Ebenezer Scrooge encounters "Ignorance" and "Want" in Dickens's novel, A Christmas Carol

Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. He is a very cold-hearted, selfish man, who has no love for Christmas, children, or anything that even resembles happiness. A quote from the book reads "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice ..." His last name has come into the English language as a byword for miserliness and misanthropy, traits displayed by Scrooge in the exaggerated manner for which Dickens is well-known. The story of his transformation by the three Ghosts of Christmas (Past, Present, and Yet to Come) has become a defining tale of the Christmas holiday in some cultures. Scrooge's phrase, "Bah, humbug!" has been used to express disgust with Christmas traditions in modern times. The inspiration for Charles Dickens' character was a grave marker for an Ebenezer Lennox Scroggie. The marker identified Scroggie as a “meal man” (corn merchant), but Dickens misread this as “mean man”.[1] It has been claimed that Dickens based Scrooge's views on the poor on those of demographer and political economist Thomas Malthus.^[1] (born 1775) Image File history File links A_Christmas_Carol_-_Ignorance_and_Want. ... Image File history File links A_Christmas_Carol_-_Ignorance_and_Want. ... The protagonist is the central figure of a story, and is often referred to as a storys main character. ... Dickens redirects here. ... Year 1843 (MDCCCXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see A Christmas Carol (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For Molières play, see The Miser. ... Misanthrope redirects here. ... The Ghost of Christmas Past with Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. ... The Ghost of Christmas Present was a character in what was one of the best-known works of the English novelist, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. ... The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in 1982 animated version of A Christmas Carol. ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ... Look up humbug in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Map of countries by population Population growth showing projections for later this century Demography is the scientific study of human population dynamics. ... Political economy was the original term for the study of production and the relationships of buying and selling and their relationship to laws, customs and government. ... Thomas Robert Malthus, FRS (13th February, 1766 – 29th December, 1834), was an English demographer and political economist. ... Year 1775 (MDCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ...

The story

The story of A Christmas Carol begins on Christmas Eve, with Scrooge at his place of business. The book does not specifically state what business he is in, though it is usually assumed that he is a banker or professional money lender. Some recent versions portray him as a solicitor. Whatever his main business is, he seems to have usurious relationships with people of little means. These relationships, along with his lack of charity and shabby treatment of his clerk, Bob Cratchit, seem to be his major vices. The Christmas Eve (1904-05), watercolor painting by the Swedish painter Carl Larsson (1853-1919) Christmas Eve, the evening of December 24th, the preceding day or vigil before Christmas Day, is treated to a greater or a lesser extent in most Christian societies as part of the Christmas season. ... For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ... A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and in a few regions of the United States. ... Look up usury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Bob Cratchit is a very thin and short fictional character in the classic story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. ...

Scrooge has only disgust for the poor, thinking the world would be better off without them, "decreasing the surplus population", and praise for the Victorian era workhouses. He has a particular distaste for the merriment of Christmas, his single act of kindness being that he gives his clerk, Bob Cratchit, the day off with pay, more as a result of social mores than any true kindness on his part. He sees the practice as akin to having his pocket picked on an annual basis. The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Former workhouse at Nantwich, dating from 1780 A workhouse was a place where people who were unable to support themselves could go to live and work. ...

After introducing Scrooge and showing his shabby treatment of his personal business and relations, the novel resumes with Scrooge at his residence, intent on spending Christmas Eve alone. While he is preparing to go to bed, he is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Jacob Marley in life spent his career exploiting the poor and as a result has been damned to walk the Earth for all eternity bound in the chains of his very own greed. Marley has visited Scrooge to warn him that he risks meeting the same fate, and to announce that he will be visited by three ghosts: Past, Present, and Future. The rest of the novel acts as a biography and psychological profile, showing his evolution to his current state, and the way he is viewed by others. Jacob Marley is a fictional character who appears in the Charles Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol. ... Perdition redirects here, for the play see Perdition (play). ...

