A Christmas Carol

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by Charles Dickens

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

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ARGUMENT OF THE BOOK

HISTORY OF THE BOOK

CHARLES DICKENS

INDEX

Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school at the age of 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. After three years he returned to school, before he began his literary career as a journalist. Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, for education, and for other social reforms.

CHARLES DICKENS

To Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas —commonly known as A Christmas Carol and translated into Spanish as Canción de Navidad, Cuento de Navidad or El cantico de Navidad3— is a short novel written by British Charles Dickens and originally published by Chapman & Hall on December 1843.4 Its plot tells the story of a greedy and selfish man named Ebenezer Scrooge and his conversion after being visited by a series of ghosts on Christmas Eve. The writing and dissemination of the book took place during the Victorian era, when a sense of nostalgia for old Christmas traditions prevailed, and when customs such as Christmas trees were beginning to be introduced. A variety of concepts and Publications influenced Dickens at the time of writing his work, although his childhood experiences, his sympathy for the poor, and various Christmas stories and fairy tales stand out.

HISTORY OF THE BOOK

The conflict in A Christmas Carol is that of Ebenezer Scrooge's attitude toward others in life. He is indifferent to the sufferings of the common man, asking "Are there no prisons?" when asked to contribute to the poor who cannot enjoy Christmas. During the visit by the three ghosts, his greed is contrasted against his childhood, the joy of his poorer associate, and his future where nobody wishes to attend his funeral. Scrooge's attitude changes from a miser to a generous man in the course of his Christmas-eve visits, and on Christmas Day he has a change of heart and uses his money to make the day joyous for those around him, redeeming his character.

ARGUMENT OF THE BOOK