It's hard to imagine now, but at the beginning of the 19th century Christmas was hardly celebrated. (BBC) Christmas is a holiday, where families get together and exchange gifts and do family activities it’s a day to forget and forgive. The way Christmas was celebrated back in in Victorian Britain was more boring than how we celebrate today.
The Christmas prior to Queen Victoria was very different compared to the Christmas we have today.It's hard to imagine that Christmas wasn't really even a holiday back then. Kids didn’t have the day off at school, and “Many businesses did not even consider it a holiday” (BBC website). To people in the Victorian Britain era… Christmas was just another day. At this, Christmas almost ceased to exist in the time with disappearing spirit and cheer.
Christmas during Queen Victoria seemed to brighten up she had a lot of impact and inspiration with the fact of Christmas coming back into the trend. Queen Victoria had a huge impact of Christmas coming back, she also started the Christmas Tree trend that we still use today “In 1848 the Illustrated London News published a drawing of the royal family celebrating around a decorated Christmas tree, a tradition that was reminiscent of Prince Albert's childhood in Germany. Soon every home in
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We celebrate Christmas somewhat the same but a lot different then how Queen Victoria did. People now make their own ornaments for the tree and have huge feasts with a large group of family and friends “it’s credited with helping to popularize and spread the traditions of the festival. Its themes of family, charity, goodwill, peace and happiness”. (BBC website). It is a time to forget, forgive, and have fun… It's also a time for giving and helping people be happy and don't forget the cool presents! In Victorian Britain they would make pies such as meat pies, and call it good. Here we make sweet pies that fill our mouths with
Another factor was that Cromwell cancelled Christmas for 18 years so was a real life Scrooge and it was not celebrated again till after Cromwell’s death. Winstanley continued celebrating the holiday and it is probably due to him that Christmas is not just another frosty day.
Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the Industrial Revolution Besides being the secular story of Christmas time in an urban setting, A Christmas Carol, tells the sacred story of Christmas as well. With A Christmas Carol, Dickens initiated an ongoing creative process in the Anglo-American imagination. As a result of the Industrial Revolution and the growth and development of cities people's lives changed drastically as they moved from the life and traditions of the country into those of the city. As industrialization continued, for many people in the city living and working conditions worsened. As reports of horrible working conditions increased so did the literature of social concern for reform..
Nothaft, C. The Origins of the Christmas Date: Some Recent Trends in Historical Research. Church
A Christmas Carol like many of Dickens' novels is set mainly in London sometime in the middle of the 19th century. I think this because that’s where Dickens is from and that is where the problems are occurring for example poverty.
Christmas was originally supposed to be a celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ. Modern historians suggest that Christ was actually born sometime in April, but that is hardly the point; the point is that a day on which to celebrate his birth and life was needed, and so one was chosen. During the season surrounding this holiday -- especially since it coincided with that of other, similar holidays -- it was thought right to honor Jesus by acting as he did, i.e., in a kind, generous, and forgiving manner. Out of this sprung the custom of giving gifts to loved ones on this holiday.
