Christmas is a family-oriented festival based around plenteous food, drink and jollity, a season of good cheer, of dancing and frivolity, a time of warm-hearted goodness when we extend a hand to those less fortunate than ourselves. The book depicts certain sentimental aspects of Christmas which are now so firmly ingrained in the season that Christmas would be unthinkable without them. Many Christmas traditions, which feel as if they have been in existence for millennia, were actually not widely practiced until Dickens published his perennial tale of Scrooge’s spiritual journey from miserable old miser to the very soul of Christmas joy and generosity. In certain respects, Dickens almost invented Christmas as we know it today. But it was Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, first published on the 19th December 1843, which made the biggest impact on the public. A wave of nostalgia heralded new efforts to revive it with the introduction of customs such as the Christmas tree and the Christmas card. In mid-Victorian Britain, Christmas as a celebratory festival had fallen into decline. Dickens created a vision of Christmastime based on joy, compassion, and companionship, which has become the blueprint of Christmas celebrations in western culture. “A Merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!” says Fred to Scrooge in the opening pages of A Christmas Carol, beginning the literary event that marks a turning point in the history of Christmas.Ĭharles Dickens popularized the expression “Merry Christmas,” which is the most enduring expression of the Christmas season.

Charles dickens a christmas