Original artwork, not a still
A Christmas Carol ‧ 1843
Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
These questions are the sound of Scrooge's heart at its coldest: poverty treated as a department someone else already runs. Dickens aimed them at the Poor Law debates of his day, and the Spirit's echo of them is the story's sharpest moment. They are quoted whenever a society offers institutions instead of help.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for A Christmas CarolShow the scene
On Christmas Eve in Stave One, two gentlemen call at Scrooge and Marley's counting-house collecting for the poor. When they say that many thousands are in want of common necessaries, Scrooge asks whether there are no prisons, then whether the Union workhouses are still in operation. They say both are very busy. He declares that those who are badly off must go there, and that if they would rather die they had better do it and decrease the surplus population. In Stave Three the Ghost of Christmas Present turns his words back on him.
Sources (1)
- A Christmas Carol (Project Gutenberg text)Stave I, the charity collectors; Stave III, the Spirit's replyReference checked
Context reviewed
