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A Christmas Carol treats three main themes:
-Christmas
-Redemption
-Social Injustice

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The novel is set in Coketown, which was a real industrial mill town in mid 19th century Victorian England. The description of this city makes it appear like a real jungle by making constant comparisons between the elements of the city and animals. Dikens is able to give a vivid image of the city by using adjectives, repetitions and metaphors.
The characters Mr. Gradgrind and Bounderby are the symbols of Utilitarism and self-interest.
This novel shows the danger of the "object lesson" teaching method, that is based on the mentality that human mind can be governed by reason.

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Here three aspects of the society are shown:
-The parochial world of the workhouses
-The criminal world
-The Victorian Middle class

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The novel is set in London.
The objective is to represent the hypocrisy and duality of the Victorian society that could also be seen in the city of London, since it was divided in the West end populated by the medium/high classes and the East and populated by the poor who lived in the slums.
The symbolism of Dr. Jekyll's house represent this situation.
The style is carachterised by the Gothic element, since most scenes take place at night and they are set in gloomy and disturbing ambients.
This novel is the portrait of good and evil and Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde are the stereotypes.
Stephenson took inspiration from a nightmare. When he was sick, closed in his dark room, afflicted by sleeplessness, he said he dreamt about a man who took a drug and turned into a different being. He admitted he was fascinated by the Gothic aspect of that dream.

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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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A lawyer called Mr Utterson is a friend of the famous scientist Dr. Henry Jeckyll.
One day he hears about a sinister man assaulting a small girl and starts noticing something weird about his friend so he starts investigating.
Mr Utterson finds out that Dr Jekyll has invented a potion that releases his evil side called Mr. Hyde.
At this point Dr Jekyll has only two choices: living a life of crime and depravity or kill his evil side.
The novel ends with the inevitable suicide of Dr. Jekyll.

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A Christmas Carol recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.

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This novel is set in an imaginary industrial town named Coketown. Thomas Gradgrind and educator who believes in facts and statistics has founded a school where his theories are taught and he brings up his two children in the same way repressing their immagination and feelings.
He marries his daughter to an old banker, the girl consent only to help her brother, who in fact is given a job. The marriage is unhappy and Tom robs his employer. At first he succeds in throwing the suspects on an honest workman, but then he is discovered and exiled.
In the end Mr. Gradgrind understands the damage he has done to his children and gives up his mentality.

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Oliver Twist is a young orphan. His life in the workhouse is lonely and sad. Oliver becomes an apprentice for an undertaker but runs away.
When Oliver arrives in London, he meets a gang of pickpockets, and joins them. When Oliver sees the others pick the pocket of an elderly gentleman, he is horrified and runs away. A kind man called Mr Brownlow takes Oliver in and looks after him.
His gang reappear and capture him. They force Oliver to take part in a robbery and he gets shot. Oliver is taken back to health and they take him to see Mr. Brownlow who adopts him. Oliver finds out he has noble origins. In the end the gang of pickpokes and Oliver's half-brother, who paid the thievs in order to ruin Oliver and have their father's property all for himself are arrested.

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Charles Dickens moves the attention on the lower class, making it the subject of his works. He arouses readers' interest by exaggerating his character's behaviours and using the lower classes language, creating caricatures who live immortally in the English culture like Scrooge. Children have a very important role in his works, he makes them the models of  moral values. Doing this he position himself on the side of the poor and denounce children labour and exploitation of the lower classes.

Dickens' style is made of colorful adjectives, repetition of words and ironic and hyperbolic comments. This allowed him to give graphic and powerful descriptions of scenes and characters.
He is indeed considered the gratest novelist in the English language.

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Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850. Because of his poor health he spent most of his childhood in bed. He took up Engineering at University, but he gave it up and graduated in Law. He travelled a lot to find a friendlier climate, since he was in conflict with the Victorian world.
After his graduation, he decided to devote himself to writing and his most famous works are: Treasure Island, Kidnapped and his masterpiece "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".
He died in 1894

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Born in Portsmouth in 1812, Dickens had an unhappy childhood.
His father was imprisoned and Dickens was sent in a workhouse. Later on, when his father was released he went to school, then at the age of 15 he found an employment as an office boy at a lawyer's. He became a very famous reporter of parliamentary debates and began to work as a reporter for a newspaper.
After that he started writing his first writings. Due to the succes he reached, he decided to become a full-time novelist, without interrupting his journalistic activities.
His most famous works are: David Copperfield, Little Dorrit, Hard Times, Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol

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The duality of the Victorian Age, with the contrapposition of the political stability and injustice, the exploitation of the poor and the thrive of the rich, the scientific progress and religion, the modern and classic art, brought to life a new literary current based on social critique and reflection on the human condition.

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These reforms had both positive and negative outcomes, resulting beneficial for the medium and high class, but terrible for the lower classes. This is one of the reasons this age takes the name of "compromise", because with the sacrifice of the poor, the rich thrived.

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A typical workhouse canteen during lunch time

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The Poor Law Emendment Act turned out to be a disaster, since the workhouses didn't offer proper board and lodging to live a decent life. The igenic conditions were terrible, the food wasn't enough to feed everyone and there was little space to host everyone, in fact bunch of people had to share the same room to sleep.

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Britain was involved in the two Opium Wars againist China.
England prevailed on the Chinese army and gained control of Hong Kong and five ports.
Britain also suffucated the rebellions in India, supported Italy againist Austrians and fought the Crimea War againist Russia.

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During the 19th century, England experienced a second wave of industrialization which brought cultural and economic changes.
To show the United Kingdom's prosperity, Prince Albert organised a Great Tecnology Esibition where people from all over the world came to expose their goods and as many came to admire the exibition.
After this event, money was invested in setting up museums.
In 1860 the construction of the underground railway begun.

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The main reforms that were introduced during the Victorian Age were:
1. Great Reform Act, that extended the vote from the small boroughs to the industrial towns.
2. Factory Act which protected child labour and exploitation by limiting the children's working hours.
3. The Poor Law Amendment Act that had reformed the Poor Laws, creating the workhouses.
Although several monarchies in Europe fell, Britain kept his political regiment.

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Queen Victoria's Consort

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Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837. She ruled for almost 64 years and gave her name to an age of economic and scientific progress and social reforms.