Video 1: Structure and Time Consciousness
Hello and welcome to week seven lectures on a Christmas Carol and today's lecture session. I'm going to talk about the structure of this novella and it's time consciousness. And how these two aspects relate to the notion of the cockpit. The parish ones are inescapable. She'll be more Scrooge Christ, the ghost of Christmas past what he sees. It's a punishment to him, but the relentless ghost pinioned him in books then forced him to absorb what happened next. The Phantom as literary device enables Dickens to explode the social and moral issues central to his friction, poverty miserliness guilt redemption in a sense, Scrooge is trapped by these ghosts. When the ghost of Christmas past shows him. The things and events that have happened to him. He wants to see more of it. He wants to stay in the place. I just enjoy the nostalgia. Um, enjoy the pastoral, Woody the inaction in a way, how the ghost wants him to look at UB. So what happens next? What are the things that are going to come towards him? The food. The ghost as a laboratory device, as a literary weapon, as a, as a literary, um, event and function in this novella is extremely useful to Dick Ken's to help him Explo several social and moral issues, which are important to him and to his society. And they are, um, the poverty, the knee that's that in society.The my surliness the inability to share the guilt of the individual and the transformation that the individual undergoes once the heart is performed, the Gus Boral in the appearance from a tradition of allegory, because there was this strange child slash old man that is Christmas past. Clutching a branch of Holly, it trimmed with some of flowers. There is the lodge and avuncular goes just Christmas, present tension more and more with age as a solution stroke through to their clues. And there was the Phantom that is the ghost of Christmas yet to come shrouded and stately and mysterious their shapes. Tell you about all this moral design. We saw in the previous lectures as to how the goals are a combination of contrary aspects, especially in terms of the ghost of Christmas, past it assembled for the child and an old man implying God's truth TriMed is going to be shown by this ghost. And, um, We see how the, uh, how the figure of Scrooge ages and becomes an old man. So that kind of hybridity is embedded in the image of the ghost of Christmas past. We see the Holy, uh, which is trimmed with some of flowers. So contrary, um, aspects are put together. Uh, there's the ghost of Christmas present, which is very friendly towards, uh, uh, the young, uh, And this, even this goes to is, um, aging as, as his wishes, uh, come to a close. So, uh, there is a combination of contrary factors, alternative factors, um, and that in a symbolic way in relationships, the representation of the ghost and. The ghost of Christmas yet to come is also mysterious in the sense that it is state latest grant. And yeah, there is a suggestion of the funeral about its representation, it's stately, but it's kind of mysterious bleak. And, and, um, there is a sense of things for me, turn out for the better if, uh, screws doesn't change. So what is implied in these representations? A symbolic. Sketches of these goals and these allegorical represent of these goals is the patient of the author, the author's moral design, and all these goals have been structured to impart a particular message to ethicist Scrooge and to the readers the girls give the story it's it was a stimulus logical structure and makes Cruz thing that he's prepared for each. Succeeding was the Taishan preparing to meet the second of the three spirits, nothing between a baby and the rhinos. Russ would have astonished him very much, but of course he is surprised. We have seen how emphasis Fruge is prepared for these visitations by the precedence that by the Asian presence of, um, Marley's ghost. So Marley's goes, PrePass him for these other visitations. And once he has seen the ghost of Christmas past, it's too much, he's prepared. He is ready to meet any kind of spirit. And he believes that nothing would surprise him. Um, and of course, yet he is surprised. So. There is an element of surprise, but there's not an element of it, uh, extreme shock. Um, and that this what makes these supernatural precedences, um, uh, benign. Um, there, there is no repair caution on the part of a Scrooge when he is visited by these goals and who show him the past and the present and things to come. The ghost of Christmas present surprises him by showing him flashes of human happiness in the most unlikely of circumstances. And then school sees the wishes reveal by the tone of the spirit. He naturally fans to recognize what the redos knows, what the read the news from this list that the dead man abandoned after the scavengers have done with, after the scavengers have done with him as himself. What is significant, uh, about the he's a ghost is the fact that they, they have the comic face to them. They can make, um, smile a lot. They showed him a missions, which, which makes him feel comfortable. So this idea of the comic, the grotesque kind of Mmm. It's true. Just mind. It's such a way that he is unable to really kind of be disturbed by his, um, future adapt the possibility of still just death and a debt, which is not really mooned over by the many. So when he sees the wishing of the debt mind, um, Who's left, uh, in that, uh, church yard, uh, by the scavengers, once they finished their task, initially a school just enabled to realize that that, that man is himself. So this is one of the effects of the ghost representation and the way they function, the fact that they function in a mild manner in a not very disturbing manner. Uh, mixed crews, engage with these questions and, and, um, change his mind gradually. And the M system you want to be hunted. Three spirits. Scrooge is even told at what times it, it will appear the Google spreadsheet, fatality to the narrator screws, not resist the wishes they set before him. He was awake at the distant times to encounter the world that he has made for himself. I'm consciousness it's built into the narrative that goes have only the allotted span. My time is nearly gone, says Marley's ghost, like time goes shock. Um, so as foster, the three spirits quick chronology is of the essence. Chronology is extremely important for