Conceived, written, and published in 1846, Charles Dickens’s fourth Christmas story The Battle of Life is one of the author’s five “Christmas Books”, the most famous of which is A Christmas Carol (1843). While Dickens was fond of weaving supernatural elements into his festive stories, The Battle of Life eschews a mystical plot and instead – as its subtitle, A Love Story, suggests, follows the romantic entanglements of two sisters, Grace and Marion. The story also features the girls’ father, Dr Jeddler, who finds it difficult to take the world seriously. Often considered Dickens’s least successful Christmas novella, The Battle of Life has received little critical consideration. Despite a tepid critical and commercial response, the novella nevertheless contains many of Dickens’s signature tropes including character doubles, a central conversion, and a sustained critique of social...
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Citation: Gallichio, Christian. "The Battle of Life". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 August 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24933, accessed 09 June 2026.]
