Introduction

About the lecture

In this module, we introduce the novel by looking at the first two paragraphs of the story, focusing in particular on: (i) the fun Dickens’ has with his characters’ names – Ebenezer Scrooge, Mrs Fezziwig, Tiny Tim, etc.; (ii) the famous opening line of the novel (“Marley was dead; to begin with”); (iii) the comic bureaucracy of Marley’s funeral (“The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner”); (iv) our first impression of Scrooge as man whose name was “good”; and (v) the narrative persona and the relationship established with the reader. (“Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge…”).

About the lecturer

John McRae is Special Professor of Language in Literature Studies and Teaching Associate in the School of English at Nottingham University, and holds Visiting Professorships in China, Malaysia, Spain and the USA. He is co-author of The Routledge History of Literature in English with Ron Carter, and also wrote The Language of Poetry, Literature with a Small 'l' and the first critical edition of Teleny by Oscar Wilde and others.