\u201cA Christmas Carol isn\u2019t just a cheery, uplifting tale that we can mimic in various modern ways,\u201d says Mayhew. \u201cIt\u2019s a very seriously intended work of moral fiction and, perhaps because we tend to pigeonhole it as a Christmas story, we don\u2019t read just how serious it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The message that Dickens had for Victorian Britain is increasingly pertinent, even though we may use different words to describe similar problems, [Professor Robert] Mayhew believes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s interesting because we\u2019re living right now with unprecedented levels of homelessness and individuals needing the support of food banks. We have the binary between extreme wealth on one hand and those inured to poverty on the other.\u201d You feel the resonance of A Christmas Carol seems to get stronger every year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople were terrified of overpopulation, especially among the poor, and they believed that if people brought children into the world that they couldn\u2019t afford to keep, they were almost committing a crime. This is what Dickens hated, this attitude.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/zrv0C8j0MC<\/a><\/p>\n — Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) (@KSPrior) December 28, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n