Charles Dickens-The man who invented Christmas
I wanted to do at least three parts on Charles Dickens. But since we are closing to the second to last day of “The twelve Days of..” it will have to be shortened to just two parts. Maybe next year I can go into more depth. His tale “A Christmas Carol” could almost be three parts itself. Today, will talk about Charles Dickens, a little about A Christmas Carol and then we will finish tomorrow off with a little less known holiday tale of his, The Chimes.
Charles John Huffman Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England and was raised in Catham and London. He was raised “middle class” with one grandfather a domestic servant, and another, an embezzler. His father, a well-paid clerk in the Navy, eventually brought the family financial embarrassment, and was sent to prison for his debts. Consequently, in 1924, Charles, the oldest, dropped out of school to work manual labor at a factory. Eventually, he was able to go back to school after his father came home but his schooling ended at age fifteen. He then became a clerk in solicitors’ office and later a shorthand reporter in the lawcourts and eventually a parliamentary and newspaper reporter.
His time in the factory and his work in journalism influenced his writing. He gained sympathy and understanding for the working class whilst working in the factory, and as a reporter with the law, it greatly affected his political outlook. He was drawn to theater and almost become a professional actor in 1832. In 1833 he started contributing stories and essays to magazines and newspapers. He started installments of The Pickwick Papers which made him the most popular author of that time. He serialized other stories and wrote plays and pamphlets on social issues. He eventually wrote and published nearly fifteen novels.
There are many aspects to Dickens work that made him successful, and his creations are timeless. He was knowledgeable about London and social injustice, as his work “could appeal to the simple and the sophisticated, to the poor and to the queen.” Indeed, he was passionate about moral justice, social evils, and institutions. His work also easily adapted to the stage.
He was a man known for his strong family values, but he was seen as lonely in his later years with disappointments with some of his children (nine totals) and the separation with his wife. Overall, he was an entertainer, and some of his most critically acclaimed work came from his final years. Even leading up to his death, he did public readings. He passed away in June 1870, with an unfinished novel.
Father Christmas
Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843, and continued to write other Christmas books, a total of five novels in the years that followed. He is referred to as “the man who invented Christmas” or Father Christmas himself. During his time, Christmas traditions were experiencing growing pains. People were moving from the country to the towns and cities due to the Industrial Revolution and bringing with them old wintertime traditions. Christmas celebrations were on a decline until Queen Victoria came into power in 1837. With her husband, Prince Albert, they and introduced many Christmas traditions such as trees, charity and card exchanges. With the transforming of Yuletide celebrations, Dickens portrayed the merging of old and new traditions in his work that “helped cement a Victorian Christmas image that has endured to current times.”
Dickens wanted the book A Christmas Carol to be affordable to the lower class, and when his publisher wanted to make a profit, Dickens used his own money to have the books printed and sold them for just five shillings apiece. Lucinda Hawksley, an author, and great-great-great granddaughter of Dickens speaks of Dickens passion when writing A Christmas Carol:
“He was originally writing a government report into child poverty, but then he thought no one was going to read it, and it wouldn’t have an impact. After going to Manchester, and staying with his sister, he witnessed a level of poverty which was even worse than in London, families just starving on the streets, and he felt very powerless to do anything. So on his way back to London, he came up with the idea of turning it into a work of fiction. It was an amazing story that was written to bring about change.”
A Christmas Carol, had been retold and adapted into many film versions in our time. The play is also quite popular. It is a story that has stood the test of time, and we can all relate to it, personally, morally, and psychologically.
Source:
Introduction by The Editors at Canterbury Classics. A Christmas Carol and Other Holiday Treasures, Charles Dickens.
Charles Dickens | Biography, Books, Characters, Facts, & Analysis | Britannica