this, uh, novella. They can see how, uh, the appearance of all the NGOs, I mean, it's structured, Marley's goes prepares you for the other three goals. Um, And Mar in schools is told at what time each of these goals would appear and he has to get up and, um, watch see, um, participate in the wishes that they set before school, just eyes. There's no escape from school. He has to perform all these things at the destined time. And even the goals are kind of boned. Mommy says, Molly's goes to this. I have to go it's mine. And my time has come. My time is nearly run out. And I'm the first one, three girls. It's the ghost of Christmas process that quick, you know, a baby be quick about it. So what is being made aware to Scrooge? And the good readers is that time is slipping by and it's, and it is high time that the readers it's crude to change their minds so that, you know, Reparations could be done while there is time. So the lack of time, it's, it's a scary notion in itself, Scrooge, at one point, realizes that if he doesn't behave in a timely manner, they will be bleakness and flu forever. Christmas is a special day, made all the most significant by the unfolding of the Bushman's at their hours. On Christmas Eve Marley's ghost tell Scrooge of the three was it's in three consecutive nights, but who wakes to find that it is Christmas day, the spirits have done it all in one night, which means that he still has the day to redeem himself. So what happened is that all these goals Wizits foods in one night, so that all the work is done in that one particular, uh, Right for a screw so that he redeemed himself transforms himself and find salvation. So that is a really significant, it is fast forwarded for ethicists proof. Yeah. The suggestion is that everybody has to get their act together in a really, really, uh, quick mama. So doctor, it can be done for the betterment of those who are needed in society. Christmas Carol is a brilliant network of success and was a huge commercial. Cool. It forced the association between Christmas and what stories and led Dickens to write a series of such tales. So Christmas, it also showed her how does Joan walk best within limitations of time and length so that the short story and the Nevada the best to go sleep tails. Diggins had set a new literary fashion in motion, as we have pointed out time. And again, that this novella was a big hit with the audience. It was a bestseller, it was a commercial cool. According to John Muller and they can see. Had set in motion, the right clips association between ghost stories and Christmas festivity, and Dickens has also taught the readers that, um, You know, a short, I don't let them, they shot, not them is best suited for the ghost and Shona, the ghostly, uh, genre and, um, uh, Christmas Carol begins had set in motion, a new trend, a new, or a trend in English literature.


Video 2: Ghost Story and Novella
Now let us stick a look at the ideal form that had been used by Dickens in a Christmas Carol. B, no dot a Christmas. Carol was short in the form of a novella. It's an extended short story or a smaller novel, and it is in the Gulf coast story mood. So the tail is written as a novella and it means that it is a short piece of fiction, as I said, yeah, no longer shot story, but a sharp novel. They can publish a Christmas Carol on 19th, December, 1843, it was traditional for cost to raise, to be right at Christmas time. And this short novella form meant that the whole tale could be read aloud in one sitting. The last point of the slide is interesting because it underlines the concept of reading a story at one sitting and perhaps reading it aloud for an audience. Therefore a performativity perspective comes into the picture. Man, the story is being read out loud to a large group of people. The message is immediately communicated to a bigger group of people at one time. Therefore this goes story, which. Means that it's a gripping, not at upholsteries post, a very gripping bird for like, and therefore, uh, hooks the audience into its tail by using that kind of a ghost story mode, Dickens is intending to, uh, pack a lot of power in that story and disseminate it's a moral lesson in as quick, a manner possible. They can just novella features for NGOs in total. Jacob Marley and the three girls of Christmas, he combines the tradition of reading ghost stories with a moral tale of redemption, as we have discussed the girls and these stories yeah. Are not, uh, intended for evil purpose, quite the opposite. Uh, these ghosts have a moral purpose when they. Had the effect on the mind or the psyche of a ethicist crude, they want to redeem him. And therefore, um, these, um, ghosts in such an order are ideal. Uh, during Christmas time, their charity is emphasized as sharing and generosity are some of the key aspects of this festivity. They can use the form to appeal to the spirit of Christmas. And to share a story that was so popular, that the first friend, Ron of 6,000 copies sold out by Christmas Eve in 1843. So this point has been highlighted before, but it is important for us to remember that that this village of Christmas was really appreciated by the British reading public. And as I pointed out, it was a massive hit. What the audience with the entire print round. Get off 6,000 copies getting sold, um, in 1843 on the Eve of Christmas, this short novella form means the story can be read aloud in a short space of time making it the ideal Christmas entertainment. So this is entertainment as well as moral tale. It is a cautionary tale, but it can be highly entertaining as well because of its got a mood. The novella is set out in five staves. We'll see what this one States this is an unusual structure that me it's the way a musical piece is put together. The States follow the action of the story with the first stage setting the scene, the middle stage, showing the turning point for Scrooge and the final stage concluding the story, but presenting him as a changed man. As you can see the structure of the story mimics the musical composition. Uh, it is like a piece of music and the story is neatly structured with, uh, uh, uh, beginning, which sets out. The introduction of the story. The middle point shows us the climax, the turning point where Scrooge would probably change for the better. And the final shows us. It lets free thing that I do have transformation