'A Christmas Carol': Scrooge as a very Victorian character

Thomas Malthus was an economist who raised concerns about the sustainability of the growing Victorian population. Dickens fundamentally disagreed with the dismissive and callous attitudes of the wealthy towards the poor. Scrooge is an embodiment (and criticism) of the Malthusian ideology that pervaded Victorian society. The Poor Law in 1834 reduced the amount of individual charity the wealthy were willing to contribute. Scrooge exemplifies the quintessential misanthropic Victorian employer in his treatment of Bob Cratchit.