As promised, the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Scrooge first and takes him to see his time as a schoolboy many years earlier. Here it is suggested that his father abandoned young Scrooge at his boarding school, even during Christmas. This is relevant to Scrooge, because it shows the beginnings of his lack of socialization and empathy. He does not socialize because he never experienced steady growth in a strong family unit. He does not empathize thanks to the way he was treated: as a child, he was the least of his father's concerns; this in turn taught him not to feel for fellow humans. Later the ghost shows how his success in business made him become obsessive and develop a workaholic tendency. His money and work-obsessed personality traits eventually compel Scrooge's fiancée, Belle, to leave him, which further hardens his heart. The untimely death of his sister Fan, the one relative who had a close relationship with him, also injures him greatly enough that he loses any love he had for the world. A family posing for a group photo socializes together. ... A workaholic is a person addicted to work. ...

The visit by the Ghost of Christmas Past also reveals the origin of Scrooge's neurotic hatred of Christmas. Most of the events that affected Scrooge's character occurred during the holiday season. The important revelation from the spirit of Christmas Past is why Scrooge has such a negative view of Christmas. The book (which was written in 1843) does not state how long ago all this happened, or even how old Scrooge is now. In modern psychology, the term neurosis, also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, is a general term that refers to any mental imbalance that causes distress, but (unlike a psychosis or personality disorder) does not prevent rational thought or an individuals ability to function in daily life. ...

One of the sources of his negative ways is the pain he feels for losing his love, Belle. Engaged to be married to her, he keeps pushing back the wedding until his finances are as healthy as he would like – something that, given his insatiable lust for money, would probably never happen. Realising this, Belle calls off the engagement, later marrying somebody else and making Scrooge further withdraw from society and relationships.

Scrooge is then visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows him the happiness of his nephew's middle-class social circle and the impoverished Cratchit family. The latter, who have a young son who is lame, manage to live happily on the pittance Scrooge pays his clerk. The ghost also warns him of the evils of Ignorance and Want, who take the form of two poor, dirty children.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge the happiness that others will find from Scrooge's death and the future consequences of his actions. Scrooge then sees his own tombstone before awakening to find it is Christmas morning, and he has a chance to repent and change his fate. Scrooge does so and becomes a model of generosity and kindness. "Many laughed to see this alteration in him, but he let them laugh and little heeded them. His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him. And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge."

Actors portraying Ebenezer Scrooge

• Scrooge has been portrayed by (live or animated) Marc McDermott in 1910, Seymour Hicks in 1913 and again in 1935, Lionel Barrymore on radio throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Reginald Owen, in 1938, Alistair Sim in 1951, and again in 1971, Fredric March, Mr. Magoo, Scrooge McDuck, Fred Flintstone, Cosmo Spaceley, Yosemite Sam, Oscar the Grouch, Albert Finney in 1970, Marcel Mangel formerly known as Marcel Marceau in 1973, Rowan Atkinson, Michael Caine, James Earl Jones, Tim Curry, Patrick Stewart, Susan Lucci in Ebbie, Vanessa Williams in the adaptation A Diva's Christmas Carol, Tori Spelling as Scroogette Carol Cartman in A Carol Christmas, Walter Matthau in Rankin/Bass's adaptation, The Stingiest Man in Town, Dean Jones, Frank Langella, Tony Randall, Hal Linden, Simon Callow, Charles Goad, Cameron LeBlanc, Roger Daltrey, George C Scott, and Kelsey Grammer, Henry Winkler (An American Christmas Carol-1979), Bill Murray (Scrooged-1988), Jack Palance, and Jamie Farr. He is expected to be played by Jim Carrey in the upcoming stop-motion A Christmas Carol.

