Theatrical Report: A Christmas Carol

‘A Christmas Carol’ is a timeless classic, which holds the moral that a person of ill-intent can seek redemption in the end. ‘A Christmas Carol’ is a story of redemption. It is a story of redemption because a man, who very much abhors Christmas, was visited by four distinctly different ghosts and went “from ‘Bah! Humbug!’ to ‘God bless us, everyone” (Dickens, 2007, pg. VII). It is truly a story of redemption.

Dickens wanted to covey the spirit of Christmas and help solve the pandemic of Christmas Scrooges, who abhors the festive traditions of Christmas. Simon & Schuster wrote, “Dickens’s holiday classic, its characters, and even dialogue embody the spirit of Christmas” (Dickens, 2007, pg. VII). Who does not like the festive traditions of Christmas? No one, in their right mind, should not like the festive traditions of Christmas. Christmas traditions include Christmas Carols, making Gingerbread cookies, and decorating Christmas trees with beautiful awe-striking ornaments. Simon & Schuster wrote, “The Carol is practically a manual for Christmas, with its depictions of playing games, adorning rooms with festive decorations, and enjoying a turkey feast.”

In A Christmas Carol, there lived a man who did not like Christmas one bit. He abhorred Christmas time. No-one knew quite knew the real reason. It could because his friend Marley had dead seven years ago on the very night of Christmas. The real reason that Scrooge did not like Christmas is because of the hard memories he had to face on Christmas time, thinking in his house all alone with no-one to turn too. This is a misconception that Scrooge had. He believed that he would be better off alone than with family members. That is complete backwards thinking. Due to this, Scrooge got visited by four strange and distinct ghosts. First, He got visited by the Ghost of Marley. The Ghost of Marley proclaimed he will be visited by three ghosts. At strike at one, He will be visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past. At the Strike of two, he will be visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present. At the strike of three, Scrooge will be visited by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Scrooge was terrified every time the clock struck. Waiting in terror for the next ghost to appear.

Ebenezer Scrooge is an excellent businessman who is “a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!” (Dickens, 2007, pg. 6). Scrooge was “as hard and sharp as flint.” (Dickens, 2007, pg. 6). Scrooge was also “secret, self-contained, and solitary as an oyster,” (Dickens, 2007, pg. 6). He has a shell-like personality. Nothing penetrates his shell. He lives in his shell. He could be mistaken for an oyster who has no social life. Scrooge never gets past saying, ‘Bah! Humbug!” to people. He is cruel to people and never gives a lending hand to the poor because he believes taxes goes to helping the poor and needy. He has money, but never has a charitable heart. He did not have a great childhood either. During his childhood, as demonstrated in the encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Past, he spent most of his time in a boarding school locked away and isolated with no family to turn to. This how he became who is–A tight-fisted being. In the current circumstance, Fred, his nephew, visited him often, but Scrooge just said “Bah! Humbug!” and went back to his little isolation shell working night and day. (Eveland, 2005, para. 4). Even though he has all the money and wealth he could ever wanted, Scrooge still had an empty spot wanting to get out.

He liked to be social distanced so the COVID-19 would not bother him because he would care less if people stopped and said hi. Dickens wrote:

“Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say with gladsome looks, ‘my dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?” No beggars implored him…But what did Scrooge care? It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing once call ‘nuts’ to Scrooge” (Simon & Schuster, 2007, pg. 7).

Dickens had a quite an imagination when writing a Christmas Carol. Maybe Dickens did not like Christmas time and could possibly relate to that old wrenched Sinner, Scrooge. Dickens’ imagination allowed society to adapt his story into a play that was featured across the globe including Australia, Canada, and even the United States of America. Simon & Schuster explained, “A Christmas Carol has become such a part of modern American and British culture that it would be difficult to find anyone unfamiliar with its story or with the characters of Tiny Tim and Scrooge” (Dickens, 2007, pg. VII). This is very true. Without A Christmas Carol, our holiday traditions would not be the same.