Both taking place in the nineteenth century Christmas and opera were both reinvented and redefined. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, Christmas was not an event in which people would want to take part in. Throughout the first 26 years of the nineteenth-century, people worked on Christmas and stores were open. There were not magazines or newspapers that referred to December twenty-fifth. From the nineteenth century to the twenty-first major changes occurred that made Christmas an event that people waited for its arrival. It was not until 1826 that people recognized Christmas wasn 't being practiced nor was it being discerned by society. Therefore, it would be implemented that stores would be closed and it became a holiday for workers. This first move to make Christmas an event was the turning point which was then followed by the commercialism of selling material goods. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the creation of Scrooge reminded the upper class to give to the lower class. The Author, Charles Dickens gave caution to society and it was the recognized that Christmas was supposed to be about giving to charity and sharing the wealth among classes. In contrast, opera was much the same as its reinvention was not for it to just to be entertaining but to become an art. The transformation from opera being a social event to became a place were classes of different social standings integrated, where it finally proceeded to grew into an art form, where it could be appreciated for its cultural aspects and pure talent. Opera was not appreciated in the early nineteenth century and by the end, it was soon transformed, becoming appreciated as an art form just as how Christmas not recognized nor celebrated but soon became a large part of modern-day
Charles Dickens creates a world in A Christmas Carol where Christmas is simply magical. The scenes that Dickens describes capture the exact spirit of Christmas, making every reader both young and old relate. Dickens portrays a few of the Christmas traditions in A Christmas Carol that were typical during the Victorian Era, but definitely not all. Christmas during this time period was just beginning to become popular and widely celebrated. People were beginning to decorate their homes for the holiday in reverence of Jesus Christ as well as a sign of new life. Friends and family would send and exchange Christmas cards that featured unique artwork and designs. The legend of Santa Claus was just beginning to circulate throughout Europe. The food that was served for Christmas dinner was also a very important aspect of the holiday season.
Christmas is a holiday celebrated by most of the world. Christianity is very popular in the US and Hispanic cultures. In the US, Christmas is celebrated with going to Church on Christmas Eve, spending time with their families, and many other things. People also reenact the nativity scene, sing Christmas carols, and do
Few people can confidently say why the United States celebrates Christmas on December 25. And I imagine even fewer people know why we give gifts, or why we pucker up when we find ourselves under some mistletoe. The answers to these questions are under a thick layer of rich human and mythological history. For me, the majority of these discoveries were absolutely shocking—Christ was never in Christmas.
“The Protestant Reformation condemned most of these pagan customs as superstitious and banned public celebrations of Christmas.” Michelle J. Hoppe. It wasn't until Prince Albert married Queen Victoria and brought many German customs with him that Christmas began to gain popularity again.
Christmas is a special time of year that deserves to be remembered for its true meaning. Every year, Christmas becomes more and more commercialized and society forgets the origin of Christmas. It was not started with cookies, toys, and a fat man that delivers them, but instead it started with a humble inn where our Savior was born. The definition of Christmas is “a holiday on December 25 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.” Nowhere in that definition does it say anything about the outrageous pressure society has set on consumers to buy, buy, buy during the Christmas season. Christmas is about presence not presents.
Many people in American society assume that the main purpose of Christmas is the supposed coming of Santa Claus. Their assumption however is far from the truth. The origins of Christmas, which literally means "Christ mass," actually lie in Christianity-not in the fat man with a stomach that jiggles like a bowl full of jelly. Centuries ago, Christians developed a tradition of celebrating Jesus Christ's birthday. Although Christians were unsure of the exact date of Christ's birth, they officially declared December 25th as the day they would celebrate it. The holiday began simply as a day in which families would spend quality time together, reflecting on Jesus' life, giving thanks to God for sending his "one and only son."
People weren’t as careful as they had been up until a depression occurred after the mid-1870s. To past the time, Norway had many social activities that were participated in: “Croquet was never a popular men’s game, [but] it had both social and economic advantages: men and women would play together, and it required little equipment and no special training” (Victorian 2015). Tennis, bicycling, and storytelling also became very popular socialization methods in Norway at the time. When it came time to celebrate a holiday, like Christmas, it was much more than one day of celebration, but more like a season full: “Christmas in Norway, especially since the advent of
Although it was never celebrated in biblical times, Christmas is celebrated in local churches here in Visalia, California in praise of the fact that God loved us so much; he sent his one and only son to earth. He was wholey god and wholey man. Whereas we have succumbed to the temptations of this earth, Jesus was able to overcome all temptations and live a sinless life. He was then crucified as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. One cannot understand why we celebrate the birth of Christ without seeing the other end of his life. He was crucified for our sins and resurrected.
Countries all have their own distinct holidays, although some can be seen as equivalents, all are still run by ideology. Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are all seen as equivalent holidays even though they are celebrated differently, and celebrate different things. The ideology behind Christmas is that it