A Christmas Carol

The man you see in this photo is the famous and prolific English writer, Charles Dickens, who lived from 1812 to 1870. Have you heard of the story of Oliver Twist? Dickens wrote it. Great Expectations? Dickens wrote it.  A Tale of Two Cities? Dickens wrote that too, and many, many others. If you would like to know something about the life of Charles Dickens, watch this short video.

One of the most well known of Charles Dickens' stories is The Christmas Carol, first published in 1843. It is a story that is told time and time again--especially at the Christmas season. The main character is Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy, miserly (cheap) old man who needs to be taught the true meaning of Christmas. He's visited by three spirits (kind of like ghosts), who each teach him a lesson about generosity, kindness, the value of life, and goodwill toward all people. Do you think Ebenezer Scrooge learns his lesson at the end? Will he emerge from this a changed man? Below is a picture of a stage performance of A Christmas Carol. It shows the visit of Jacob Marley, a man who worked for Scrooge for a long time, but is now dead (wait, if he's dead, then how...? Oh right, he's a ghost!--Pretty scary!). He warns Scrooge of the coming of the three spirits.

Scrooge and Marley

There are many versions of Charles Dickens The Christmas Carol, which shows its immense popularity even after all of these years.

• Here's an animated version with Tim Curry doing the voice of Scrooge: A Christmas Carol
• If you like old black and white films, this classic called Scrooge is from 1935.
• This one is my personal favorite, a musical, also called Scrooge, based on A Christmas Carol
• For good fun, you may like to watch Mickey's Christmas Carol, starring none other than Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and a whole cast of Disney characters! 
• Below is another nice version of the film starring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge.

For the Next few class sessions, we'll be working on a reading of The Christmas Carol.