MovieChat Forums > Scrooge (1971) Discussion > Was Ebenezer a natural-born bachelor?

Was Ebenezer a natural-born bachelor?

posted 8 years ago by jeffyoung1
10 replies | jump to latest

I've seen the versions of SCROOGE (A Christmas Carol) enough to have had this flash of recognition.

It is possible that Ebenezer Scrooge did his fiancé and himself a favor by allowing the woman to break off the engagement. It is possible that their marriage would have been unhappy. Ebenezer seemed have found contentment as a bachelor.

There are people in this world who, while having the natural interest in the opposite sex, aren't the marrying type and they either consciously or not acknowledge this so they opt to stay single. These people are being honest with themselves and to those people who are interested in marrying them.

It's easier for a man to remain a bachelor for while the pressure to marry is heavy, it's almost impossible to resist for a woman. Many societies around the world do not tolerate bachelorhood or spinsterhood. Every young man and young woman is compelled to marry, whether they want to or not. In some countries the concept of remaining single is not even acknowledged and considered unnatural. A young woman who wanted to remain single and independent was often suspected of evil intentions. A man who wanted to remain a bachelor was often gossiped behind his back as being either, 'queer' (traditional synonym for, highly odd), or something was biologically wrong with him. One way for a young man to resist social pressure to marry was to raise himself socially by occupation and wealth. For some men, being an adventurer was one way. For many men, a military career was the way to go, because a military life encouraged and nurtured bachelorhood.

[–] boll-weavil 8 years ago

I think the sole point of Dickens splitting up the young Scrooge and his fiancee was to show the gradual enslavement of Scrooge to his business and the acquisition of money. Yes it's true to say it would have been an unhappy marriage if it had gone on but not because he was a natural bachelor but because the aspirations he had originally had and which gradually disappeared were the qualities she admired in him.He had changed and this split was just another tragic device of the author to show what he had lost.

[–] jeffyoung1 8 years ago

I acknowledge that is the story, but I still believe there was an unspoken or unwritten theme of bachelorhood under the storyline.

Ebenezer Scrooge had long evinced traits of permanent bachelorhood before he met his fiancé. He learned to be on his own, support himself, and be content in finding his own happiness.

[–] boll-weavil 8 years ago

I can see what you're saying but if you look at the theme of the storyline, being a bachelor is not a positive image. We are shown that Scrooge is only a bachelor because he's messed up his relationship and prior to that his enslavement to greed takes him into isolation.Dickens himself had to live alone, existing on bread and cheese whilst his family were in a debtor's prison and from there comes the solitude he portrayed in Scrooge's life. This was not a choice, it was necessity and not a life but an existence,the inevitable consequences of where his actions lead and shown by Dickens as a salutory lesson against his behaviour. This is not a positive portrayal of being single and throughout the book the principal characters like Bob Cratchit and Mr Fred are not only married but happily married and used to contrast with the loneliness of Scrooge's career path and life.Marley dies alone and Scrooge faces the same end.He lives alone in a gloomy suite of rooms and if he seems content it is because his life has narrowed down to that because of his obsession with money not through choice and it is, to quote 'a dismal end' that he faces. Nowhere are the virtues of a solitary existences put forward as a positive model and Scrooge is certainly not happy.It's not a book about bachelorhood anymore than Titanic is a lesson about what happens if you can't swim.In this instance, the single life is a threat.It's what happens when you don't interact with your fellow man.Whether that is a correct interpretation is down to you but this this is not a book to read to see the bachelor lifestyle at its best !

[–] bpollen 8 years ago

You're placing too much emphasis on marriage.

The book shows young Ebenezer gradually isolating himself from society and becoming engrossed in the collection of money for money's sake. It shows him turning away from love of a woman (whether married or not), turning away from having a family, turning away from his nephew, and turning away from friendship. He forsakes all others for the sake of the coin.

The book/movie doesn't imply he has to be married to be happy. At the end of the book, he has decided to turn his life around and be a happy person, connected with other humans. Yet he STILL is not married and is very happy. So the book doesn't place a big emphasis on that aspect at all.

In Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, an animated version, Scrooge exhibits the theme perfectly when he sings a song while counting his gold coins. The song is "Ringle Ringle...Coins when they mingle!" Here it is on Youtube: https://youtu.be/8OBDf_h5VkM

[–] jeffyoung1 8 years ago

Thank you. That's what I've been meaning to say. A bachelor can be a nice guy and be happy living by himself and he's not gay nor a eunuch.

Scrooge has gained wisdom by movie's end. He knows that marriage is something that is no longer possible for him but the happiness of being with friends and family count for much, much more.

[–] boll-weavil 8 years ago

I think his state by the end is that he has a family even if he has missed the chance to be married which is shown earlier as the idealised state for someone who has their work-life balance correctly proportioned.This is because Dickens was trying to show that life shouldn't be all about the pointless accumulation of wealth without someone to share it with or something to do with it.The only reference to being single is when Mr Topper is shown at Fred's party as desperately pursuing a woman he fancies and that's slightly taking the mickey of the poor guy for not landing the woman that he wants. This is not to say that people shouldn't be single or can't be single without being gay or won't have a great life if they are single but this is definitely not in Dickens mind during this particular book.

[–] bpollen 8 years ago

Yes, I agree. It's quite natural that a book would reflect the normal progression of young men at the time, and that Scrooge wasn't following it. The norm was that a young man would get an education or learn a trade, marry, have a family, make a few friends, stay in contact with his siblings or parents, have friendships or other associations with his coworkers.

It's just a fact that most people got married at that time, and wanted to, or were seen as not following the norm. Most people still get married. So books frequently reference young people seeking a mate for marriage. That doesn't mean the author thinks that's necessary or recommended. It's just a reflection of reality. People often nowadays get divorced, too, and books reflect that, but don't necessarily intend that to mean it's recommended.

[–] boll-weavil 8 years ago

Yes, you're absolutely right. Marriage and family present the way in which the values of society are passed onto the next generation and as far as Victorian England is concerned, people learn their place.It is therefore the ultimate aim of the individual to be encouraged to perpetuate the existing order.

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 8 years ago

I agree with what you say in that staying a bachelor is a perfectly normal way to live your entire life, and doesn't speak to any "other truths" about a man (that you are gay, antisocial, hate kids, etc), even if it so happens that many men who didn't or don't marry were, by coincidence, gay, antisocial, hate kids...

I also agree with posts that state how arrange was the norm back then, HOWEVER, I don't necessarily agree that Dickens' greater point about Scrooge's bachelorhood was that he was out of step with the norm. I believe it was shown that he had a wonderful woman in love with him, whom he loved in return, but that his "main squeeze" became money, not his girl, which is something she came to know, and, thus, she left him. And there was no reason to ever try to get another potential wife, since he already had his true love, money.

I think it's shown in the Ghost parts of the story that he comes to realize his error, and he does regret not seeing it earlier, thus saving his union with her (I'm blanking on her name, sorry). So I think he'd have loved, in hindsight to be married.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (2360) 3 years ago

I've seen people say the same thing on boards here for other versions of the story. People shouldn't marry unless they are sure they can be a good spouse and parent. Scrooge's mother died and his father was mean to him. Some people might make up for this by being extra nice to children but some wouldn't. He was better off being a second father to Tiny Tim and great-uncle to any children his nephew Fred (Harry in this version) may have had.