Summary of A Christmas Carol By: Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol[note 1] is a novella by English author Charles Dickens, first published by Chapman and Hall, and first released on 19 December 1843. The book met with instant success and critical acclaim. The novella tells the story of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge, and his transformation into a warm-hearted philanthropist after being visited by several ghosts on Christmas Eve.

The book was written and published at a time when Britain was experiencing a nostalgic interest in its forgotten Christmas traditions, and at the time when new customs such as the Christmas tree and greeting cards were being introduced. Dickens's sources for the tale appear to be many and varied but are principally the humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for the poor, and the Christmas stories of Washington Irving.

The tale was pirated immediately, adapted several times to the stage, and has been credited with returning the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print,[1] and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media.

In the middle 19th century, a nostalgic interest in pre Cromwell Christmas traditions swept Victorian England following the publications of Davies Gilbert's Some Ancient Christmas Carols (1822), William B. Sandys's Selection of Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern (1833), and Thomas K. Hervey's The Book of Christmas (1837). That interest was further stimulated by Prince Albert's introduction of the Christmas tree in 1841, the first Christmas card in 1843, and a revival in carol singing.[2][3] Hervey's study on Christmas customs attributed their passing to social change and the urbanization of England.[4][3]

Dickens's Carol was one of the single greatest influences in rejuvenating the old Christmas traditions of England, but, while it brings to the reader images of light, joy, warmth, and life it also brings strong and unforgettable images of darkness, despair, coldness, and death.[2] Scrooge himself is the embodiment of winter, and, just as winter is followed by spring and the renewal of life, so too is Scrooge's cold, pinched heart restored to the innocent goodwill he had known in his childhood and youth.[5][6]