Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Thomas Kullmann (Universität Osnabruck)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1843

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Sentimental
Story

Resources

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A Christmas Carol

is the first of a series of five “Christmas Books” which were published during the Christmas season in the four successive years from 1843 to 1846 and in 1848. The Christmas Books are short novels of about 100 printed pages each, often involving elements of the supernatural.

The main character in A Christmas Carol is Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly London businessman characterized by his utilitarian attitudes, his lack of friends and his contempt for the pleasures of life. On Christmas Eve he declines his nephew’s invitation to take part in the family’s Christmas dinner, and only grudgingly grants a holiday to his clerk, Bob Cratchit. He considers Christmas a “humbug” and despises the idea of his poor nephew’s and his even poorer clerk’s having a “merry

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2077 words

Citation: Kullmann, Thomas. "A Christmas Carol". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 April 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7219, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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