Previous
Personification
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Stave 1
Explanation and Analysis:
A Christmas Carol is set in Victorian-era London. The events of the story take place in Scrooge's home on a bleak and chilly Christmas Eve. Dickens sets the scene in Stave 1:
It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already—it had not been light all day: and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air.
The story also explores many other places during Scrooge's visit with each spirit. The most evocative (and terrifying) descriptions of the setting appear in the fourth stave when Scrooge sees the Ghost of Christmas Past. The following passage, which occurs right before Scrooge foresees his own death, creates an unmistakable sense of place. It evokes a dirty, smelly, and claustrophobic city. The story has many such examples of decay as it comes to symbolize the degradation of the human spirit by greed and unkindness. One such example appears in Stave 4:
Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools, disgorged their offences of smell, and dirt, and life, upon the straggling streets; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth, and misery.
Before Scrooge has a change of heart, he often finds himself in cold and dirty places. The features of the setting reflect the features of the man, as Scrooge himself is a coldhearted and miserly person before he sees the spirits.
Related Themes:
Stave 4
Explanation and Analysis:
A Christmas Carol is set in Victorian-era London. The events of the story take place in Scrooge's home on a bleak and chilly Christmas Eve. Dickens sets the scene in Stave 1:
It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already—it had not been light all day: and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air.
The story also explores many other places during Scrooge's visit with each spirit. The most evocative (and terrifying) descriptions of the setting appear in the fourth stave when Scrooge sees the Ghost of Christmas Past. The following passage, which occurs right before Scrooge foresees his own death, creates an unmistakable sense of place. It evokes a dirty, smelly, and claustrophobic city. The story has many such examples of decay as it comes to symbolize the degradation of the human spirit by greed and unkindness. One such example appears in Stave 4:
Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools, disgorged their offences of smell, and dirt, and life, upon the straggling streets; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth, and misery.
Before Scrooge has a change of heart, he often finds himself in cold and dirty places. The features of the setting reflect the features of the man, as Scrooge himself is a coldhearted and miserly person before he sees the spirits.
Related Themes:
