The Impact of Emotions in 'A Christmas Carol' Anonymous 12th Grade

“I wear the chain I forged in life… I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will, I wear it.” Jacob Marley’s words allude to the harrowing impact that emotions such as remorse have on the human psyche, as he is forever bound to the Earth by the chain formed from his own avarice. Charles Dickens’ novella ‘A Christmas Carol’, silhouetted against the backdrop of Victorian England, a time period rife with greed and inequality amongst the differing social classes, not only explores the impact of remorse, but also a plethora of other emotions. As the intricacies of the plot unfold, the essential tensions of the text are unveiled through the emotional entanglement of grief and loneliness. In spite of its emotional intensity, however, ‘A Christmas Carol’ is, at its core, an allegory for how joy is the emotion which supersedes all others.

The novella echoes the impact that grief has on catalysing the amelioration of human morality. Dickens utilises the interactions between Ebenezer Scrooge and Belle as the vehicle through which he expresses such a belief in tandem with exploring the ramifications of leading a miserly life. Indeed, the breakdown of Belle and Scrooge’s...