On the Gothic Features of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

【Abstract】Charles Dickens is one of the greatest writers in the history of English literature. His most outstanding literary achievement is his realistic novels. However， the present research chooses another perspective to look into his famous work： A Christmas Carol， trying to find out the Gothic features of the story through probing into the following three aspects： the scenes described in the story， the language used in the story and the character portrayed in the story.

【Key words】Gothic features； Charles Dickens； A Christmas Carol

【作者簡介】周余筱（1990- ），女，土家族，湖北恩施人，恩施職業技術學院，英語語言文學碩士，助教，研究方向：語言學。

In Gothic novels， horror is the most salient feature， which penetrates in all parts of the story. And， A Christmas Carol would not be an exception， in which Charles Dickens takes advantage of the Gothic elements like grotesquery， mystery and fantasy， presenting a horrible world in all aspects like the scenes described in the story， the language used in the story and the characters portrayed in the story.

1. Scenes in A Christmas Carol

The Gothic novelists are wild about the exotic legendary stories happening in the ancient imaginary times. In most situations， the writers would make the story happen in the Middle Ages and in the European Continent. Moreover， in terms of the detailed place where the story takes place， the Gothic architecture is the first choice for the Gothic novels.“ The castles， monasteries， dark rooms， secret passages and underground charnel houses， all of which are represented by ‘Gothic Castles， form the symbolic feature of the Gothic novels”.

In A Christmas Carol， the scene， in which the Ghost of Marley appears， namely the scene， in which the Gothic part of the story begins， happens in the house of the main character， namely Ebenezer Scrooge， which is depicted vividly in the Stave 1 of the story：

“They were a gloomy suite of rooms， in a lowering pile of building up a yard， where it had so little business to be， that one could scarcely help fancying it must have run there when it was a young house， playing at hide-and-seek with other houses， and forgotten the way out again. It was old enough now， and dreary enough， for nobody lived in it but Scrooge， the other rooms being all let out as offices. The yard was so dark that even Scrooge， who knew its every stone， was fain to grope with his hands. The fog and frost so hung about the black old gateway of the house， that it seemed as if the Genius of the Weather sat in mournful meditation on the threshold.”

From the description above， although the writer does not use the words like “Gothic”， “horrible”， it could also be inferred that this living place is actually a typical Gothic scene. It is described by Charles Dickens to be a “gloomy”， “old”， “dreary” and “dark” place， all of these adjectives have shady connotation and make the place take on an atmosphere of horror and mystery. Moreover， the writer adds several other elements of obscurity into the house， like the “fog” and the “frost”. These elements often make the readers associate with the unknown things and often act as a veil which would cover the realty. Therefore， the living place of Ebenezer Scrooge，is a place f horror and mystery， adding the Gothic features into the story.

Another example would be more direct and also can show the Gothic features in A Christmas Carol when it is concerned with the horrible scenes. This scene takes place after Ebenezer Scrooge turns down the request of two gentlemen， who expects Ebenezer Scrooge to donate for the poor people.

“Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so that people ran about with flaring links， proffering their services to go before horses in carriages， and conduct them on their way. The ancient tower of a church， whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge out of a Gothic window in the wall， became invisible， and struck the hours and quarters in the clouds， with tremulous vibrations afterwards as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there.”

The paragraph describes the environment around the office of Ebenezer Scrooge， in which the most highlighted thing is “the ancient tower of a church”， which carries the “old bell” and “a Gothic window”. This description of the environment makes the scene in the story be both horrible and mysterious.

2. Language in A Christmas Carol

The language used in the Charles Dickens works often forms one of the most important elements which lead the works of Dickens to the success.

A Christmas Carol also has its own unique feature： the language used in A Christmas Carol can help show the Gothic features of the story. This feature can be discussed in terms of the most frequently used nouns in the story.

Based on the calculated data， it can be found that the most frequently used noun is the last name of the main character： Scrooge （361 times）； the second one is Ghost （92 times）； the third one is Christmas （88 times）.

