Oh Christmas Tree
“A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every 25th of December! But I suppose you must have the whole day. Be here all the earlier the next morning!”
Scrooge- Scrooge proves how greedy he is when he struggles to let Bob Cratchit off work on Christmas Day.
“I have told you these were shadows of the things that have been. They are what they are. Do not blame me, Mr. Scrooge.”
Ghost of Christmas Past- He is telling Scrooge to blame himself for what he sees in the past.
“Uncle may rail at Christmas till he dies. I think I shook him some with my visit yesterday. I refused to grow angry, no matter how nasty he became.”
Nephew Fred- Fred and his wife talk about how much they pitty Scrooge during the Ghost of Christmas Present visit. Fred declares that he won't give up hope for his Uncle Scrooge.
What is the major theme found in A Christmas Carol?
* Take advantage of opportunities while they exist.
* Be generous and kind to your fellow man.
Sister
Fan
Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?
Ghost of Christmas Present- He is mocking Scrooge by using Scrooge's words against him.
“Our contract is an old one. It was made when we were both poor and content to be so. You are changed. When it was made, you were another man.”
Scrooge's Fiance- She is breaking up with Scrooge because he chose greed over her. She claims that he isn't the same man she once fell in love with.
“You see? He does not, with faith, believe in me fully, even still! Whatever will it take to turn the faith of a miser from money to men?”
Jacob Marley- Scrooge doubts if Marley is real even after Marley makes himself visible to Scrooge. Marley is doubtful that Scrooge will change his ways.
List the events from the Past in order. Know the importance of each visit.
1. School
2. Former Workplace
3. Fiance scene
Miser
Scrooge
“So, I pray you hurry back to your seats refreshed and ready for a miser- to turn his coat of gray into a blazen Christmas holly-red.”
Jacob Marley- He is speaking directly to the audience. The play is in intermission between ACT 1 and ACT II.
Go and buy it! No, no. I am absolutely in earnest. Go and buy it and tell ’em to bring it here, so that I may give them the directions to where I want it delivered, as a gift.
Scrooge- He proves that he is now a generous person by sending Adam to purchase food for the Cratchit family. Scrooge is doing it this way because he wants to remain anonymous.
Christmas time, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and that it will do me good; and I say, God bless it!
Nephew Fred- He says that being generous and keeping a positive outlook is the best way to live. He will continue to be kind to his Uncle Scrooge despite being met with hostility.
List the events from the Present in order. Know the importance of each visit.
1. City Streets
2. Cratchit's Home
3. Nephew Fred's Home
Narrator
Jacob Marley
I help to support the establishments that I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.
Scrooge- He is telling the charity workers to send the poor to prison.
“The funeral. Oh, well, yes, yes, I did. I wish you could have gone. It would have done you good to see how green a place it is.”
Bob Cratchit- Scrooge learns that Tiny Tim has died in the scene from the future.
“I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard. Is its pattern strange to you? Or would you know, you, Scrooge, the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself?”
Jacob Marley- The audience learns that Jacob was greedy like Scrooge when he was alive. The items weighing him down represent greed.
List the visits from the Future in order. Know the importance of each.
1. Businessmen scene
2. Old Joe's Pawnshop
3. Cratchit's home
4. Graveyard
Break between ACT 1 & 2
Intermission
It’s likely to be a cheap funeral, for upon my life, I don’t know of a living soul who’d care to venture to it.
Businessman- This scene takes place in the future. Nobody wants to attend Scrooge's funeral because he was hateful and greedy to everyone.
He frightened everyone away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead! Hah ha ha!
Old Joe- Thieves have stolen items from Scrooge's home while his deceased body sits in bed. He fully realizes how much people despise him.
Spirit! Hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I would have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope?
Scrooge (Create your own response!)
List two acts of kindness performed by Scrooge at the end of the play.
1. He gives Bob Cratchit a raise.
2. He buys a Christmas meal for the Cratchit family.
Ghost of Christmas Future