephew), Bob Cratchit, Two Do-Gooders
Main Events:
*Jacob Marley, acting as narrator, provides audiences with an understanding of setting, along with an insight of
background about Scrooge:
~Work-aholic: Scrooge works the day of Marley’s funeral
~Extremely Frugal: Scrooge refuses to repaint his business sign
~Sour, Bitter: Scrooge could care less about other’s avoidance of him
*Scrooge and his nephew, Fred, dispute about Christmas:
~Fred: believes in the spirit and good cheer of the holiday, yet struggles to maintain his cheer
due to his uncle’s insults
~Scrooge: antagonizes Fred and prefers death to Fred’s company while criticizing love and
marriage
*Fred departs grumbling to Bob Cratchit, but B.C. gives Scrooge the “benefit of doubt” citing Scrooge’s old age and
loneliness:
~Proves how kind and good Bob Cratchit is
*Two Do-Gooders enter and ask Scrooge for a donation to help feed and clothe the poor
*Scrooge refuses citing his “donations” to the workhouses and the poorhouses (which promised death)
~Proves Scrooge’s heartlessness
*As the men leave dejected, Bob Cratchit donations what little money he has for the poor
~Even though Bob Cratchit is poor as well
*Scrooge allows Bob Cratchit to have Christmas off:
~Bob Cratchit never demands for the day; but because Bob is so respectful of his boss, Scrooge
shows what little soft side he possesses
*Scrooge departs for home and Marley’s face appears, then disappears, in the doorknob
*Unnerved, Scrooge searches his home; yet, when he thinks he is safe, Marley appears
*Marley share crucial messages:
~Marley has “lived” in Purgatory watching his business partner
~Marley carries chains he earned in life by committing sins against his fellow man
~Marley appears to Scrooge to warn him so Scrooge may change and escape the fate that
he has had to endure
~Scrooge will be visited by three spirits
Act I
Setting: 1843, Victorian Age, London, Christmas Eve
Characters: Jacob Marley, Scrooge, Fred (Scrooge’s nephew), Bob Cratchit, Two Do-Gooders
Main Events:
*Jacob Marley, acting as narrator, provides audiences with an understanding of setting, along with an insight of
background about Scrooge:
~Work-aholic: Scrooge works the day of Marley’s funeral
~Extremely Frugal: Scrooge refuses to repaint his business sign
~Sour, Bitter: Scrooge could care less about other’s avoidance of him
*Scrooge and his nephew, Fred, dispute about Christmas:
~Fred: believes in the spirit and good cheer of the holiday, yet struggles to maintain his cheer
due to his uncle’s insults
~Scrooge: antagonizes Fred and prefers death to Fred’s company while criticizing love and
marriage
*Fred departs grumbling to Bob Cratchit, but B.C. gives Scrooge the “benefit of doubt” citing Scrooge’s old age and
loneliness:
~Proves how kind and good Bob Cratchit is
*Two Do-Gooders enter and ask Scrooge for a donation to help feed and clothe the poor
*Scrooge refuses citing his “donations” to the workhouses and the poorhouses (which promised death)
~Proves Scrooge’s heartlessness
*As the men leave dejected, Bob Cratchit donations what little money he has for the poor
~Even though Bob Cratchit is poor as well
*Scrooge allows Bob Cratchit to have Christmas off:
~Bob Cratchit never demands for the day; but because Bob is so respectful of his boss, Scrooge
shows what little soft side he possesses
*Scrooge departs for home and Marley’s face appears, then disappears, in the doorknob
*Unnerved, Scrooge searches his home; yet, when he thinks he is safe, Marley appears
*Marley share crucial messages:
~Marley has “lived” in Purgatory watching his business partner
~Marley carries chains he earned in life by committing sins against his fellow man
~Marley appears to Scrooge to warn him so Scrooge may change and escape the fate that
he has had to endure
~Scrooge will be visited by three spirits
Act II
Setting: Scrooge’s past—his boyhood school, Fezziwig’s (Scrooge’s former boss) Offices, Scrooge’s Offices (at the prime of
his life)
Characters: Jacob Marley, Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Past, Fan (Scrooge’s sister), the Schoolmaster, Fezziwig, Dick
(Scrooge’s co-worker), Belle (Scrooge’s fiance)
Main Events:
*The Ghost of Christmas Past (a figure who appears young in body, yet ancient in mind) arrives and enables Scrooge
with the gift of flight to return to his own past
*Scrooge witnesses his loneliness as a boy trapped at school for the holidays, until Fan arrives to bring him home:
