Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

We are all Scrooge

The redemption by Christmas spirit is something that doesn’t read much these days

Marley and Scrooge in Cygnet Theatre's A Christmas Carol
Marley and Scrooge in Cygnet Theatre's A Christmas Carol

As the redemption of Scrooge drew nigh, I realized that there could be a better application of these characters. What if all the characters in A Christmas Carol are aspects of each of us? What I mean is that all of us are all of those characters at one time or another.

Video:

A Christmas Carol

...the ending (2009)

...the ending (2009)

We are all misers like Marley at some point. We are all pure-hearted yet crippled like Tiny Tim. We are all timid victims like Bob Cratchit. We are all bitter and resentful like Mrs. Cratchit. We are all optimistic and generous like Fred, and we all have the potential to be redeemed like Scrooge.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The characters are so one-dimensional that it feels as though they require us to interpret them as different aspects of an individual — perhaps Dickens himself.

In Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky gives each of the brothers and the father elements of himself. To the father he gives his sensuality. To Dimitri he gives his gambling addiction. To Ivan he gives his intellectual doubt of religion. To Alyosha he gives his faith. To Smerdyakov he gives his epilepsy.

Brothers Karamazov is an allegorical account of Dostoevsky’s own internal struggles. I wondered if the same thing might be happening with Dickens in A Christmas Carol.

A Christmas Carol at Cygnet

The better parts of Scrooge, such as Fred and Tiny Tim, become more influential as he confronts the truth of his past, present, and future.

The redemption by Christmas spirit is something that doesn’t read much these days. The Victorians were the culture that established most of our modern-day Christmas, and Dickens played his part. But Christmas spirit has reached its peak and is on its way out, I’m afraid.

However, the dark night of the soul a la Ebenezer Scrooge will never go out of fashion.

A Christmas Carol is playing at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town through December 24.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Time’s up for Doubletime Recording Studio

Owner Jeff Forrest is trading El Cajon for Portugal
Marley and Scrooge in Cygnet Theatre's A Christmas Carol
Marley and Scrooge in Cygnet Theatre's A Christmas Carol

As the redemption of Scrooge drew nigh, I realized that there could be a better application of these characters. What if all the characters in A Christmas Carol are aspects of each of us? What I mean is that all of us are all of those characters at one time or another.

Video:

A Christmas Carol

...the ending (2009)

...the ending (2009)

We are all misers like Marley at some point. We are all pure-hearted yet crippled like Tiny Tim. We are all timid victims like Bob Cratchit. We are all bitter and resentful like Mrs. Cratchit. We are all optimistic and generous like Fred, and we all have the potential to be redeemed like Scrooge.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The characters are so one-dimensional that it feels as though they require us to interpret them as different aspects of an individual — perhaps Dickens himself.

In Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky gives each of the brothers and the father elements of himself. To the father he gives his sensuality. To Dimitri he gives his gambling addiction. To Ivan he gives his intellectual doubt of religion. To Alyosha he gives his faith. To Smerdyakov he gives his epilepsy.

Brothers Karamazov is an allegorical account of Dostoevsky’s own internal struggles. I wondered if the same thing might be happening with Dickens in A Christmas Carol.

A Christmas Carol at Cygnet

The better parts of Scrooge, such as Fred and Tiny Tim, become more influential as he confronts the truth of his past, present, and future.

The redemption by Christmas spirit is something that doesn’t read much these days. The Victorians were the culture that established most of our modern-day Christmas, and Dickens played his part. But Christmas spirit has reached its peak and is on its way out, I’m afraid.

However, the dark night of the soul a la Ebenezer Scrooge will never go out of fashion.

A Christmas Carol is playing at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town through December 24.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will Trump’s Baja resort be built after all?

Long-stalled development sparks art exhibit, gets new life
Next Article

San Diego seawalls depend on Half Moon Bay case

Casa Mira townhomes sued after losing 20 feet of bluffs in storm
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader