A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings

This collection centers on Ebenezer Scrooge, a parsimonious financier in Victorian London who views charity as a waste of resources. On Christmas Eve, the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, warns him of eternal suffering, leading to three subsequent visitations. These spirits force Scrooge to witness his lonely childhood, the current struggles of his clerk Bob Cratchit, and his own unmourned death. Alongside this novella, the volume includes Dickens’s shorter holiday fiction and journalistic essays focusing on social inequity, communal dining, and the plight of the urban poor.

Readers of nineteenth-century literature and fans of Victorian history turn to this edition to understand the cultural construction of the modern holiday. The text appeals to those interested in the mechanics of moral reform and the use of ghost stories as a vehicle for social commentary. A reader finishes this book with a clear view of Dickens’s belief that individual generosity and a commitment to the welfare of others can mitigate the harshness of industrial society.