Context Flashcards
Archetype
The traditional/ typical idea of a concept, Scrooge at the beginning is an archetypal villain.
Bob
During the Victorian era the word ‘bob’ was often used as a slang word for ‘shilling’.
Catharsis
Relief derived from releasing repressed emotions.
Capitalism
An economic system based on private ownership.
Debtors Prison
A prison someone goes to when they owe money, Dickens father spent
some time there
Humbug
An expression of distaste.
Deviant
Someone who breaks social norms and values.
Industrial revolution
This was when the means of production of Britain switched from agriculture to industry.
Mathusian Economics
Thomas Malthus was an economist in Victorian times and believed that London was overpopulated and so poverty would be inevitable as food supplies and housing would not be enough to sustain the growing city population.
Moral
Awareness of the principles of right and wrong conduct.
Purgatory
This is a Medieval Christian belief which is a prison, a sort of limbo between hell and life, in which you are given another chance and supposed to be made ready for Heaven.
Marley’s Ghost lives in the “incessant torture”.
Ragged Schools
Schools which provided basic education and provided for children who lived in poverty, Dickens was a contributor of these.
Socialism
An economic system based on shared ownership
Union workhouses
These were apart of the Gilbert Act which allowed parishes to join together to become responsible for the workhouses.
1834 Poor Laws
A system of welfare which introduced workhouses.