Marcus McDermott (July 24, 1881 - January 5, 1929) was an Australian-born American actor who starred on Broadway and in over 180 American films from 1909 until his death. ... Seymour Hicks Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 - 6 April 1949) was a British actor and music hall performer. ... Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe on April 28, 1878 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 15, 1954 in Van Nuys, California) was an American Academy Award Winning actor of stage, radio and film. ... Reginald Owen, or John Reginald Owen, (August 5, 1887–November 5, 1972) was a British character actor known for playing in many film roles in British and American movies and later in television programs. ... Alistair Sim (October 9, 1900–August 19, 1976) was a Scottish actor. ... Fredric March (August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Mr. ... Scrooge McDuck or Uncle Scrooge is a fictional Scottish-born Glaswegian[1]anthropomorphic duck created by Carl Barks that first appeared in Four Color Comics #178, Christmas on Bear Mountain, published by Dell Comics in December, 1947. ... Information Nickname(s) Twinkletoes Aliases Frederick F. Flintstone Species Human Gender Male Age Mid 30s Occupation Crane Operator Family Ed Flintstone (father), Edna Flintstone (mother), Rocksy Rubble (granddaughter), Chip Rubble (grandson), Bamm-Bamm Rubble (son-in-law) Spouse(s) Wilma Flintstone Children Pebbles Flintstone Portrayed by Alan Reed, Henry... For the shortwave radio station, see Yosemite Sam (shortwave). ... An Oscar the Grouch puppet, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Oscar the Grouch, reading to Slimey. ... Albert Finney (born May 9, 1936 in Salford, Lancashire, England) is a five-time Academy Award-nominated English actor of Irish descent. ... Marcel Marceau (born Marcel Mangel) (March 22, 1923 – September 22, 2007) was a well-known mime artist, among the most popular representatives of this art form world-wide. ... Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English comedian, actor and writer, famous for his title roles in the British television comedies Blackadder and Mr. ... This article is about the English actor. ... James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American Academy Award-nominated, Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actor of film and stage well known for his deep basso voice. ... Timothy James Curry (born April 19, 1946) is an Emmy Award-winning English actor, singer, and composer, perhaps best known for his role as mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). ... This article is about the actor. ... Susan Victoria Lucci (born December 23, 1946) is a Daytime Emmy Award winning actress. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... For other persons of the same name, see Vanessa Williams. ... Victoria Davey Tori Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress. ... A Carol Christmas is a 2003 TV movie starring Tori Spelling. ... Walter Matthau (October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an Academy Award-winning American comedy actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with fellow Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon. ... Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. ... Dean Jones is the name of: Dean Jones, an Australian cricketer. ... Frank A. Langella, Jr. ... Tony Randall (February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American comic actor. ... Hal Linden (born Harold Lipshitz March 20, 1931) is an American actor and television director, best known for his portrayal of the title character in the television series Barney Miller (1975-1982). ... Simon Philip Hugh Callow, CBE (born June 15, 1949 in London, England) is a highly-regarded British actor of stage, film and television, and a biographer of Orson Welles and Charles Laughton. ... Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE (born 1 March 1944), is a rock vocalist, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. ... George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927–September 22, 1999) was a film/stage actor, director, and producer. ... Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955 in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands) is a six-time Emmy and a two-time Golden Globe-winning American actor who is best known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane, whom he played for nine years on Cheers... Dr. Henry Franklin Jameson Frederick Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is a Golden Globe Award-winning American actor, director, producer and author. ... William James Bill Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning American comedian and actor. ... Scrooged is a hit 1988 comedy film based on Charles Dickens classic story, A Christmas Carol. ... Jack Palance (February 18, 1919 - November 10, 2006) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor. ... Jamie Farr (born Jameel Joseph Farah on July 1, 1934) is an American television and film actor and popular game show panelist. ... James Eugene Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a two-time Golden Globe Award-winning Canadian-American A-list film actor and comedian. ... A Christmas Carol is an announced film to be directed by Robert Zemeckis and star Jim Carrey in multiple roles. ...

