Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol - Characters - Eduqas - GCSE English Literature Revision - Eduqas - BBC Bitesize (2024)

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How is Scrooge presented in A Christmas Carol Essay GCSE? ›

Dickens presents Scrooge's character in this extract as stubborn, selfish and rude. He wishes nothing to do with the two gentlemen and wishes “to be left alone.” Scrooge is also shown to be self-centred. He believes that the poor do not need or deserve to be helped by being given comfort and food.

Role. A miserly and mean character who only cares about money. Described as a "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" in Stave One. He is portrayed as unfeeling, with Dickens repeatedly referring to the cold when describing him.

Ebenezer Scrooge, fictional character, the miserly protagonist of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843). Despite his transformation at the end of the story, the character is remembered as the embittered miser and not as the reformed sinner, and “Scrooge” has entered the English language as a synonym for a miser.

A Christmas Carol

Scrooge: “Bah, humbug!” Narrator: “Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!”

In a story, a dynamic character is someone who undergoes an important, internal change because of the action in the plot. Ebenezer Scrooge, from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, is a classic example.

Description. Charles Dickens describes Scrooge as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint,... secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster."

You see, when he was young and poor, Scrooge was deeply in love with a beautiful woman, Belle. Sadly, she broke off their engagement when she felt Scrooge loved money more than he loved her. Is it too late for him to rekindle his one true love and convince Belle of a second chance?

Afterwards, he is a changed person. Commentators pondering Ebenezer Scrooge's experience in Dickens's A Christmas Carol generally ascribe it to a nightmare. Some suggest that Dickens was accurately depicting psychiatric disorder in Scrooge: a brief psychotic episode³ or Lewy body dementia.

In his single-minded focus on acquiring wealth, Scrooge represents the opposite of generosity in every way imaginable. In his business dealings, he constantly tries to squeeze money out of people, grasps and scrapes for more benefits for himself, and covets what he does not yet have.

How is Scrooge presented as a selfish character? ›

Furthermore, Dickens highlights Scrooge's indifference towards the poor and destitute of society who suffer greatly through his refusal to lend a helping hand and contribute to raising funds for the aid of the poor and as such he shows that a selfishness and greed will result in a lonesome end to an unrewarding life.

The defining aspect of Scrooge's character is his ​remarkable transformation​, as he evolves from miserly businessman into a man as good as ​“the good old city knew”​. Therefore, it can certainly be argued that he is used by Dickens to symbolise a greater message which ​transcends​(goes beyond) his own character.

The main character in the novella is Ebenezer Scrooge. At first we see his miserliness in contrast with his humble clerk, Bob Cratchit, and his cheerful nephew, Fred. The ghost of his old business partner, Jacob Marley, warns Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits.

Mrs Cratchit

HIGH MEZZO SOPRANO Female, 30's, a strong woman with a heart of gold. She is loving and caring to her family and like a lioness in her protection of them. She can stand her ground, as she does to Scrooge.

Sally Dexter as the first female Scrooge to appear on a London stage. Sally Dexter as the first female Scrooge to appear on a London stage. He's remembered as a champion of the poor and downtrodden in Victorian society.

A Christmas Carol is an allegory in that it features events and characters with a clear, fixed symbolic meaning. In the novella, Scrooge represents all the values that are opposed to the idea of Christmas--greed, selfishness, and a lack of goodwill toward one's fellow man.

Scrooge brings a little of the Christmas spirit into every day, respecting the lessons of Christmas more than any man alive. The narrator concludes the story by saying that Scrooge's words and thoughts should be shared by of all of us ... "and so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, Every one!"

Most agree that Dickens based Scrooge on scrouging – an archaic word with a multitude of “squeezing, crushing, crowding” meanings – likely based on the Old English scruze, “to squeeze or compress.” Dickens first used scrouging (spelled scrowding) in his fourth novel, The Old Curiosity Shop, using it to describe a ...

7 Character Roles in Stories. If we categorize character types by the role they play in a narrative, we can hone in on seven distinct varieties: the protagonist, the antagonist, the love interest, the confidant, deuteragonists, tertiary characters, and the foil. 1.

In other words, capitalism was the very condition that made Scrooge's philanthropy possible. Scrooge's wealth, Dickens argues, is actually a very good thing, when generously distributed.

Is Jim a static or dynamic character? ›

Answer and Explanation: Della and Jim are both dynamic characters.

In many ways, Scrooge was much more than a key character in a story that characterized life in 1843 England. Scrooge was also a metaphor for a transformation Dickens thought England must go through.

Humbug!, the catchphrase of the miserly main character Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge's bah is an exclamation of contempt or annoyance. Since then, bah humbug has come to invoke Scrooge's (initial) grouchy attitude toward Christmas in other contexts.

The first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to Christmas scenes of Scrooge's boyhood, reminding him of a time when he was more innocent.

Personal Data: Ebenezer Scrooge is an approximately 50-year-old Caucasian male. He is single and has never been married.

The Ghost shows Scrooge himself as a young man with his fiancée, Belle. Young Scrooge's face already reveals his love of money. Belle breaks their engagement because she says Scrooge loves money more than he loves her. The Ghost shows Scrooge that Belle has married someone else and has a loving family and a happy life.

In Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas past shows us the young Ebenezer engaged to be married to Belle. Troubled over the cost of the wedding, he repeatedly delays it, which leads Belle eventually to call off the engagement and marry another. The older Scrooge grievingly rues his mistake.

Dickens shows a 'solemn' and spooky spirit in the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The ghost fills Scrooge with terror. Scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him, and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to follow it. The presence of this ghost makes Scrooge afraid.

Scrooge is immediately presented as an unpleasant character who is completely obsessed with making money. 2. We quickly learn that Scrooge lives his life alone – no one even greets him in the street and beggars don't even ask him for help.

“Scrooge's irritability and predilection to say 'bah humbug' are cardinal features of major depressive disorder. His past history from his sister Fan's death, the termination of his engagement to Alice, and his hallucinations are all signs that lead to this conclusion,” he says.

Which character has the biggest impact on Scrooge? ›

Scrooge was impacted most by the Ghost of Christmas present in the novella A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. The Ghost of Christmas present taught him how to show kindness to others, and showed Scrooge how he affected those around him.

Scrooge's refusal represents the selfishness of the richer elements of Victorian society. Instead of creating a community in which life can be enjoyed by all, Dickens highlights the injustice of wealth distribution. Dickens uses two wretched children, called Ignorance and Want, to represent the poor.

Scrooge is an ​outsider ​in society and is victim to his own, ​self-inflicted loneliness​. No one necessarily pushed Scrooge away, instead he ​ostracised ​himself from society. self contained and solitary as an oyster”, the ​sibilance ​is similar to that of a snake which suggests something sinister.

In a christmas carol, Scrooge is seen as a villain due to his unsociable behaviour.

Ebenezer Scrooge is the main protagonist of the 2019 British television miniseries A Christmas Carol, based on the 1843 novella of the same name by the late Charles Dickens. He is a cruel investor whose greedy nature and belief that all humanity is evil causes many deaths and misery for his employees.

Scrooge is described as being solitary as an oyster (p. 2). This simile suggests he is shut up, tightly closed and will not be prised open except by force. However, an oyster might contain a pearl, so it also suggests there might be good buried deep inside him, underneath the hard, brittle shell.

A miserable, bitter old miser, Scrooge hates irrational things like happiness, generosity, and Christmas, until a trio of Ghosts shows him the error of his ways.

In the Book The Christmas Carol. The main character Scrooge is a nasty, harsh, and cruel person, transformed to a kind, everyday person. He learns how to become a kind person, and treat people kindly and generously. Scrooge starts out as a nasty person but is transformed into an everyday kind person.

Scrooge's sister, Fanny, was based on Dickens sister Fanny whom he adored. Many of young Scrooge's memories are those of Dickens and his sister. Fanny had convinced Dickens to come to Manchester to give his speech on the benefits of public education and charity.

Jingle bells is undoubtedly the most popular Christmas carol. It is also the easiest one to get the little ones all cheered up. It's traditionally sung at Christmas in most parts of the world.

Who goes down a slide 20 times in A Christmas Carol? ›

In the extract, we first gain an impression of Bob's cheerful and enthusiastic yuletide spirit when he 'ran home…as hard as he could pelt' and slid on the ice 'twenty times in honour of Christmas'. This hyperbolic language shows Dickens believed Christmas was a time for celebrating with the family.

Jacob Marley is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, having been the business partner of the miser Ebenezer Scrooge.

One of my favorite characters is Fezziwig, the man under whom Ebenezer Scrooge apprenticed. As described, Scrooge's master is preparing the warehouse for a Christmas celebration and as the scene progresses Scrooge experiences joy and waxes eloquently on Fezziwig's many virtues.

In the beginning of the novel Ebenezer Scrooge is portrayed as a hardhearted and unsociable man. However at the end of the novel we see dramatic changes in him as a trio of ghostly visitations causes a complete change in him. Scrooges transformed from an unpleasant and penny-pinching character to a charitable kind man.

About Scrooge: “As solitary as an oyster.” “External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge.” “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” “Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.”

Redemption is the idea of being saved from sin or evil. In Scrooge we see a man who is transformed from a greedy, selfish miser into a generous and good-natured character by the end. He is shown the error of his ways by the ghosts that visit him and is redeemed by his own willingness to change.

Furthermore, Dickens highlights Scrooge's indifference towards the poor and destitute of society who suffer greatly through his refusal to lend a helping hand and contribute to raising funds for the aid of the poor and as such he shows that a selfishness and greed will result in a lonesome end to an unrewarding life.

When Scrooge decries Christmas as a 'humbug', it is often taken as a general exclamation of displeasure and bitterness, but Scrooge didn't just hate Christmas at the start of the tale – he deemed it to be a complete fraud.

What is the first simile in Christmas carol? ›

The most famous simile in A Christmas Carol (and arguably one of the most famous similes in literature overall) appears on the very first page: Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

As the triumphant and touching end of the story goes, Scrooge is able to defeat a lifetime of selfishness and the worship of money to become a new man with an entirely new outlook on life. He learns how to be patient, kind and generous.

By the end of the story, Scrooge is a changed man, sharing his wealth and generosity with everyone. According to Dickens's description, Scrooge is cold through and through. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. Dickens uses pathetic fallacy to represent Scrooge's nature.