~Fan also scolds the Schoolmaster, whom Scrooge feared, for not saying “goodbye” to her brother:
FAN IS A CHARACTER OF GREAT MORALE AND COURAGE
*Scrooge and the Spirit relive one of Fezziwig’s famous Christmas parties
*Scrooge watches and listens as his former self promises to be as kind and generous to his employees as Fezziwig has been
to him:
~VERBAL IRONY—AS SCROOGE HAS MADE A POINT TO SHOW LITTLE GOODNESS TO HIS
WORKERS
*The Spirit and Scrooge take one last trip and visit Scrooge’s worst memory—the day his fiance ends their engagement
~Caught in the moment, Scrooge repeats the same dialogue that his former self speaks to Belle: DEMONSTRATES REGRET
Setting: Scrooge’s past—his boyhood school, Fezziwig’s (Scrooge’s former boss) Offices, Scrooge’s Offices (at the prime of
his life)
Characters: Jacob Marley, Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Past, Fan (Scrooge’s sister), the Schoolmaster, Fezziwig, Dick
(Scrooge’s co-worker), Belle (Scrooge’s fiance)
Main Events:
*The Ghost of Christmas Past (a figure who appears young in body, yet ancient in mind) arrives and enables Scrooge
with the gift of flight to return to his own past
*Scrooge witnesses his loneliness as a boy trapped at school for the holidays, until Fan arrives to bring him home:
~Fan also scolds the Schoolmaster, whom Scrooge feared, for not saying “goodbye” to her brother:
FAN IS A CHARACTER OF GREAT MORALE AND COURAGE
*Scrooge and the Spirit relive one of Fezziwig’s famous Christmas parties
*Scrooge watches and listens as his former self promises to be as kind and generous to his employees as Fezziwig has been
to him:
~VERBAL IRONY—AS SCROOGE HAS MADE A POINT TO SHOW LITTLE GOODNESS TO HIS
WORKERS
*The Spirit and Scrooge take one last trip and visit Scrooge’s worst memory—the day his fiance ends their engagement
~Caught in the moment, Scrooge repeats the same dialogue that his former self speaks to Belle: DEMONSTRATES REGRET
Act III
Setting: Bob Bratchit's home and Fred's home
Characters: Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Present, Cratchit family, Fred, and Fred's wife
Events:
*The Ghost of Christmas Present arrives, seated on a "throne" of food and dessert: a jolly figure dressed in a green robe
~POWER: Controls emotions (gives Christmas cheer); uses powers on two arguing men in the
streets of London
*Visits Cratchit's family: Scrooge witness the poverty of the Cratchit family, who still enjoy life and show affection and
joy
~FORESHADOWS Tiny Tim's death through the image of an "empty chair and a crutch without
an owner"
*Visits Fred's home: Fred recounts his morning with Scrooge
~MOTIVATION: Fred continues to speak to his uncle due to Scrooge's resemblance to Fan
*Like the Cratchit's, Fred and his wife toast Scrooge:
~Scrooges feels honored, taken aback, and regretful for his ill-treatment towards his nephew
and employee
~Scrooge realizes he has done wrong--HUMBLING MOMENT
*The Ghost of Christmas Present introduces Scrooge to two children (SYMBOLISM) "Wanted" (girl) and "Ignorance"
(boy)--"Ignorance" is worse and whom Scrooge must beware most because "knowledge is power"
*The Ghost Christmas Present disappears, due to rapid aging, repeating Scrooge's own words about the poor dying
Setting: Bob Bratchit's home and Fred's home
Characters: Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Present, Cratchit family, Fred, and Fred's wife
Events:
*The Ghost of Christmas Present arrives, seated on a "throne" of food and dessert: a jolly figure dressed in a green robe
~POWER: Controls emotions (gives Christmas cheer); uses powers on two arguing men in the
streets of London
*Visits Cratchit's family: Scrooge witness the poverty of the Cratchit family, who still enjoy life and show affection and
joy
~FORESHADOWS Tiny Tim's death through the image of an "empty chair and a crutch without
an owner"
*Visits Fred's home: Fred recounts his morning with Scrooge
~MOTIVATION: Fred continues to speak to his uncle due to Scrooge's resemblance to Fan
*Like the Cratchit's, Fred and his wife toast Scrooge:
~Scrooges feels honored, taken aback, and regretful for his ill-treatment towards his nephew
and employee
~Scrooge realizes he has done wrong--HUMBLING MOMENT
*The Ghost of Christmas Present introduces Scrooge to two children (SYMBOLISM) "Wanted" (girl) and "Ignorance"
(boy)--"Ignorance" is worse and whom Scrooge must beware most because "knowledge is power"
