Context Flashcards
1834 New Poor Law
In 1834, a law was passed that caused working class/poor people to work in workhouses in extreme conditions. Dickens was against this as he worked in a shoe polish factory from age 12 as his father was in debtor’s prison, so he criticises this throughout the novella.
This poor law is alluded to by Scrooge as a representation of the upper class, how they were in favour of it despite the plight it caused on the working classes.
Victorian Era & Class
When the novella was written and set, there was massive divide between the classes in Victorian England. Dickens felt strongly that society ignored its working class, for example during Christmas when the rich ate plentifully and comfortable, while the poor had to work in dreadful conditions with little to no food (links to ideas of being charitable)
Dickens’ Background
Charles Dickens himself worked in a workhouse at age 12, so he gained first-hand experience of what it was like to be in poverty as his father was sent to debtor’s prison. This is visible as he criticises the conditions of and treatment of those in workhouses.
Thomas Malthus
Thomas Malthus was an economist who studied population. He argued that there were far too many poor people and that they resulted in a lack of food for the rest of the world (links to Scrooge’s own beliefs.) Dickens was heavily against this ideology and Dickens criticises the Malthusian view.
