Why didnt the laundress undertaker and charwoman feel guilty for stealing scrooges items?

Answer 1

First of all, I can imagine Ebenezer Scrooge was as bad an employer to his servants as he was to Bob Cratchit. Also note that Scrooge paid a charwoman to clean his house, and a laundress to do his washing. A charwoman was a woman who one paid by the cleaning job. She was not a permanent member of Scrooge's staff. A laundress would gather the wash from a number of homes, not just Scrooge's, and do the wash. Most men of Scrooge's wealth and influence would hire personal staff who had been interviewed, referenced, and well-vetted. To employ people by the job instead of hiring personal staff bespoke what a cheapskate Scrooge was---and think what meager wages he offered per job. The saying, "When you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys" comes to mind. The Charwoman and Laundress of the tale were very much the type to supplement their meager incomes through theft. In short, Scrooge hired a couple of thieves simply because they worked for a cheap wage, and he was as bad to them as he was to Bob Cratchit. The Charwoman and Laundress were likely to see the thefts as both a supplement to inadequate wages, and a bit of revenge on an employer who was a jerk. Undertakers in Victorian England, especially those who worked the cheap funerals, were notorious thieves. Robbing the dead was considered a "job perq."

Answer 2

The laundress, undertaker, and charwoman did not feel guilty for stealing Scrooge's items because they saw Scrooge as a heartless and uncaring person who did not deserve their sympathy or respect. They justified their actions by believing that Scrooge had mistreated others and that he would not miss the items they took. Additionally, their own financial hardships may have made them feel entitled to take what they wanted from someone they perceived as wealthy.