Charwoman, Laundress, and Undertaker - Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol Feature - Scrooge (1951)

Previous Image | Next Image | Christmas Carol Home Louise Hampton - Ernest Thesiger - Kathleen Harrison

Charwoman, Laundress, and Undertaker's Man

"Scrooge and the Phantom came into the presence of this
man, just as a woman with a heavy bundle slunk into the
shop. But she had scarcely entered, when another woman,
similarly laden, came in too; and she was closely followed by
a man in faded black, who was no less startled by the sight
of them, than they had been upon the recognition of each
other. After a short period of blank astonishment, in which
the old man with the pipe had joined them, they all three
burst into a laugh.

'Let the charwoman alone to be the first.' cried she who
had entered first. 'Let the laundress alone to be the second;
and let the undertaker's man alone to be the third. Look
here, old Joe, here's a chance. If we haven't all three met
here without meaning it.'"

- A Christmas Carol, Stave 4: The Last of the Spirits

The characters of the laundress (at left) is performed by Louise Hampton
The characters of the undertaker Mr. Stretch (center) is performed by Ernest Thesiger
The characters of the charwoman Mrs. Dilber (at right) is performed by Kathleen Harrison
To be consistent with the novel, Mrs. Dilber should be the laundress rather than the charwoman, and she should not have been the one selling Scrooge's bed curtains
Mrs. Dilber and Mr. Stretch also appear in an earlier scene (not in the book) waiting outside old Marley's sick room for him to die

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