The most frequently used noun， Scrooge， the last name of the main character as well as one of the most important symbols in the story. It symbolizes the characteristics of Ebenezer Scrooge： a miser. On one hand， his characteristics are the primary cause which leads the story to begin， develop and conclude； on the other hand， these characteristics are the basic reason for the weird behaviors of the main character and are the materials which bring up the person： Ebenezer Scrooge. He is the participant of the Gothic story and his name in turn helps to create the atmosphere of Gothic novel.

The second one is Ghost， one of the inevitable elements in Gothic novels. The reduplication of the word Ghost is the repeated “warning” for the readers that this novel carries with the elements of Gothic novels， helping to enhance and heighten the atmosphere of horror and mystery. The third one is Christmas， which is said to be the theme of the novel. This western festival itself has always carried with the atmosphere of religion， which is full of imagination and fantasy. The repeated appearance of Christmas， on one hand， is one way to lay stress on the theme of the story； on the other hand， is also a way to strengthen the atmosphere of mystery.

In conclusion， the most frequently used nouns in A Christmas Carol can function as the tool to enhance the Gothic atmosphere in the story， which shows the power of the language and can be a representative of the Gothic features in the story.

3. Character in A Christmas Carol

The sense of grotesquery， horror and mystery in the Gothic novels has been presented through sorts of ways. The characters in Charles Dickens works are always the representative of the distorted humanity of the capitalist society. The main character of A Christmas Carol： Ebenezer Scrooge is one of them.

Ebenezer Scrooge， was described to be an old man who regards money as everything of his life. In order to display his characteristics more vividly， the writer mainly takes advantage of the following three methods：

Firstly， the direct description shows the characteristics of the old man in a straightforward way. For instance， in order to show his mean characteristics， the writer describes his attitudes towards his clerk as following： “The door of Scrooges counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk， who in a dismal little cell beyond， a sort of tank， was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire， but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldnt replenish it， for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room； and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel， the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part.”

Secondly， the indirect depiction includes the other peoples reactions towards the main character and the words said by him.

In terms of other peoples reactions， the best example is：

“Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say， with gladsome looks， ‘My dear Scrooge， how are you？ When will you come to see me？ No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle， no children asked him what it was oclock， mens dogs appeared to know him； and when they saw him coming on， would tug their owners into doorways and up courts； and then would wag their tails as though they said， ‘No eye at all is better than an evil eye， dark master！”

People would not like to extend greetings to him， showing that he is rather dissocial； the beggars and the children would not like to ask him for help， showing that he is not so kind and warm-hearted； even the mens dogs look down upon him， which shows that he is extraordinarily annoying.

As for the words the character has said， these words， compared with the other peoples reactions and the direct descriptions， can demonstrate the characteristics of him in a more direct and vivid way， for instance， when his nephew greets him “A merry Christmas， uncle！ God save you！”， he just replies two interjections ““Bah！” and “Humbug！” Although these two interjections have no actual meanings， the impatient and disparaging tone of Ebenezer Scrooge could not be better displayed.

In conclusion， the three methods discussed above work together and help to demonstrate the characteristics of the main character in a more direct， comprehensive and vivid way. The combination of the three methods employed by the writer makes contribution to the shaping of a weird， mean and lonely character.

4. Conclusion

The present study focuses on the Gothic features of the story， which is neglected by many scholars home and abroad. The present study finds out the Gothic features of A Christmas Carol through probing into the scenes described in the story， the language used in the story and the character portrayed in the story. Through the scrutiny on the three aspects mentioned above， the present study has demonstrated another special way of creation of Charles Dickens， which means the combination of fantasy and realistic criticism.

In conclusion， many works of Charles Dickens， not only the research object A Christmas Carol， but also the other works like The Adventures of Oliver Twist， can be seen from another perspective other than the realistic meaning， which widens the horizon of Dickens studies and could be beneficial for the development of this research field.

References：

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[3]黃祿善.哥特式小說：概念與泛化[J].外國文學研究，2007.