in, uh, atlases, Scrooge. Carols, they know what carols are. They are songs that are very popular at Christmas time. They are song, um, in communities, by communities and they usually deal with stories of price, but, or with themes associated with the festive season, some carols focus on joy and the spirit of giving to others. The structure of Deakins Nevada uses a similar structure to a song to present a moral tale of transformation. So, yeah. They can very strategically, very, very shrewdly makes use of the structure of a song, a structure of a curl. And communicate a particular message during Christmas time. And we know the carols are usually okay. Um, about, uh, price bud, or they sing about the joy of giving the spirit of generosity and Dickens use system. Form to communicate a very, very important lesson at the time when great Britain is in a bit of a crisis with the rapid pace of industrialization, the structure of the three, he goes, so showing the past, present future appeals to read it so many levels, this kind of structure does work quite a bit. Beginning middle and end past present and future. The number three is significant infection stories, religious jails, and in traditional myths and legends, um, three, the number three kind of stuck to the, uh, sticks to the mind quite quite powerfully. When you say three things, it immediately stays on the mind. Characters are often faced with three choices. Granted three wishes are given three opportunities to change. So three is a good trope and, um, literary narratives in myths in legends. And even in really just not, or this screw, just showing his past that's number one, the precedent of a tube and a possible future number three, and then finally finds the willingness to transform. So he has been told. So then the things in the form of three and the number three, the $3 does have a powerful impact on Scrooge and makes him art transformed. He believed it transformed. How important is the overall structure of this novella? The structure's important because it is linked to the theme of Christmas, the carols singing the spirit of Christmas of giving. Um, it's important, big, because it reflects the shape of a typical Carl or typical Christmas song. It has a clear beginning, middle and end through which we see a characters. Transformation. So the readers are shown not poor. They're shown the consummation that had, um, worked on, uh, emphasis crude, the structure. The three goes showing the past, present and future appeals to the readers. And we did see in the previous lecture that the Victorian readers were very sentimental. They, they quickly moved to tears. Moral tales had a huge appeal for them. Screw just redemption. And the final state leaves the reader with a sense of book completion and possibility. There is great satisfaction at the end of the day. This is great happiness because of the possibility of change of change, really happening, uh, in terms of the individual and therefore the faith that change will happen across society. So that gives a lot of comfort to the readers. Now something, including thoughts on the idea of ghosts and they consist work. All the ghost stories appear in Dickinson's fiction as early as the work white papers and all of these interpolated tales address, serious issues, such as insanity and moral conduct begins in walks this back them, but the comedic touch in his early, um, Fiction with the comedy touch in his early fiction. He cannot quite tell the ghost story too seriously. Smith consider as a Christmas, Carol, the point at which a darkening mood begins to infuse. Dickinson's go stories. There are several points in relation to consist use of Gothic, not or terms of mostly narratives. Firstly, he refers to the go sleep, not at and circulating and society. And he refers to them in his, uh, frictional world to make a point. Secondly, he also talks about, um, these ghostly narratives to discuss, um, ideals on insanity and uh, Moral conduct, but the behavior of people in town of morality, however, we clearly see that there is a close association between comedy and got pick a treatment in Dickens, even in a presidency. Carol, there is the element of the grotesque, the bizarre when, um, Some of these goals, sleep, uh, uh, spirits appeal before, uh, ethnicities crude. She is not terribly and deeply disturbed. He does have a kind of a humorous response as well, but he looks at all these, um, go sleep bizarre, uh, images at times and the Narcan. Therefore the point is that it is a belief that they can or cannot really quite take the ghost story too seriously. He does have to make it comic yet with a Christmas Carol one can see a dark trajectory to the go slate narrative as well. There is a darkness seeping in, um, into the ER, not off of the golf thing, which had been so far. Kind of comic and, and Lake Hartford. Uh, but from a person, terrible onwards, there is a deep, profound, and dark move to these perspectives in a Christmas Carol and afterwards they can explores how consciousness is formed in a money-based economy. Smith shows how the impound mollies, those makes visible what capitalism tries to render invisible, namely the label, which is inherent to, and so sublimated within the process of commodity production. This is a point that we did this cause, and it's good to kind of finish up with this point. Uh, in the previous lectures, I talked about how the Coptic matter of in a Christmas. Yes, significant incomes of exploring the area, normally not, or though in society. Um, and which is being the fractal through the narrative of, uh, deacons in a Christmas Carol. So, uh, the goals are ideal to touch upon, um, the money based economic issue. Uh, that the society is undergoing and for which Dickinson is offering us a fictional. Yeah. I'm a literary, um, and an individualistic, uh, response. Though we do also understand that story is laying beer. Uh, the problems that are brought about by, uh, economy by, um, the lack of money to put it precisely. Uh, the story is also offering a solution of throwing money at the problem by making an individual, uh, highly chartable and giving. So. The Gothic narrative in a Christmas, Carol is highly partnered and highly valuable, uh, in, in, uh, the ways in which it deals with the pressures in society and attempts to alleviate them. Thanks for watching. I'll continue with the next session.