Scrooge and the English Language

The name "Scrooge" is used even outside of the UK and the US as a word for a person who is always complaining - not unlike the more recent Victor Meldrew. Interestingly, it is almost always used in that context, and not as a person who changes from bad to good, despite the fact that his unpleasant side is only shown, in its entirety within the first chapter, or "stave". Victor Meldrew is the main character in the BBC1 sitcom One Foot In The Grave. ...

The character is most famous for saying "Bah! Humbug!", but only says this twice in the whole book. The word "Humbug" he uses on its own seven times, although on the seventh we are told that he "stopped at the first syllable" after realising Marley's ghost is real. The word is never used again from thereon in the book.

Related use

• Created by Carl Barks, Scrooge McDuck was the star of a comic book series published by Walt Disney, and the subsequent 1980s animated TV series Ducktales. Scrooge (the uncle of Donald Duck) was named in tribute to Dickens' character, and played the role of his namesake in Mickey's Christmas Carol. Barks' story Christmas on Bear Mountain (1947) marked the character's initial appearance.

• In The Real Ghostbusters episode "X-Mas Marks The Spot" 1986, the Ghostbusters accidentally time travel to Scrooge's time and capture the Ghosts of Past, Present and Future before they can reform Scrooge. Afterward the Ghostbusters find out they have altered time and Christmas is no longer celebrated. Realizing their mistake, Peter and Ray go back through the portal to Scrooge's time and attempt to reform him while Egon ventures into the containment unit to rescue the Ghosts of Past, Present and Future. After rescuing the three Ghosts, Egon returns them to the proper time and place. The three Ghostbusters depart, the portal to Scrooge's time closes for good, and New York is once more decorated for Christmas.

• In Rich Little's Christmas Carol 1978 featured chameleon actor Rich Little (not to be confused for/as Little Richard) played the entire cast, from a W. C. Fields-esque Ebenezer Scrooge, to the many more other famous faces.

• Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol featured Mr. Magoo playing the role of Scrooge in an animated Broadway musical adaptation of the novella.

• A Flintstones Christmas Carol is about Fred Flintstone playing the role of Scrooge in a play, but also includes a subplot about him acting Scrooge-like off the stage.

• Blackadder's Christmas Carol has one of the members of the Blackadder clan in the role of Scrooge under the name of Ebenezer Blackadder. But instead of being a greedy man like Scrooge or most Blackadders, this Blackadder is a kind man until the Spirit of Christmas accidentally convinces him to be greedy, showing that his future generation would be more successful through wickedness than generosity.

• The Jetsons: Mr. Spacely was being greedier than usual and George Jetson comments that he should be haunted by the ghosts who reformed Ebenezer Scrooge but thinks Spacely would scare them away. The ghosts do visit Spacely...but contrary to George Jetson's prediction, Spaceley does not scare them away. He merely discourages Past and Present; they don't have the same success they had with Scrooge (Present shows Astro's life in risk and the Jetsons being unable to get a veterinarian during Christmas season). But things are very different with Future, who at first glance almost resembles the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Astro would die due to eating a loose sprocket from one of Spacely's toys and the Jetsons would sue him, creating a future where they are rich and he's poor. On Christmas morning, he takes his private veterinarian to save Astro. The Jetsons Christmas Carol differs from the original story in that the Scrooge character isn't fully reformed...but just enough to make a happy Christmas ending.

• Beavis and Butt-head: In a Christmas special episode, Beavis is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future while watching a porn movie called "Ebenezer Screw".

• In Click, a Scrooge-like Adam Sandler, who neglects his family for his work, is shown the future and given a chance to repent.

• A 2006 holiday ad campaign for Visa featured Scrooge engaging in various acts of charity in order to have a chance at winning a $100,000 sweepstakes contest that the company was running at the time.[2]

• In To Sail Beyond the Sunset, Brian tells his wife that their new landlord's name is Ebenezer Scrooge, then jokingly explains that he could have misheard the name.

