A Christmas Carol is a short novel composed by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. One Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miserable person visited by the ghost of former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirit of Christmas, Present and Future. After their visit, Scrooge was transformed into a kinder, gentler man.
Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol around a time the British were discovering and re-evaluating past Christmas traditions, including carols and newer customs like the Christmas tree. He was influenced by his own youthful experiences and by Christmas stories by other authors including Washington Irving and Douglas Jerrold. Dickens wrote three Christmas stories before the novel, and was inspired after a visit to Ragled Field Lane School, one of London’s many street children’s facilities. The treatment of the poor and the ability of a selfish man to atone by transforming into a more sympathetic character are the main themes of the story. There are discussions among scholars about whether this is a purely secular story, or if it is a Christian parable.
A Christmas Carol
Published on December 19, the first edition sold out on Christmas Eve; By the end of 1844, thirteen editions had been released. Most critics rated the novel favorably. The story was illegally copied in January 1844; Dickens took legal action against the publishers who went bankrupt, continuing to reduce Dickens’ small profits from publishing. He went on to write four other Christmas stories over the years to come. In 1849, he began to read publicly a story that proved so successful that he performed 127 concerts that followed until 1870, the year of his death. A Carol Christmas has never been printed and has been translated into many languages; The story has been adapted many times for film, theater, opera and other media.
A Carol Christmas captures the ideology of the mid-Victorian revival of the Christmas holiday. Dickens acknowledged the influence of observing the Western Modern Christmas and subsequently inspired several aspects of Christmas, including family gatherings, seasonal food and drinks, dance, game and festive spirit.