A CHRISTMAS CAROL in PROSE BEING a Ghost Story of Christmas (illustrated)

The Christmas Carol, whose original English title is A Christmas Carol, is a short novel written by the British Charles Dickens and originally published by Chapman & Hall on December 19, 1843.1 2 Account the story of a greedy and selfish man named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation after being visited by a series of ghosts on Christmas Eve. The novel achieved immediate success and applause from critics. The book was written and published during the Victorian era, a time when there...
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The Christmas Carol, whose original English title is A Christmas Carol, is a short novel written by the British Charles Dickens and originally published by Chapman & Hall on December 19, 1843.1 2 Account the story of a greedy and selfish man named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation after being visited by a series of ghosts on Christmas Eve. The novel achieved immediate success and applause from critics. The book was written and published during the Victorian era, a time when there was a great deal of nostalgia for the old Christmas traditions coupled with the introduction of new customs such as Christmas trees or greeting cards. Dickens's inspirations for writing the novel appear to be many and varied, but the principal ones are the sad and humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for the poor, and various Christmas tales and fairy tales. The novel has been viewed by critics as a condemnation of nineteenth-century industrial capitalism.6 It has also been considered to have contributed to the restoration of Christmas as a time of celebration and festivity in the United Kingdom and the United States after a more sober and somber period. The book remains popular, as it has never ceased publication5 and has been adapted in numerous occasions to film, theater, television and other media. In the mid-19th century, a nostalgic interest in ancient Christmas traditions swept through Victorian England following the publication of three influential works: Davies Gilbert's Some Ancient Christmas Carols (1822); The Book of Christmas (1837), by Thomas Kibble Hervey; and Selection of Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern (1833), by William Sandys. This interest was also stimulated by Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who was of German origin and popularized the German Christmas tree after his marriage in 1841, the first Christmas card in 1843 and a resurgence of carols singing, .8 9 Hervey's study of Christmas traditions attributed his neglect to unfavorable social changes and urbanization (growth of cities) in England. Dickens' novel was one of the main influences in the revival of the old Christmas traditions in England, but at the same time transmitting images and feelings of optimism, joy, warmth and life, it also transmits elements of darkness, hopelessness, coldness, sadness and death. Scrooge himself is the personification of winter and, like winter is succeeded by spring and the resurgence of life, the hard, cold and sad heart of Scrooge is restored to the joy and goodwill he knew in his childhood and youth.11 12