A Christmas Carol is a popular novella created by the great English author Charles Dickens. It was first published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. The story narrates the transformation of a wealthy businessman, Ebenezer Scrooge, from a miser old sinner to a magnanimous tender hearted gentleman, influenced by the visits of the ghosts of Jacob Marley, Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. The tale has been viewed as the criticism of the 19th-century industrial capitalism and is also said to have played an important role in restoring the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America following a period of temperance. A Christmas Carol has hardly lost its popularity since its appearance and has been adapted into films, operas and other media. To learn the plot summary of the great novella, go through the following lines.
Synopsis
Written by the famous novelist, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol is yet another famous classic book for children. The story begins on a Christmas Eve, seven years after the death of Jacob Marley, the business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is a greedy person who has no place for kindness, charity and compassion in his life. Marley's ghost warns Scrooge to change his attitude, but in vain. Scrooge is next visited by three other spirits, each taking him through scenes of his life, with the hope of transforming him.
The Plot
The tale narrates the story of a Christmas Eve in 1843 and Ebenezer Scrooge, described as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!", who abhors Christmas and uses the famous "Bah, humbug!" phrase to describe the festivities. He finds Christmas to be "a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December." When he gets back home one evening, Scrooge is visited by Marley's, his deceased business partner's, ghost. Marley pleads Scrooge to change his ways or else he would have to go through the same miserable afterlife as himself. Then, one by one, Scrooge is visited by three more ghosts.
The Christmas Ghosts
The first of the spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to Christmas scenes of his boyhood and youth, that arouses the old miser's noble and tender side as it reminds him of the time of his adolescent innocence. The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to witness a number of sites-a cheerful market where people are seen making purchases for Christmas dinner, the celebration of Christmas in a miner's cottage, and also to a lighthouse. The third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to come, frightens Scrooge with dreadful visions of the future, if he fails to change. Scrooge's own neglected and untended grave is revealed, and the miser vows to change.
Finally, Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning with great delight and a tender heart, and spends the day with his nephew's family. This story takes us through how Mr. Scrooge undergoes a consummate transformation overnight to become kind, generous and compassionate, representing the spirit of Christmas.
A Christmas Carol is one of the finest stories depicting the spirit of a Christmas celebration. Go through the following lines and understand the plot of this Charles Dickens masterpiece.