In our "Dickens at Christmas" video, Professor Jon Mee discuss the link between Dickens and Christmas and says:

Did Dickens invent Christmas? Well all I can really say to that is Bah! Humbug! He invented that phrase that everyone knows and everybody knows it is associated with Ebenezer Scrooge, a character that people know even if have never read a word of Dickens. Did he invent turkey, stuffing, mistletoe, holly, red berries, all the things that the ghost of Christmas present brings into A Christmas Carol? No, he didn’t invent those, they were already a part of Christmas festivities. What perhaps he did invent was the idea of Christmas as a special point of light in a dark, violent, often unpredictable world of getting and spending.

Professor Jon Mee

Do you think the link between Dickens and Christmas damages or enhances the reputation of Charles Dickens? And what are your experiences of Dickens at Christmas?