Eliza Farrell

7th ALA 1st hour

December 13, 2015
A Christmas Carol Compare and Contrast Essay
Everyone has done right things and wrong things in life. A perfect example of this is
Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens a Christmas Carol. In the book, Scrooge is haunted by
three spirits: the ghost of Christmas past, the ghost of Christmas present, and the ghost of the
future. This page turner has movies and plays based on the original staves. Although the true
meaning of the play is the same, there are also some things the director could have done
differently to make the play more like the book.
The first thing that is similar and different to the book is the dialogue. Upon reading the
book, the language made Scrooge a dark personae. It was hard for readers to be sympathetic to
this character. For example, on pages 7 & 8, Dickens writes, ...If I could work my will, said
Scrooge indignantly, every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips, should be
boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!
This quote expresses the depth of Scrooges negative thoughts about Christmas. Contrarily, the
director of the play developed the main character as a man whose focus on work and loss of love
resulted in a hardened, lonely figure. The fact that the audience can see the emotion on the
actors face and in his body language is an advantage that the director used to the plays benefit.
On the other hand, Tiny Tim was portrayed in the play the way a reader of the book would
imagine. This characters dialogue was consistent in both the book and the play...innocent and
positive. On page 45, Dickens penned, God bless us every one! said Tiny Tim, the last of all.

In both forms of this story, Tiny Tim exudes joy in spite of his weakened body. His Christmas
spirit works to lighten his familys despair as well as place a chink in the Scrooges armor.
The next aspect that the director could change from the original story is his choice of
scenes. In comparing the play with the book, the audience notices that the director of
Meadowbrooks production remained true to the original manuscript. In contrast, a director
could eliminate the opening scene because it does not add substance to any of the characters. A
stronger beginning would be to focus on the second scene which illustrates Scrooges true
character. A scene which the plays director changed liberally was the introduction of the ghost
of the future. The production at Oakland University included several people in the background
holding umbrellas. While this choreography filled the stage, the visual effect distracted the
audience from the third ghostly figure. The book provides a more powerful vision on page 56,
...and lifting his eyes, beheld a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, coming, like a mist along
the ground, towards him.
Special effects is the third aspect which can be compared and contrasted between the
book and the play. After reading Dickens A Christmas Carol, the reader expects Scrooge to fly
places and across time with the ghost of Christmas past. Even though the technology to portray
flight exists, the plays director decided to simplify this transition. Specifically, Scrooge and the
ghost walked to different locations on the stage for the observed scenes to play out. Another
contrast is Bob Marleys ghostly disappearance. Dickens shows Scrooges former business
partner evaporating out of the second floor window into a dark nights sky where The air was
filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went.
(p 20). The director, in contrast, used a very direct approach in the play. Specifically, an
explosion effectively startled the audience so that they felt some of Scrooges fear. A special

effect that the plays director adapted from the book was the use of fog. This was important in
creating a dark mood for the ghost of the future. In both formats, this phantom appears to form
out of the mist as well as flow effortlessly with this fog.
While the director kept the underlying meaning of the play true to Dickens story, he used
his creative license in Meadowbrook Theaters production. Dialogue, scene selection, and
special effects were intrical ways that directors can vary adaptations to personalize this classic
story. Everyone has their favorite version of this timeless tale. While the stage use or lighting
techniques may differ, the morals of the story that money is not everything and it is never too late
to correct past mistakes stay the same. The next time you make a poor choice that you regret,
think about Ebenezer Scrooge and the obstacles he overcame to change his future.