A Christmas Carol Summary
Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Charles Dickens was born in 1812, in Portsea, England, as the second child of John Dickens, a middle-class naval clerk. At 11, Dickens had his formal education ... Read more

Biography EssayThe life story of Charles Dickens is, from several perspectives, a success story. Generally regarded today as one of the greatest novelists in the English language, Dickens had the unus... Read more

He was only fifty-eight when he died. His horse had been shot, as he had wanted; his body lay in a casket in his home at Gad's Hill, festooned with scarlet geraniums. Tributes poured in from all over ... Read more

Charles Dickens had one thing in common with his creation Thomas Gradgrind, the heartless utilitarian in Hard Times: a love of facts. Along with fourteen novels, many of them rich in topical allusion,... Read more

From the appearance of his first full-length work of prose fiction, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, in 1836-1837, Charles Dickens has retained his place as one of the best-loved and most... Read more

In the following review, originally published in 1844, Thackeray applauds the popular appeal of A Christmas Carol. Mr. Titmarsh, in Switzerland, to Mr. Yorke … This introduction, then, will hav... Read more

In the following excerpt, Thomas provides a Freudian interpretation of A Christmas Carol. A very, very brief time, and you will dismiss the recollection of it, gladly, as an unprofitable dream, from w... Read more

In the following essay, Burleson compares the characters of Scrooge and his nephew, Fred. It would seem that there could be no clearer or more unambiguously delineated an opposition than that which oc... Read more

In the following essay, Butterworth probes Dickens's familiarity with the masque form and determines its influence on A Christmas Carol. In his Preface to the First Cheap Edition of A Christmas... Read more

In the following essay, Rowell underscores the powerful religious and social overtones of A Christmas Carol, particularly the revival of Christmas traditions. One hundred and fifty years ago, in Octob... Read more

In the following essay, Patterson contends that to “understand the significance of the Carol is to integrate the psychological and its spiritual message.” I don't remember reading... Read more

In the following essay, Simmons detects the influence of William Shakespeare's character Falstaff on the protagonist of A Christmas Carol. During his lifetime, Charles Dickens read a vast array... Read more

In the following essay, Erickson provides a Keynesian economic interpretation of Dickens's novella. In the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge's character and in the very appearance and p... Read more

In the following excerpts, Guida considers the literary, political, and economic roots of Dickens's novella and traces the various cinematic adaptations of the story in the twentieth century. A... Read more

In the following essay, Gilbert considers the “Scrooge problem,” or the issue of the credibility of Scrooge's conversion during the course of A Christmas Carol. As in their birth,... Read more

In the following essay, Anastaplo examines the timing of and the reasons for Scrooge's conversion. MACBETH: One cried “God bless us!” and “Amen!” the other, As they ... Read more

In the following essay, Prickett delineates the defining characteristics of Victorian literature and regards A Christmas Carol as a prime example of the Christmas book genre. The ‘internalizati... Read more

In the following essay, Morris examines Ebenezer Scrooge's "conversion" in A Christmas Carol. According to Morris, "Dickens does not intend Scrooge's awakening to be... Read more

Here, in an essay that was originally presented as a lecture in May, 1937, Berrow reacts negatively to A Christmas Carol. There has been much said this evening in praise, I might almost say in adulati... Read more

A Christmas Carol Self-centered, cold-hearted, and solitary, Ebenezer Scrooge, a character in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, undergoes a drastic transformation. Scrooge is haunted by three sp... Read more

Dear Scrooge, How could you be so inconsiderate? Talking to your cousin like that was making me so sick! You want him do die in hot pudding and them have holly stuck through his heart. That's evil... Read more

Charles Dickens wrote a classic story, "A Christmas Carol", about a man, Ebenezer Scrooge, who knew only how to be greedy. Because of this he was haunted by ghosts to remind him of how cruel and greed... Read more

A morality play, not unlike some of the popular plays I have seen. I think we all have seen this familiar theme many times over the years. As we head into the Christmas season, where reflective think... Read more

The title of this novel is A Christmas Carol, which is written by Charles Dicken. In this novel, the main character, Scrooge, has a callous personal. He doesn't recognize poverty, kindness, and love. ... Read more

Perhaps the most easily recognized of all of Victorian era literature, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens stands as prominent now as it did when it was first conceived. Dickens who commonly wrote f... Read more

The knowledge and understanding of various contexts of production and reception extend and enhance an appreciation of a text. This is shown in such texts as "A Christmas Carol" and the movies "Oliver... Read more

A Christmas Carol Book Notes is a free study guide on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Browse the summary below:   Author Biography / Context of the Work   One-Page Plot Summary &... Read more