A Christmas Carol is a novella by Charles Dickens published on 19 December 1843. The miser Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his partner Jacob Marley and then by three spirits, who show him Christmases past, present and yet to come. The book helped shape the modern idea of Christmas.
The story
Scrooge, a cold-hearted moneylender, refuses all charity. Marley's ghost, weighed down by chains, warns him of what awaits him.
The spirits show him his lonely childhood, the poor but loving family of his clerk Bob Cratchit, and a vision of his own unmourned death. He wakes up a changed man.
A book for the poor
Dickens wrote the story after seeing the conditions of poor children in London and in the industrial towns. He wanted to move his readers to generosity.
Tiny Tim, the Cratchits' sick little son, embodies this appeal to compassion and to social conscience.
Five staves
The book is divided into five staves, like the verses of a song, in keeping with its title.
It has been adapted countless times for the stage, for film, for television and for animation.
Anecdotes
Written in six weeks
Dickens wrote the book in about six weeks in the autumn of 1843. The first edition sold out in a few days.
Public readings
Dickens often read the story aloud in public, performing all the voices. These readings were hugely popular in Britain and America.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Scrooge?
A miser who learns generosity on Christmas Eve.
How many spirits visit him after Marley?
Three.
When was the book published?
On 19 December 1843.