Author Charles Dickens
First published 1843
Publisher Chapman and Hall, London, UK
A classic Christmas ghost story.
Story
The miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his business partner Jacob Marley who is followed by ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Forced to face his past, present and future Scrooge is given the chance to change.
Why we chose it
An iconic Christmas ghost story that has become a Christmas classic.
Where it came from
In 1843 Dickens visited Manchester to speak at an organisation formed to support the working poor. What he saw in Manchester confirmed his belief that the two problems of Want and Ignorance must be addressed. The ghosts embody all the hard hearted, cruel convictions that Dickens sought to change. Six weeks after his visit to Manchester he finished A Christmas Carol. We might think of it now simply as a chilling but sentimental ghost story but at the time it was a radical treatise on the treatment of the poor.
Where it went next
Since its publication over 175 years ago, A Christmas Carol has been adapted many times and in many different ways for stage and screen. Phrases such as “scrooge,” and “bah humbug,” have entered common use.
Associated stories
Dickins wrote other Christmas stories including The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain.
Author Charles Dickens
First published 1843
Publisher Chapman and Hall, London, UK