A CHRISTMAS CAROL
IN PROSE
BEING
_ A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS_
BY
CHARLES DICKENS
-------------------------
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN LEECH
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Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is available right now. Discover
the literary classic known throughout the world of a heart warming
story about an old and bitter Ebenezer Scrooge and his profound
experience one Christmas many years ago. This classic story is now
available for instant download to your computer right now.
_A CHRISTMAS CAROL IN PROSE, BEING A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS_
(commonly known as _A CHRISTMAS CAROL_ ) is what Charles Dickens [1]
described as his "little Christmas Book" and was first published on
December 19 [2], 1843 [3] with illustrations by John Leech [4].[1] [5]
The story was instantly successful, selling over six thousand copies
in one week and, although originally written as a potboiler [6] to
enable Dickens to pay off a debt, the tale has become one of the most
popular and enduring Christmas [7] stories of all time.[2] [8] Harper
Festivel has changed what the chapters are called. Instead of Staves
they are called just chapters.
Contemporaries noted that the story's popularity played a critical
role in redefining the importance of Christmas and the major
sentiments associated with the holiday. _A Christmas Carol_ was
written during a time of decline in the old Christmas traditions.[3]
[9] "If Christmas, with its ancient and hospitable customs, its social
and charitable observances, were in danger of decay, this is the book
that would give them a new lease," said English poet Thomas Hood
[10].[4] [11]
[12]
PLOT SUMMARY
_A Christmas Carol_ is a Victorian [13] morality tale [14] of an old
and bitter miser [15], Ebenezer Scrooge [16], who undergoes a profound
experience of redemption over the course of one evening. Mr Scrooge is
a financier/money-changer who has devoted his life to the accumulation
of wealth. He holds anything other than money in contempt, including
friendship, love and the Christmas season. [17]
Ebenezer Scrooge encounters "Ignorance" and "Want" in _A Christmas
Carol_
In keeping with the musical analogy of the title, "A Christmas
Carol", Dickens divides his literary work into five "staves" instead
of chapters.
STAVE I
