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Cover of A Christmas Carol, comic edition

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens1843

Marley was dead, to begin with. That is where the haunting starts.

Portrait of Ebenezer ScroogeEbenezerPortrait of Jacob MarleyJacobPortrait of Bob CratchitBobPortrait of Tiny TimTinyPortrait of FredFred
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The story opens

Cover of A Christmas Carol, comic edition
A Christmas Carol, illustrated page 1: Marley was dead: to begin with.
Marley was dead: to begin with.
The sole mourner signed.
Scrooge was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral.
This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.
A Christmas Carol, illustrated page 2: Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge!
Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge!
A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!
The cold within him froze his old features.
Even the blind men's dogs appeared to know him.
But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked.
A Christmas Carol, illustrated page 3: Once upon a time — of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve…
Once upon a time — of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve…
…old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house.
The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole.
The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already.
But he couldn’t replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room.
A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!
A Christmas Carol, illustrated page 4: Bah!
Bah!
Humbug!
Christmas a humbug, uncle!
You don’t mean that, I am sure?
I do.
Merry Christmas!
What right have you to be merry?
What right have you to be dismal?
What reason have you to be morose?
You’re rich enough.
A Christmas Carol, illustrated page 5: That afternoon.
That afternoon.
There are many things I might have derived good from…
…by which I have not profited, I dare say…
…Christmas among the rest.
A kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time…
…and I say, God bless it!
Let me hear another sound from you…
…and you'll keep your Christmas by losing your situation!
I wonder you don't go into Parliament.
A Christmas Carol, illustrated page 6: I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute.
I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute.
We have never had any quarrel, to which I have been a party.
But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas…
…and I’ll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas, uncle!
Good afternoon!
And A Happy New Year!
Good afternoon!
A Christmas Carol, illustrated page 7: Scrooge and Marley’s, I believe.
Scrooge and Marley’s, I believe.
He died seven years ago, this very night.
What shall I put you down for?
Nothing!
You wish to be anonymous?
I wish to be left alone.
I can’t afford to make idle people merry.
Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.
If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.
A Christmas Carol, illustrated page 8: Seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point, the gentlemen withdrew.
Seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point, the gentlemen withdrew.
Scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself.
Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so.
The cold became intense.

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How the cast of A Christmas Carol connects

Drawn from who shares scenes with whom in the original text. Each bond is labeled from the pair's first scene together, so the map stays spoiler-light.

Ebenezer Scrooge ↔ Jacob Marley: Former business partnersBob Cratchit → Tiny Tim: Father and sonEbenezer Scrooge → Fred: Uncle and nephewFORMER BUSINESS PARTNERSFATHER AND SONUNCLE AND NEPHEWEbenezer ScroogeJacob MarleyFredBob CratchitTiny Tim

Meet the full cast of A Christmas Carol

About A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol in Prose is a compact Christmas ghost story set amid the fog, frost, counting-houses, and crowded streets of London. It brings you into the world of Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy but isolated miser whose coldness reaches his clerk, his cheerful nephew, and the poor people seeking help at Christmas. Around him, Dickens places stark social contrasts: warmth and generosity set against poverty, hunger, and the harsh institutions offered to those in need. The book’s supernatural promise is explicit from its title and chapter structure, which announces Marley’s ghost and three spirits, while its central concern is the possibility of a more humane response to suffering.

Written in 1843, the novella combines vivid Victorian atmosphere with a lively, conversational narrator who interrupts, jokes, exaggerates, and addresses the reader directly. Dickens’s prose can be richly descriptive, sharply satirical, and unexpectedly tender; Scrooge’s gruff exchanges provide brisk comedy alongside the darker ghostly mood. This is a good choice for readers drawn to Christmas fiction, haunted tales, London stories, and narratives concerned with misers, poor families, and sick children. Its short length and dramatic structure make it approachable, while its period language rewards a reader willing to enjoy its theatrical phrasing and moral seriousness.

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