Minor characters

Question 1

Who is Belle ?

Answer 1

• Belle, is a young woman previously engaged to Scrooge.
• her character is introduced, when the ghost of Christmas past takes Scrooge back to her past [in Stave 2]

Question 2

What can you tell me about Belle’s name?

Answer 2

• Belle, is a shorter version of the name ‘Isabella’ and it descends from Latin origin- meaning ‘God is my oath’ [which comes from the Hebrew name Elizabeth]
• an because, an oath is taken when giving a testimony in court- it means you promise to speak the truth- therefore from this perspective, when Belle tells Scrooge how a golden ‘idol’ has displaced her, this is genuine [and true]

Question 3

‘They were in another scene and place’; a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort’

Answer 3

• the room symbolises her social status- it isn’t ‘very large or handsome’ [not wealthy], but it’s ‘full of comfort’ [not poor]
• this aligns her with the cratchit family- who are poor in cash; rich in love- because on a symbolical level, Belle is also an embodiment of love and affection, like the Cratchit family.

Question 4

‘They were in another scene and place’; a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort’

Answer 4

• moreover, the noun ‘comfort’, reflects how Belle has emotional wealth to offer Scrooge- although she isn’t wealthy, she can give [and offer] Scrooge deep love and affection [and emotion].

Question 5

What alternative interpretations link to the quote: They were in another scene and place’; a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort’

Answer 5

• I= ; the noun comfort, also reflects how Scrooge has regressed into a greed, misanthrope and therefore rejected her- since his noble ambitions have fallen off, and now money and profit rivals Belle’s love.
• But in contrast to this, Belle’s moral philosophy and principles [moral values] haven’t changed, unlike Scrooge

Question 6

‘a fair young girl in a mourning dress: in whose eyes there were tears’ 👗

Answer 6

• L- mourning- since mourning means ‘to grieve what was lost’, the adjective suggests that Scrooge has not only lost his past self who married a ‘dowerless’ girl, but also his love for Belle that has been displaced by a ‘golden’ ‘Idol’

Question 7

‘Another idol has displaced me… a golden one’ 🛐🏆

Answer 7

• L- metaphor- on one level, it highlights how Scrooge worships profit and making money because, he thinks it’s more important than her- it rivals Belle [a deity]

Question 8

‘All your other hopes have merged…’ ‘I have see your nobler aspirations fall off one by one’

Answer 8

• L= ‘fall’ off-verb- reflects how on a metaphorical level, Scrooge’s morals have slowly degraded [and descended] into pure greed.
• Dickens’ deliberately does this, to use Belle as an embodiment of Scrooge’s moral degradation.

Question 9

‘All your other hopes have merged…’ ‘I have see your nobler aspirations fall off one by one’

Answer 9

• furthermore, as Belle is the antithesis [complete opposite] to Scrooge, it reflects how Scrooge used to be a kind and generous man, before he chose to regress, to a misanthropic loner.

[and perhaps Belle pointing out to Scrooge how his ‘nobler’ aspirations have fallen off, foreshadows Scrooge’s eventual transformation in Stave 5]

Question 10

What deeper meaning links to the quote: Another idol has displaced me… a golden one’ 🛐🏆 ?

Answer 10

• D= on a deeper and biblical level, perhaps Scrooge’s love of money is a biblical reference, mirroring how the Israelites made an golden calf they worshipped in Exodus 32 [in the Old Testament]

Question 11

What story from the Bible, relates to the quote: Another idol has displaced me… a golden one’ 🛐🏆 ?

Answer 11

• This is because although they were warned not to, the Israelites made a idol [golden calf] from their melted jewellery and then worshipped it.
• Though in Matthew 6:24, Jesus altered this teaching to ‘you cannot serve both God and money’
• ultimately, this [quote] mirrors with Jesus- as like Jesus, Dickens teaches and warns us that we shouldn’t worship money and profit.

Question 12

What context links to this quote: Another idol has displaced me… a golden one’ 🛐🏆 ?

Answer 12

• C= although greed is one of the seven deadly [cardinal] sins, which would have be frowned upon in a Christian Victorian society.
• This is quote ironic because, during the Industrial Revolution, many Victorians built factories and wanted to become wealthy.

Question 13

What alternative interpretation links to this quote: ‘a fair young girl in a mourning dress: in whose eyes there were tears’ 👗 ?

Answer 13

• ; the adjective ‘mourning’ also reflects how Belle has lost Scrooge- her fiance- as they are now two hearts that have grown apart, instead of one

Question 14

‘a fair young girl in a mourning dress: in whose eyes there were tears’ 👗

Answer 14

• furthermore, since Belle’s crying comes after the colon, perhaps it also highlights [and emphasises] her [past] relationship with Scrooge [it mirrors her relationship]

Question 15

‘Near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl’ 🔥

Answer 15

• this is symbolically important, because in the allegorical novella: A Christmas Carol, fire is symbolic of emotional warmth and Scrooge’s transformation.
• as throughout the [allegorical] novella, Scrooge has to learn how important it is, to be generous and show others affection, love and kindness

Question 16

What quote does this link to: ‘Near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl’ 🔥 ?

Answer 16

• [link to Bob Cratchit in stave 1- only having a ‘very small fire’ and contrasting it, in stave 1 where Scrooge fleas Bob Cratchit to: ‘make up the fires’ in stave 5]

Question 17

What alternative interpretations link to this quote: Near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl’ 🔥

Answer 17

• I= additionally, fire is also symbolic of how the middle and upper-middle class [ruling class] feed on [link to ogre] and exploit the poor.
• This is because, Scrooge can affect Bob Cratchit’s fires. This is seen in Stave 1, as he threatens to fire him, if he attempts to get more coal to use for his fire

Question 18

‘… which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two’ 💔

Answer 18

• L= Dickens contrasts the abstract nouns ‘happiness’ and ‘misery’ to reflect Scrooge’s descent into misery [and into a misanthropic loner].

Question 19

What alternative interpretations link to the quote: ‘… which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two’ 💔

Answer 19

• ; the contrasting of the two abstract nouns, also reflects how Belle has descended into misery aswell [because of Scrooge choosing a golden ‘idol’, instead of her]

Question 20

What other alternative interpretations link to the quote: ‘… which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two’ 💔

Answer 20

• Dickens’ also juxtaposes the numbers ‘one’ and ‘two’, which he places the comma before ‘one’ to reflect how Belle and union were one heart [a union]
• I= ; because ‘two’ is after the comma, it connects two with the noun ‘misery’, further reflecting Scrooge’s moral regression from love, emotional warmth and kindness, to solely greed. [as they were bonded by love, but now Scrooge’s greed for money, has come between them]

Question 21

‘gain’, ‘dowerless’ and ‘unprofitable’

Answer 21

• through Belle, Dickens’ use a semantic field of greed [money and profit] in her language, she uses to Scrooge.
• The semantic field of greed [money and profit] links together the adjectives and verb: ‘gain’, ‘dowerless’ and ‘unprofitable’,.
• This emphasises, how Scrooge has rejected Belle’s offer of love and emotional warmth. [because’s he’s a misanthropic loner, who solely wants to ‘gain’ more profit.

Question 22

What reader response, links to the quote: ‘gain’, ‘dowerless’ and ‘unprofitable’ ?

Answer 22

[- R= the reader disdains Scrooge, for treating Belle badly]

Question 23

What alternative interpretations, links to the quote: ‘gain’, ‘dowerless’ and ‘unprofitable’ ?

Answer 23

• I= ; this also reinforces Dickens’ moral message that is consistently developed throughout his allegorical novella- ‘our responsibility as citizens, is to provide for the poor and less fortunate in [Victorian] society’

Question 24

‘The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous’

Answer 24

• Dickens’ once again uses contrast; this is to contrast ‘perfectly’ and ‘tumultuous’- by contrasting this adjective and adverb, it highlights the importance of family, which Scrooge neglects [as he has rejected his family]

Question 25

‘The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous’

Answer 25

• furthermore, Dickens’ also emphasises the importance of family by using the adverb ‘perfectly’ which is used to modify the fact that Belle’s children are noisy [and loud].
• this suggests, that families should be like this [it should be longed to have this, instead of being ‘solitary as an oyster’]

Question 26

• Fill in the gaps: Dickens’ use of long, ________ sentences [to describe Belle’s family], reflects the busy and ______ chaos of family- which contrasts _______ who has a miserable life.

Answer 26

• Dickens’ use of long, compound sentences [to describe Belle’s family], reflects the busy and happy chaos of family- which contrasts Scrooge who has a miserable life.