"Christmas Carol": A Tale of Yuletide Spirits
Charles Dickens, renowned for his literary masterpieces, penned a short story that has become synonymous with the spirit of Christmas – "A Christmas Carol." Initially published by Chapman & Hall in 1843 in collaboration with illustrator John Leech, this narrative unfolds the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old man visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Scrooge undergoes a transformative journey, emerging as a kind and compassionate soul after these spectral encounters.
Written during a period when Britons were reevaluating Christmas traditions, including carols and the relatively modern customs like Christmas trees, Dickens was influenced by his own youth experiences and Christmas tales by other authors like Washington Irving and Douglas Jerrold. Prior to this novella, Dickens authored three other Christmas stories, inspired by his visit to Field Lane Ragged School, an institution for street children in London. The primary themes revolve around addressing poverty and the ability of a selfish man to redeem himself through empathy. Scholars debate whether the story is entirely secular or carries symbolic Christian undertones.
The first edition was released on December 19, with all copies sold out on Christmas Eve. Thirteen additional editions were published by the end of 1844, receiving positive reviews. Unscrupulous publishers produced unauthorized copies in January 1844, leading Dickens to take legal action, but financial setbacks ensued. Undeterred, Dickens continued writing Christmas stories in subsequent years, organizing public readings of "A Christmas Carol" starting in 1849. These readings continued, totaling 127 performances, until his death in 1870. While the novella never went out of print, it was translated into multiple languages and adapted across various media, including film, theater, and opera.
Influenced by the Victorian mid-century revival of Christmas traditions, Dickens acknowledged the impact of the contemporary Western celebration of Christmas, inspiring numerous aspects of the holiday, such as family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games, and the spirit of generosity.
The first ghost
A Christmas Carol begins on a cold, gloomy Christmas Eve in London, seven years after the death of Jacob Marley, Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner. The elderly miser and curmudgeon harbors a deep disdain for Christmas and refuses an invitation to dinner from his nephew Fred, the son of his deceased sister. Scrooge is busy turning away two men looking for donations to provide food and warmth for the poor. He reluctantly allows his overworked and underpaid employee, Bob Cratchit, a day off on Christmas Day in keeping with social custom.
That night, Scrooge's house is visited by Marley's ghost, a ghost saddled with heavy chains and loaded with boxes of counterfeit money symbolizing his greedy and selfish life. Marley tells Scrooge that he has one chance to avoid a similar fate: he will be visited by three spirits, and he must heed their messages, or else he will carry chains heavier than Marley's.
short novel
Also known as a long short story, it is a literary work of 10,000 to 20,000 words, or more depending on the total number of words or pages. It falls between the short novel and the long story, where if it leans towards the short novel, narrative techniques dominate, while it displays the techniques of the long story if it falls within that category.
There are many examples of short novels, such as “Death in Venice” (1912) by the German writer Thomas Mann, and “The Old Man and the Sea” (1952) by the American writer Ernest Hemingway. These works are distinguished by their ability to convey a specific literary message in a shorter time frame, allowing for an intense and powerful literary experience within a brief period of time.