Jacob Marley is a fictional character who appears in the Charles Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol. A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... Dickens was a prolific writer who was almost always working on a new installment for a story and rarely missed a deadline. ... DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Ebenezer Scrooge encounters Ignorance and Want in A Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol is a novella written by Charles Dickens and illustrated by John Leech. ...

Marley was the business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. Earlier, both men had apprenticed in business and met as clerks (presumably in Accountancy) in another business. The firm of Scrooge and Marley was a nineteeth century financial institution, probably a counting house, as Marley refers to their offices as 'our money-changing hole'. They have become successful bankers, with seats on the London Stock Exchange; they are also stockholders and directors of at least one major association, but a vast amount of their wealth has been accumulated through usurious moneylending. Ebenezer Scrooge encounters Ignorance and Want in A Christmas Carol Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles Dickens 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. ... If youre looking for the TV show, see The Apprentice. ... A clerk can be someone who works in an office and whose duties include record-keeping or correspondence. ... Accountancy (British English) or accounting (American English) is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about information that helps managers and other decision makers make resource allocation decisions. ... Capitalism in the nineteenth century As the nineteenth century began, the United Kingdom was locked in a struggle with Napoleonic France that did much to define the terms for institutional developments, capitalist and otherwise, in the remainder of the century. ... A financial institution acts as an agent that provides financial services for its clients. ... For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ... The Source by Greyworld, in the new LSE building The London Stock Exchange (abbreviated LSE) is a stock exchange located in London. ... A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or company (including a corporation), that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a joint stock company. ... It has been suggested that Board of Trustees be merged into this article or section. ... Usury (from the Latin usuria, demanding in return for a loan a greater amount than was borrowed) was defined originally as charging a fee for the use of money. ... Moneylending is a trade in which money is lent to individuals and corporations. ...

Both Scrooge and Marley have evolved from idealistic, ambitious clerks into astute and driven businessmen for whom money and profit is an end in and of itself.

Seven years prior to the main events of the novel, Marley contracted an unspecified illness and died on Christmas Eve. After his death, Marley's spirit was condemned to walk the Earth for all eternity. As punishment for his shutting out of his fellow man, Marley's ghost could observe, but not interact with, living beings. As an added burden, his spirit was forced to drag around a heavy chain. This chain, made up partly of money boxes, was constructed by Marley's own greed and selfishness. The Christmas Eve (1904-05), watercolor painting by the Swedish painter Carl Larsson (1853-1919) Christmas Eve, December 24, the day before Christmas Day, is treated to a greater or a lesser extent in most Christian societies as part of the Christmas festivities. ... Earth, also known as Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third-closest planet to the Sun. ...

Over the next seven years, Marley came to realize how wrong he had been in life. He also saw that Scrooge, his only friend in the world, was following the same path. Marley was able to procure a chance to help Scrooge avoid this fate by arranging the visitations of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future (just who or what Marley appealed to was never specified in the novel). Marley appeared to Scrooge and told him of the forthcoming visits by the three spirits of Christmas. These spirits, Marley told Scrooge, were the only chance Scrooge had for redemption. Reputed ghost of a monk. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a holiday in the Christian calendar, observed on December 25, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. ... The Spirit of Christmas Past was a character in what was perhaps the most well-known work of english novelist Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. ... The Spirit of Christmas Present was a character in what was perhaps the most well-known work of english novelist Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. ... The Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come was a character in what was perhaps the most well-known work of English novelist Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. ...

Marley's gambit was successful. After the three visitations, Scrooge did amend his ways. The reader is left to imagine that even though Marley is condemned for eternity, his spirit can take some comfort in the knowledge that his friend will not share his fate.