The theme of private philanthropy was once again emphasised as an antidote to the bleak and cold impersonality of state institutions (something which Dickens practised as well as preached through his advocacy of public action on social affairs, private benefactions and campaigning for social and educational reform).ĭespite A Christmas Carol being immediately successful, Dickens’ spent a frustrating few months without realising any substantial profits. Yet, A Christmas Carol was not just a good story – it brought together Dickens’ interest in ‘fireside storytelling’ with his concern for contemporary social issues. The universally successful A Christmas Carol was the first of Dickens’ ‘Christmas Books’, and in it Dickens invented, almost single-handedly the myth of the ‘English Christmas’ a bustling yuletide where families gather and food and drink are abundant in a universal season of reconciliation. However, what many people don‘t realise is that Dickens penned a whole raft of similar stories. A wonderful morality tale in which Ebenezer Scrooge is transported hither and tither by a spirit from the world beyond and forced to confront the negative aspects –and potential consequences – of his behaviour, it is held is great affection by, well, pretty much everyone. Published in a single volume on 19 December 1843, for many readers A Christmas Carol epitomises not only Charles Dickens’ shorter works, but his entire output.
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