A Christmas Carol - The Kansas City Repertory Theatre

CHARLES DICKENS AND THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
Have you ever wondered why we say “Merry Christmas”? Few realize that Scrooge’s nephew Fred in A
Christmas Carol was the first to use what is now a standard holiday greeting worldwide when he
initially cried out, “Merry Christmas, uncle!”
As Dickens’ great‐granddaughter Monica Dickens once pointed out, “When you say ‘Merry Christmas,’
you are quoting Charles Dickens.” Christmas was Dickens’ favorite time of the year and it filled him with
renewed hope for the salvation of humankind. “There
seems a magic in the very name Christmas,” he wrote in
1836 in Sketches by Boz. “Petty jealousies and discords
are forgotten; social feelings are awakened in bosoms to
which they have long been strangers… Would that
Christmas lasted the whole year through.”
2010: Austin Zollars (Simon) and Gary
Neal Johnson (Ebenezer Scrooge); photo
by Don Ipcock
Each December, Dickens looked forward to joining his
family in holiday festivities. Although he embraced the
season with playful enthusiasm, he also believed it was a
time to reflect on the true meaning of life and on the
problems of the most unfortunate members of society. In
many ways, A Christmas Carol is a reflection of the
philosophy and practice of Dickens’ own family Christmas.
Dickens enjoyed an extravagant holiday feast of stuffed goose, mince pies and pudding, followed by the
traditional punch. After the meal, when good spirits were at their heights, he would serve the wassail
and lead his family in a round of toasts and speeches. Dickens himself would raise his glass and as if to
quote his own creation, Tiny Tim, he would say: “Here’s to us all. God bless us.”
For all the joy he felt during the holiday season, Dickens believed that Christmas spirit should be used to
bring about social change. In his view, the world needed to be improved and this could not be achieved
merely through social theory or political action, but required the transformation of individual spirits and
attitudes.
The message of hope and redemption in A Christmas Carol is a cautionary tale for our time as well, as
the gap between rich and poor in the modern world widens, and the number of hungry continues to
climb.
Dickens’ eldest daughter, Mary, recalled of her father when she was growing up: “Christmas was always
a time which in our home was looked forward to with eagerness and delight, and to my father it was a
time dearer than any other part of the year, I think. He loved Christmas for its deep significance as well.”
Laura Muir
Director of Communications
Kansas City Repertory Theatre
A Christmas Carol: Learning Guide Page 15