Did Scrooge fall from grace?

[jimbur]

I was listening to Radio National (I think) the other day and the speaker was expressing surprise that Scrooge is only really remembered for his meanness and not for his subsequent transformation to all round do-gooder.
I prefer the old Scrooge and find his born-again persona somewhat sickening.
I can't be the only one, can I?
Cheers and bah humbug,
Jim

[Woodwould]

Caritas et veritas!

[Christopha]

Caritas et veritas!

Dunno wot he sed but I reckun.... BAH HUMBUG! Scrooge the former RULES!!!

[Sebastiaan56]

You find the transcript here Philosophers Zone - 18 December 2010 - Bah humbug - Why Ebenezer Scrooge is actually a man of principle

I also detest moralising and Dickens was very full on. Seems to me that the battle for defining the "good" man was just as hard fought in the 19thC as it is now. Scrooge behaves like a good MBA graduate or Treasurer like Peter Costello. The revised Scrooge a bit more like Tim Costello. I know who I would rather have a beer with.

[artme]

Dickens may well have been a moraliser but he was also and advocate of social reform, and I gues that is the source of his moralising. He was a champion of education. He wanted all to be educated and he wanted the existing "system" and its curriculum changed so it was more relevant.

Some people, self include, find Dickens a bit tedious to read but much of his work was written in serial form form for newspapers and so he had ample room for expansion and description.

I digress. I happen to have an admiration for the original Scrooge and his villains always had something endearing in their character.

[Sir Stinkalot]

I thought we were talking about Scrooge McDuck!

[jimbur]

Overblown sentimentality seemed to be exceedingly popular at the time. I gather his public readings would have grown men in tears at the descriptions of deathbed scenes of characters like Smike. Doubtless they often went back to running their sweatshops without making a connection.
Cheers,
Jim

[artme]

Overblown sentimentality seemed to be exceedingly popular at the time. I gather his public readings would have grown men in tears at the descriptions of deathbed scenes of characters like Smike. Doubtless they often went back to running their sweatshops without making a connection.
Cheers,
Jim

Yes, Britain at the height of empire. It was good to be British ans British was best! A false image was easy to project.

[jimbur]

Yes, Britain at the height of empire. It was good to be British ans British was best! A false image was easy to project.

And they all went to church on Sunday so he was on side too.
Jim