• In Hot Rod (film), Ebenezer Scrooge makes a random appearance at the end of the film in a school bus, and offers Christmas goose to everyone.

• In the Polar Express a scrooge doll was controlled by the "ghost" to test the hero kid's faith, calling him a doubter.

Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was a famous Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck (1947), Gladstone Gander (1948), the Beagle Boys (1951), Gyro Gearloose (1952) and Magica De Spell (1961). ... Scrooge McDuck or Uncle Scrooge is a fictional Scottish-born Glaswegian[1]anthropomorphic duck created by Carl Barks that first appeared in Four Color Comics #178, Christmas on Bear Mountain, published by Dell Comics in December, 1947. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Disney redirects here. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Donald Duck is an animated cartoon and comic-book character from Walt Disney Productions. ... Mickeys Christmas Carol is a twenty-four minute animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released in the United Kingdom on October 20, 1983 by Buena Vista Distribution. ... Christmas on Bear Mountain (1947) is a Donald Duck story by Carl Barks. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Real Ghostbusters was an American animated television series based on the hit 1984 film Ghostbusters. ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ... Artwork for Rich Littles Christmas Carol on HBO. Rich Littles Christmas Carol is a 1978 TV special that ran on Home Box Office (HBO). ... Rich Little performing (as George Burns) in 2004 Richard Caruthers Rich Little (born November 26, 1938) is a Canadian comedian best known for his celebrity impersonations. ... Richard Wayne Penniman (born December 5, 1932), better known by the stage name Little Richard, is an African-American singer, songwriter, and pianist, who began performing in the 1940s and was a key figure in the transition from rhythm & blues to rock and roll in the mid-1950s. ... W. C. Fields (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946) was an American juggler, comedian, and actor. ... Mr. ... Mr. ... A Flintstones Christmas Carol is a made-for-TV animated movie based on the original 1960-66 series The Flintstones produced by Hanna-Barbera Studios which premered in syndication on November 21, 1994. ... Information Nickname(s) Twinkletoes Aliases Frederick F. Flintstone Species Human Gender Male Age Mid 30s Occupation Crane Operator Family Ed Flintstone (father), Edna Flintstone (mother), Rocksy Rubble (granddaughter), Chip Rubble (grandson), Bamm-Bamm Rubble (son-in-law) Spouse(s) Wilma Flintstone Children Pebbles Flintstone Portrayed by Alan Reed, Henry... Blackadder in Blackadders Christmas Carol Blackadders Christmas Carol (1988) is a one-off episode of Blackadder, a parody of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. ... The Jetsons is a prime-time animated television series that was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. ... Cosmo G. Spacely is a fictional character in the animated series The Jetsons, voiced by Mel Blanc. ... George Jetson is a fictional character who appears in the animated series The Jetsons. ... Look up success in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up veterinarian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A monolith is a geological or technological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock. ... A movie poster from the original release of 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is an immensely popular and influential science fiction film and book; the film directed by Stanley Kubrick and the book written by Arthur C. Clarke. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. ... Click is a 2006 comedy/drama/fantasy film directed by Frank Coraci and written by Steve Koren and Mark OKeefe. ... Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, musician, screenwriter, and film producer. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Visa is a brand of credit card and debit card operated by the Visa International Service Association of San Francisco, California, USA, an economic joint venture of 21,000 financial institutions that issue and market Visa products. ... To Sail Beyond the Sunset is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1987. ... Hot Rod is a Paramount Pictures movie written by Pam Brady and directed by Akiva Schaffer; starring Andy Samberg, Sissy Spacek, Jorma Taccone, Will Arnett, Danny R. McBride, Ian McShane, Isla Fisher, and Bill Hader. ... The Polar Express is a 1985 childrens book, which was later made into a movie that was released on November 12, 2004. ...

References

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