'A Christmas Carol' and the masque

Studies in Short Fiction, Wntr, 1993 by R.D. Butterworth

In his Preface to the First Cheap Edition of A Christmas Carol, Dickens wrote of his intention in writing his Christmas books of awakening some "loving and forbearing thoughts" by means of "a whimsical kind of masque" (xiv).(1) Commentators have not made much of this comment, perhaps on the assumption that Dickens's familiarity with masques could not but be slight. This, however, is an unwarranted assumption. Examination of the contents of Dickens's library, as listed in the inventory of his belongings made when the family went to Italy in 1844 (Letters 4: 711-25) reveals that it was at least possible for the writer to have been thoroughly acquainted with the masque form. He could, for instance, have found full accounts of the court masque and its development in Collier's "Annals of the Stage," which assiduously follows the form through, starting from a contemporary description of the first masque presented in England, in which Henry VIII and eleven others dressed "in garmentes long and brode, wrought all with golde, with visers and cappes of gold . . . came in with the sixe gentlemen disguised in silke, beryng staffe torches, and desired the ladies to daunce" (Collier 1: 63).(2) With Collier cataloguing and providing the background for them, Dickens could study Ben Jonson's masques for himself, the whole 31 having been printed in the 1838 Barry Cornwall edition of Jonson's works that he possessed (listed in Tillotson 717). Clarification of the nature of the masque form was further available to him in, for example, an analytical essay, "Masques," written to rectify "false opinions" and "perfect ignorance of the nature of these compositions," in Isaac D'Israeli's "Curiosities of Literature," also in Dickens's library (D'Israeli 3: 4; listed in Tillotson 719).

Though the possession of such books proves merely that Dickens had access to detailed information about the masque form, he had, furthermore, witnessed actual performances of at least some versions of masque. During his 1842 visit to America, for instance, a performance was mounted of a masque specially written in his honor, "Boz! A Masque Phrenological," the characters in which included Boz himself, some characters from his novels, and figures such as Identity, Mirth and Wonder (House 3: 19-20). He had also twice seen presentations of "Comus" in 1843,(3) even appending a brief critical comment about the first to a lengthy review for The Examiner of the production of "Much Ado About Nothing" that accompanied it.(4)

Dickens, then, certainly had some acquaintance with, and was in a position to know a great deal about the masque; and to examine A Christmas Carol is to see that Dickens is making no idle comment in linking the work to the masque tradition. It is necessary, for instance, to look no further than the description of the Spirit of Christmas Past in Scrooge's chambers to detect the relationship:

It was his own room. There was no doubt about that. But it had undergone a surprising transformation. The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked a perfect grove; from every part of which, bright gleaming berries glistened. The crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there; and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney, as that dull petrification of a hearth had never known in Scrooge's time, or Marley's, or for many and many a winter season gone. Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam. In easy state upon this couch, there sat a jolly Giant, glorious to see; who bore a glowing torch, in shape not unlike Plenty's horn, and held it up, high up, to shed its light on Scrooge, as he came peeping round the door.

'Come in!' exclaimed the Ghost. 'Come in! and know me better, man! . . . I am the Ghost of Christmas Present,' said the Spirit. 'Look upon me!'

Scrooge reverently did so. It was clothed in one simple green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air. Girded round its middle was an antique scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust. (39-40)

This is a scene with all the spectacle of masque: it has the characteristic elaboration of "set" and costume. The spirit, furthermore, is one of masque: the reader needs no prompting to look for symbolism in the scabbard with its sheath eaten up with rust or the Spirit's free-flowing hair than would the spectators of a masque. In the manner of masque, the scene draws for its symbolism on both the classical tradition (the "glowing torch in shape not unlike Plenty's horn") and on traditional imagery taken from nature ("the crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy"; the greenness of the Spirit's robe and the holly wreath it wears). Every detail at once adds to the splendor of the scene in being ornamental and is symbolic. The action of the scene, such as it is, consists of symbolic movement (the Spirit lifting up the torch "to shed its light on Scrooge") and declamatory speeches. There is, furthermore, a heightened quality to the dialogue of the scene, including even Scrooge's dialogue. At the beginning of the book, Scrooge's speech is characterized by features reflecting both normal conversational patterns and his own individual speech habits: his dialogue is full of contractions, interjections, vigorous exclamations, the aggressive use of questions, and a general informality: 'Don't be cross, uncle!' said the nephew.