Christmas Carol Context Flashcards
What was the 1834 Poor law
This law introduced Workhouses. The workhouses were grueling hubs of squalor for the lower classes.
Why were Workhouses put into place?
They were put there if poor and unemployed as it meant they could work in exchange for food and shelter.
What were conditions like in the workhouses?
The conditions were dehumanising and exploitative and many died.
Children in workhouses:
Children as young as 4 or 5 were sent to the workhouses were many were seperated from their families
Whats Scrooge’s opinion on workhouses?
Scrooge endorses and promotes the workhouses as a good alternative to keep the poor there.
How does Dickins use Scrooge?
Dickens wants to expose the ignorance of the upper class particullarily towards the workhouses.
How do the Workhouses relate to Dickens?
Dickens himself worked in the workhouses when he was younger so he had extreme empathy for those who were put there.
When was A Christmas Carol written? And what was this during?
1843, Industrial Revolution (Victorian Era)
What Class was the Victorian Era a ‘Golden Age’ for?
Middle and Upper.
There was a lack of Social Mobility. What is Social Mobility?
Social Mobility refers to your ability to go between classes.
Why was there a Lack of Social Mobility?
Lack of opportunity, lack of Free education for people and lack of regulation in place to protect rights of workers (so business owners like Scrooge could exploit and take advantage of people like Bob Cratchit).
What was there an absence of in working environments?
-Abscence of minimum wages, absence of fair working conditions or unfair dismissal laws (explotation of workers)
What is Scrooge and Bob Cratchit a symbol and a microcosm of?
Scrooge - Exploitative middle class
Bob Cratchit - microcosm of Lower class
What is Charles dickens encoraging?
Charles Dickens is encoraging and challenging Society to begin to care about the rights of the lower classes.
What are Malthusian views?
Malthus was a British economist who believed that poverty was inevitable and a result of short supplies. Scrooge does not feel regret/remorse for the inevitability of poverty
