The language used in the novella can be some form of evidence that the book was not initially written for the younger age group. Dickens used a high standard of vocabulary, which shows it was for the minority, educated population of England. In the novella he describes the scenes and characters in a very wordy way, for example how his long description of Jacob Marley “scrooge and him were partners for I don’t know many years. Scrooge was his sole-executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee…”this continues for another page starting from the opening paragraph to only clarify to the reader that Marley was dead. Also his vocabulary also shows the initial audience targeted. “The clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded: becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety he poked the fire and extinguished the last frail spark for ever.” Again, being very wordy to describe the clerk only blowing the fire.
The characters in the novella are mostly appealed to the older age group and not for children. For example, the character of Scrooge is a character that a lot of wealthy people can relate to in the sense of which they can be uncharitable and selfish like he was. Bob Crachit has a sympathetic character, a bit too pitiful for children. Characters like the ghost of Christmas yet to come and the ghost of Jacob Marley are also for a much mature audience and what makes the novella most suitable for adult readers is how he Dickens combines the two themes, life and death together in order to bring the add a gothic twist to the story. But on the other hand, characters like the ghosts of Christmas past and present and tiny Tim are characters which a younger audience may have interest in. in the story there is also themes such as misery and happiness & rich and poor, so by judging the story on its themes and characters, there is definitely something for most age groups and audiences present. But overall when it comes to the characters in the story, it would have been for the older audience, mainly because, many of the characters aren’t suitable for children, fortunatley the media and industry have transformed the original characters into the more child friendly characters which can be seen in the modern films of a Christmas carol.
The gothic genre of stories was favored in the Victorian era so Dickens tried to add some of his gothic conventions to his novella. At the time, children and adults loved the gothic genre so the novella was then most likely to be suitable for all ages. Dickens places in a Christmas carol some of the basic conventions of a gothic story such as the several ghosts and the mystery and suspense in the atmosphere with the ghost of Christmas future. He also sets the first chapter of Marley’s ghost in his old, dark and gloomy home, the atmosphere becomes mysterious at the time with the constant sound heard and supernatural event, like When Marley appears in his room. There are also many more of these gothic conventions used like the mysterious weather, the rain makes creates a more gothic atmosphere, also with the ghost of Christmas future and a very important convention used in many gothic movies and books, justice-it is present in the novella, like how Scrooge’s actions means that if any positive change is not present in him he could suffer from a hellish afterlife and how tiny Tim would die without his help. And I think that the final convention of the gothic which is present in the story is the idea of Scrooge’ heroine in distress, this creates even more tension into the story.
In the novella, many different themes are used , for example, coldness and darkness in the first chapter, then once the ghost of Christmas past arrives and takes scrooge to places like Fizziwigg’s home, a theme of happiness is placed to calm the audience and allow their minds to escape from total darkness and to lighten up the story, this method is also commonly used in many gothic stories, basically something scary happens and the audience experience a very intense atmosphere, this intensity is then relieved from the audience by the next scene being a bit brighter or happier. After the Fizziwigg party, the atmosphere becomes saddened and brings the audience back the gloom of the story. And after that the main themes involved in the upcoming chapters happiness with the kind hearted ghost of Christmas present, misery and happiness with Scrooge’s life before and after him changing into a business obsessed old man, life and death with Tiny Tim, darkness with the ghost of Christmas future and not to mention redemption with involving Scrooge and the Ghosts, and finishes the story off with a happy ending with the much kinder Ebenezer Scrooge. The happy theme at the end of the novella also makes the story more suitable for children as most children stories include happy endings.
A Christmas Carol has changed its audience since the story was published, it was initially written for the rich, and to be specific adults, but over time it has been slowly transformed into something many children will be interested in watching, a family classic which is usually enjoyed many Christmas’. During this time, the characters have been changed to suit the audience and to allow them to appeal to a children as well as adults, for example, the ghosts have become less gothic, like the ghost of Christmas future and other characters in comparison to the first book or film.
My opinion about the audience for a Christmas carol is that it was initially targeted at families; I think this mainly because children would love to have a gothic twist to their Christmas classic and not completely a children’s movie so the adults can enjoy it too.
To conclude to my essay I personally think that the book was initially written to be suitable for all ages, it is more of a family story, especially considering at the time that all age groups loved gothic stories, both children and adults, making it enjoyable for them both. But at the same time some scenes of the novella may be unsuitable for younger children, especially the scene involving the ghost of Christmas past.
Choose either one of the last two.