*The Ghost Christmas Present disappears, due to rapid aging, repeating Scrooge's own words about the poor dying
Act IV
Setting: ??? AD (some time in the not-too-distant future), the streets of London, Cratchit's home, Old Joe's, and a graveyard
Characters: Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Business Men, Mrs. Dilber, Old Joe, Cratchit family (minus Tiny Tim)
Events:
*Scrooge overhears the businessmen debating about attending a funeral--Scrooge thinks they speak about Marley
*Old Joe prices Scrooge's belongings, stolen by Mrs. Dilber and company
~One woman even takes the night shirt from Scrooge's corpse
*Disgusted, Scrooge is taken to Cratchit's home and is made to feel worse after learnign of Tim's death
~CATHARSIS: Scrooge must suffer greatly and continue to do so before truly changing
*Final location--Scrooge realizes that he is the dead man the businessmen, Old Joe, and company spoke of earlier
*At his own grave, Scrooge begs the hooded, silent spirit to tell him if the future events shown are fixed of changeable; the
Spirit trembles, indicating its uncertainty
~DEBATE OF FREE WILL VERSUS DESTINY
*CLIMAX: Scrooge promises to be a better man and keep Christmas, along with its goodness, in his heart
Setting: ??? AD (some time in the not-too-distant future), the streets of London, Cratchit's home, Old Joe's, and a graveyard
Characters: Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Business Men, Mrs. Dilber, Old Joe, Cratchit family (minus Tiny Tim)
Events:
*Scrooge overhears the businessmen debating about attending a funeral--Scrooge thinks they speak about Marley
*Old Joe prices Scrooge's belongings, stolen by Mrs. Dilber and company
~One woman even takes the night shirt from Scrooge's corpse
*Disgusted, Scrooge is taken to Cratchit's home and is made to feel worse after learnign of Tim's death
~CATHARSIS: Scrooge must suffer greatly and continue to do so before truly changing
*Final location--Scrooge realizes that he is the dead man the businessmen, Old Joe, and company spoke of earlier
*At his own grave, Scrooge begs the hooded, silent spirit to tell him if the future events shown are fixed of changeable; the
Spirit trembles, indicating its uncertainty
~DEBATE OF FREE WILL VERSUS DESTINY
*CLIMAX: Scrooge promises to be a better man and keep Christmas, along with its goodness, in his heart
Act V
Setting: London, a return to Christmas morning
Characters: Scrooge, Adam, Fred, Fred’s wife, the Cratchit family (including Tiny Tim), and Jacob Marley
Main Events:
*Scrooge awakes and finds himself returned to his bed chambers
*Excited and thankful, Scrooge dresses himself haphazardly and takes to the streets of London asking “what day it is”
*A young boy, Adam, informs Scrooge it is Christmas and agrees to Scrooge’s request to purchase the largest turkey in
the Poulterer’s shop which will then be delivered to the Cratchit home
*Scrooge surprises his nephew and niece-in-law and celebrates with them, much to their shock and awe
*Afterwards, Scrooge travels to the Cratchit home and pretends to be angry with Bob over having been late to work:
~Scrooge takes great joy in tricking his faithful employee, then reveals that he plans to promote
Bob and increase his salary
*Marley reappears, narrating the FALLING ACTION:
~Scrooge kept his promise to keep Christmas
~He provided for the Cratchit family
~He acted as a second father to Tiny Tim, who lived and prospered
Setting: London, a return to Christmas morning
Characters: Scrooge, Adam, Fred, Fred’s wife, the Cratchit family (including Tiny Tim), and Jacob Marley
Main Events:
*Scrooge awakes and finds himself returned to his bed chambers
*Excited and thankful, Scrooge dresses himself haphazardly and takes to the streets of London asking “what day it is”
*A young boy, Adam, informs Scrooge it is Christmas and agrees to Scrooge’s request to purchase the largest turkey in
the Poulterer’s shop which will then be delivered to the Cratchit home
*Scrooge surprises his nephew and niece-in-law and celebrates with them, much to their shock and awe
*Afterwards, Scrooge travels to the Cratchit home and pretends to be angry with Bob over having been late to work:
~Scrooge takes great joy in tricking his faithful employee, then reveals that he plans to promote
Bob and increase his salary
*Marley reappears, narrating the FALLING ACTION:
~Scrooge kept his promise to keep Christmas
~He provided for the Cratchit family
~He acted as a second father to Tiny Tim, who lived and prospered