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.

In the following introductory essay, Hearn places Dickens's novella within a literary, political, and historical context and recounts the circumstances surrounding the publication of the story as well as the critical reaction to it.

In the following essay, Patten examines the sudden conversion of Scrooge, contending that it is related to the surge in popularity of religious tracts during the 1840s.

In the following essay from his full-length study of Dickens's novella, Davis contrasts the British and American versions, adaptations, and modernizations of A Christmas Carol.

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.

In the following essay, Anastaplo examines the timing of and the reasons for Scrooge's conversion.

In the following essay, Jaffe maintains that A Christmas Carol is “arguably Dickens's most visually evocative text” and explores the circular relationship between spectatorship and ideologies of identity in nineteenth-century England.

In the following essay, McCracken-Flesher judges the impact of A Christmas Carol on the economic success of Christmas.

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.

In the following essay, Erickson provides a Keynesian economic interpretation of Dickens's novella.

In the following essay, Miller offers a stylistic analysis of A Christmas Carol.

Here, Buckwald examines the theme of restriction and containment in A Christmas Carol, as exemplified by the description of Scrooge as "solitary as an oyster. "

In the following essay, Shainess maintains that A Christmas Carol “is more than a story or satire—it is a literary psychoanalysis, largely of the interpersonal variety though with a hint of the Freudian as well.”

In the following essay, Davis explores how the innumerable retellings of Dickens's novella have changed the essential story and have kept the tale relevant in modern times.

In the following excerpt, Thomas provides a Freudian interpretation of A Christmas Carol.

In the following essay, Sable debates Dickens's familiarity with Judaism and finds parallels in Scrooge's conversion to the three main aspects of the Jewish Day of Atonement: repentance, prayer, and charity.

In the following essay, Rowell underscores the powerful religious and social overtones of A Christmas Carol, particularly the revival of Christmas traditions.

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 a promise for all covetous old sinners, but only a possibility to be individually hoped for. "

In the following essay, Stone praises the stylistic framework of Dickens's novella, perceiving the story as “a myth or a fairy tale for our times, one that is still full of life and relevance.”

In the following essay, Butterworth probes Dickens's familiarity with the masque form and determines its influence on A Christmas Carol.

Johnson is a major Dickens scholar whose Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph (1952) is considered the definitive biography of the novelist In the following essay adapted from that work, Johnson expounds on the social importance of A Christmas Carol.

In the following excerpt from a 1952 article published in the American Scholar, Johnson deems Dickens's novella as a biting critique of nineteenth-century England's economic system.

In the following excerpt from Stone's 1979 study Dickens and the Invisible World: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Novel-Making, Stone asserts that Dickens uses fairy-tale elements in A Christmas Carol.

In the following essay, Patterson contends that to “understand the significance of the Carol is to integrate the psychological and its spiritual message.”

Here, in an essay that was originally presented as a lecture in May, 1937, Berrow reacts negatively to A Christmas Carol.

In the following review, originally published in 1844, Thackeray applauds the popular appeal of A Christmas Carol.

In the following essay, Simmons detects the influence of William Shakespeare's character Falstaff on the protagonist of A Christmas Carol.

In the following essay, Burleson compares the characters of Scrooge and his nephew, Fred.