A Christmas Carol - Wikipedia. A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost- Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1. John Leech. A Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man. Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol at a time when the British were examining and exploring Christmas traditions from the past, such as carols, as well as new customs such as Christmas trees. He was influenced by experiences from his own past, and from the Christmas stories of other authors, including Washington Irving and Douglas Jerrold. Dickens had written three Christmas stories prior to the novella, and was inspired to write the story following a visit to the Field Lane Ragged school, one of several establishments for London's half- starved, illiterate street children.

The treatment of the poor and the ability of a self- interested man redeeming himself by transforming into a more sympathetic character are the key themes of the story. There is discussion among academics as to whether this was a fully secular story, or if it is a Christian allegory.

Published on 1. 9 December, the first edition sold out by Christmas Eve; by the end of 1. Most critics reviewed the novella positively.

The story was illicitly copied in January 1. Dickens took action against the publishers, who went bankrupt, reducing further Dickens's small profits from the publication. He went on to write four other Christmas stories in subsequent years. In 1. 84. 9 he began public readings of the story which proved so successful he undertook 1. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print and has been translated into several languages; the story has been adapted many times for film, stage, opera and other media. With A Christmas Carol, Dickens captured the zeitgeist of the mid- Victorian revival of the Christmas holiday.

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He has been acknowledged as an influence on the modern Western observance of Christmas and inspired several aspects of Christmas, such as family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games and a festive generosity of spirit. Marley's Ghost", original illustration by John Leech from A Christmas Carol. Dickens divided the book into five chapters, which he labelled "staves".

Stave one[edit]The story begins on a cold and bleak Christmas Eve in London, seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge, an old miser, hates Christmas and refuses an invitation to Christmas dinner from his nephew Fred. He turns away two men who seek a donation from him in order to provide food and heating for the poor, and only grudgingly allows his overworked, underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit, Christmas Day off with pay to conform to the social custom. At home that night, Scrooge is visited by Marley's ghost, who wanders the Earth, entwined by heavy chains and money boxes, forged during a lifetime of greed and selfishness. Marley tells Scrooge that he has one chance to avoid the same fate: he will be visited by three spirits and he must listen to them or be cursed to carry chains of his own, much longer than Marley's chains.

Stave two[edit]The first of the spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to Christmas scenes of Scrooge's boyhood and youth, reminding him of a time when he was more innocent. The boyhood scenes portray Scrooge's lonely childhood, his relationship with his beloved sister Fan, and a Christmas party hosted by his first employer, Mr. Fezziwig, who treated Scrooge like a son. They also portray Scrooge's neglected fiancée Belle, who ends their relationship after she realises that Scrooge will never love her as much as he loves money.

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Finally, they visit a now- married Belle with her large, happy family on a recent Christmas Eve. Stave three[edit]The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to a joy- filled market of people buying the makings of Christmas dinner and celebrations of Christmas in a miner's cottage and in a lighthouse. Scrooge and the ghost also visit Fred's Christmas party. A major part of this stave is taken up with Bob Cratchit's family feast and introduces his youngest son, Tiny Tim, a happy boy who is seriously ill. The spirit informs Scrooge that Tiny Tim will die soon unless the course of events changes. Before disappearing, the spirit shows Scrooge two hideous, emaciated children named Ignorance and Want. He tells Scrooge to beware the former above all and mocks Scrooge's concern for their welfare.

Stave four[edit]. Scrooge and Bob Cratchit celebrate Christmas in an illustration from Stave Five of the original edition, 1. The third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, shows Scrooge a Christmas Day in the future. The ghost shows him scenes involving the death of a disliked man. The man's funeral will only be attended by local businessmen if lunch is provided. His charwoman, his laundress, and the local undertaker steal some of his possessions and sell them to a fence. When Scrooge asks the ghost to show anyone who feels any emotion over the man's death, the ghost can only show him the pleasure of a poor couple in debt to the man, rejoicing that his death gives them more time to put their finances in order.

After Scrooge asks to see some tenderness connected with any death, the ghost shows him Bob Cratchit and his family mourning the passing of Tiny Tim. The ghost then shows Scrooge the man's neglected grave, whose tombstone bears Scrooge's name. Sobbing, Scrooge pledges to the ghost that he will change his ways to avoid this outcome. Stave five[edit]Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning a changed man.

He spends the day with Fred's family and anonymously sends a large turkey to the Cratchit home for Christmas dinner. The following day he gives Cratchit an increase in pay and becomes like another father to Tiny Tim.

Cast and crew information, user reviews, and synopsis. A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by.

From then on Scrooge began to treat everyone with kindness, generosity and compassion, embodying the spirit of Christmas. Background[edit]. Dickens at the blacking warehouse, as envisioned by Fred Barnard. The writer Charles Dickens was born to a respectable family which got into financial difficulties as a result of the spendthrift nature of John, Dickens's father. In 1. 82. 4 John was committed to Marshalsea, a debtors' prison in Southwark, London.

Dickens, aged 1. 2, was forced to pawn his collection of books, leave school and go to work at a shoe- blacking factory, a dirty and rat- infested place. The change in Dickens's circumstances gave him what his biographer, Michael Slater, described as a "deep personal and social outrage", which heavily influenced his works. At the end of December 1. Dickens began publishing his novel Martin Chuzzlewit as a monthly serial; [n 1] although the novel was his favourite work, sales had been disappointing and he faced financial difficulties. By this time he was a well- established author, having written six major works,[n 2] as well as several short stories, novellas and other works. Celebrating the Christmas season had been growing in popularity through the Victorian era.

Although the Christmas tree had been introduced in Britain during the 1. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and their practice was copied in many homes across the country.[5] In the early 1. Christmas carols, following a decline in popularity over the previous hundred years.

The publication of Davies Gilbert's 1. Some Ancient Christmas Carols, With the Tunes to Which They Were Formerly Sung in the West of England and William Sandys's 1. Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern led to a growth in the form's popularity in Britain. Dickens had an interest in Christmas, and his first story on the subject was "Christmas Festivities", published in Bell's Weekly Messenger in 1. A Christmas Dinner" in Sketches by Boz (1.