How did Charles Dickens ‘reinvent’ Christmas as it’s known today?

Christmas has been celebrated for a long time but it was not until the mid-19th century that Christmas celebrations became as delightful and vibrant as it is seen today. All thanks to Charles Dickens’s classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ written in 1843, according to media reports. In the book, Dickens presented Christmas as a time of festivity when people open up their hearts to their fellow humans becoming more forgiving, charitable and kind, the reports said.

Such a pleasant description of Christmas indeed helped to change the perception of people and warmed them up to Christmas celebration. Christmas was becoming unpopular in the 19th century as it used to be noisy and riotous, marked with binge drinking, hedonism and gluttony following the medieval Christmas traditions of Romans. Those celebrating would even go to houses and threaten people with violence for getting food and drink.


People had started disliking medieval Christmas practices based on Roman tradition and puritans were even looking to purify the Church of England by removing superstitions and pagan celebrations of the Romans.

Historically, Romans are considered to have invented and celebrated Christmas first, ever since 336 A.D. from the era of Roman Emperor Constantine.

FAQs:

1. Was Dickens economically affluent when he wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’?
   The idea of ‘A Christmas Carol’ germinated when Dickens was in desperate need of money and his wife was expecting their fifth child. The idea took shape further in his trip to Manchester in 1843 and brought him closer to one
2. What is the legend of Santa Claus?
   The Dutch families carried the legacy of Turkey’s Saint Nicholas with them in the 17th century to American colonies. The Dutch called him Sinterclass, who soon became an integral part of Christmas celebrations in America. The themes of the Christmas Carol, education as a remedy for crime and poverty.