Dickens was clever with some sayings. Dickens wrote, “Marley is dead…dead as a doornail.” How dead is a doornail? Very dead according to the writing style of Charles Dickens. This was a very clever saying. Another saying that has taken society by storm is the saying that Scrooge was ‘Solitary as oyster.’ How solitary can a oyster be? Apparently very solitary since an oyster never leaves its shell. The apparent descriptions of Marley and Scrooge helps the reader get acquainted with the Characters of A Christmas Carol. Dickens implied that Scrooge was heartbroken when Marley was dead. Dickens wrote that Scrooge was Marley’s sole friend and executor. Marley and Scrooge was close to say the least.

The Characters of this bestseller of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ includes: Cratchit, Fred, Tiny Tim, Portly Gentleman, The Three Christmas Spirits, the Ghost of Jacob Marley, and several other supporting characters.

The Genre was a Comical Mystery. It is a comical Mystery because it is pretty a dark and humorous tale. Three Ghosts was sent on a quest to help Scrooge “Embrace the spirit of Christmas” (Webb, 2015, para. 8). It can be seen in Scrooge’s encounter with a Ghost––The Ghost of Jacob Marley.

The Ghost just appeared through the fireplace with chains wrapped around him. Scrooge frightfully asserted with a trembling voice, “How Now! What do you want with me?”

“Much!”– Marley’s voice rung out.

Scrooge with nothing better to do responded rather quickly, “Who are you?”

“Ask me who I was.”

Scrooge, raising in his voice in terror, frighteningly responded, “Who were you, then?”

“In my former life, I was your partner, Jacob Marley,” The ghost explained with his transparent personality.

Scrooge quickly and quaveringly questioned the ghost and looking so doubtfully at him, “Can you––can you sit down?”

“I can” the ghost proudly responded.

Scrooge instantly and impolitely interpreted, “Do it, then.”

“You don’t believe in me,” observed the Ghost from the opposite side of the fireplace.

Scrooge, freaking out over this weird encounter without having an explanation, responded, “I don’t.”

“What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your own senses?” The Ghost interestingly interrogated.

Scrooge, still wrestling with this occurrence, popped, “I don’t know.”

“Why do you doubt your senses?” The ghost questioned.

Scrooge, with a personality of cracking a joke when stressed, responded to the ghost’s question, “Because a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!” (adapted from Dickens, 2007, pg. 20-21).

This scene led to the start of the mysterious encounters with the ghosts which leads to the point that A Christmas Carol is, in fact, a comical mystery set in the pre-Victorian time period where they were long coats. The dialogue and language of this segment is taken from a pre-Victorian English speaking town which is known as London. The buildings had styles that were from the pre-Victorian time period. This drama took place in 1800s and was published in 1843. When one reads this story, one might notice that Dickens was careful to give a year of when this was taken place, but through extensive research and conversations, this story probably took place in the pre-Victorian era.

In Conclusion, Dickens’s charming timeless classic reveals how Scrooge embraced a spirit of Christmas through seeing his life replayed before his very eyes. This story has some morals that should be practiced in the real world. First, do not be Scrooge during time. Embrace the festive times of Christmas. Second, enjoy your time that you have with a family. You will only have a limited amount of time with your family. Third, have fun with acting. It is always fun to act out a scene. Acting can be brutal, but you can eventually nail down the character flawlessly. So, remember do not be a Scrooge during the special times of Christmas.

References

Dickens, C. (2007). A Christmas Carol. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Inc.

Eveland, K. (2005). A Psychological Evaluation of Ebenezer Scrooge. Charlesdickensinfo.com. Accessed July 24, 2020. https://www.charlesdickensinfo.com/christmas-carol/psychological-evaluation-scrooge/#:~:text=Scrooge%20reports%20that%20he%20spent,him%20was%20his%20sister%2C%20Fan.

Webb, J. (December 21st, 2015). Top 5 Christmas Mysteries. Criminal Element. Accessed July 24, 2020. https://www.criminalelement.com/top-5-christmas-mysteries-charles-dickens-a-christmas-carol-craig-johnson-longmire/