the cratchit's (staves 1-3) + theme of poverty Flashcards
STAVE 3: “dressed out but [1] in a twice-turned [2], but [3] in ribbons”
[1] - poorly
[2] - gown
[3] - brave
motif of heroism; shows the working-class have a different skill-set to the wealthy and so, should work together to form a symbiotic relationship
STAVE 3: eating goose instead of turkey
‘poor man’s turkey’
baked in the bakers’ ovens; demonstrates the living conditions of the impoverished to dickens’ victorian wealthy middle-class readership
STAVE 3: “monstrous [1] collar”
[1] - shirt
- wearing his father’s clothes; sharing. overall enforcement of the idea that community thrives in symbiotic relationships
- starched collar; enforces theme of poverty
STAVE 3: motif of dynamic verbs when describing the family getting ready for dinner
“plunged”, “tearing in”, “screaming” - juxtaposes scrooge’s stiffened gait
STAVE 3: “slow [1] bubbling up, [2] loudly at the saucepan-lid to be let out and [3]”
[1] - potatoes (cheaper veg)
[2] - knocked
[3] - peeled
*use of pathetic fallacy to add humour to the scene and also, to emphasise the excitement around the celebration of christmas
+ chestnuts crackled “noisily”
STAVE 3: “[1] in [2] [3] of sage-and-onion”
[1] - basking (soaking it in)
[2] - luxurious
[3] - thoughts
romanticises a meal; shows how scarce the table usually is and further emphasises the rich-poor divide as the ghost of christmas present carries a torch in the shape of the horn of plenty
what is the general theme of stave 3?
togetherness - motif of warmth
the ‘true’ christmas - christmas was becoming commercialised and dickens’ wanted to emphasise the importance of christian values
completely juxtaposes scrooge who in stave 1 is described as a “covetous old sinner” and throughout the previous staves is represented to be a man in lust of avarice (2/7 of the deadly sins)
significance of the novella being set in 1843:
- during the IR; people moving to big cities = overcrowding = poverty-stricken
STAVE 3: “the [1] display of [2]” which consisted of “[3] tumblers” and “a [4] cup without a [5]”
[1] - family
[2] - glass
[3] - two
[4] - custard
[5] - handle
dilapidated objects on show = proud of them; displays their vulnerable position in society due to their poverty.
compared to “golden goblets” = cratchit’s feel enriched by each-other’s company and do not need materialistic possessions to feel whole.
STAVE 3: “[1] little hand” (tiny tim)
[1] - withered
described like a plant without sunlight, metaphor for how something so beautiful and innocent has been killed by the tight-fistedness of the wealthy in society
light = relates to heat which is a key motif in the text, shown to accompany characters in positive moods; the light has been taken from his life, causing him to suffer (similar to a plant)
withered = ideas of old age; juxtaposes ‘little’ = emphasises the injustice
+ ideas of premature decay
why poverty/social injustice is mentioned in the novella:
dickens felt strongly that victorian society ignored the poverty of its underclass. on the one hand were the rich who enjoyed comfort and feasting at christmas, and on the other were children forced to live in dreadful conditions in workhouses.
poor children couldn’t afford education and so, later in his life dickens set up ragged schools. he believed education was paramount to the improvement of society
social & historical context
poor law amendment act = 1834 to reduce the cost of helping the poor. those desperate for assistance and having no other option were sent to workhouses.
- 18 hour work days
- families broke apart + separated
- inadequate living conditions
- rationed meals
STAVE 1 (portly gentlemen): “many [1] are in want of common [2]; hundreds of thousands are in want of [3] [4], sir.”
[1] - thousands
[2] - necessaries
[3] - common
[4] - comforts
conveying the dire situations of many to his middle-class, wealthy victorian readership. the noun ‘thousands’ is shocking, yet surprisingly not hyperbolic due to the IR
ignorance and want are described to have [1] and [2] hands
[1] - stale
[2] - shrivelled
links to plants which cannot grow without sunlight.
sunlight relates to heat = recurring motif throughout the play seen most commonly during the cratchit’s christmas dinner scene; shows that poverty can appear in different ways and that nobody is ‘undeserving’ of help.
contrasts commonly upheld ideas in victorian society that some poor were ‘deserving’ and others were ‘undeserving’.
