A Christmas Carol

A Carol for Christmas. in written form. Charles Dickens's novel Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, also known as A Christmas Carol, was first published in London in 1843 by Chapman & Hall. John Leech provided the illustrations for the work. As told in A Christmas Carol, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old man, includes visits from the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, and the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future. Scrooge becomes a more compassionate and kind man as a result of their visit.

Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol at a time when British culture was examining and reevaluating both modern customs such as Christmas trees and cards and older customs such as carols. He was influenced by his early experiences and the Christmas stories of other writers such as Washington Irving and Douglas Gerald. Dickens was inspired to write the novel after attending Field Lane Rockett School, one of London's many facilities for homeless children. Before this, he had written three Christmas stories. The central themes of the story are how the poor are treated and how a selfish man can change for the better by becoming a more compassionate person.

First published on December 19, the first edition was sold by Christmas Eve, and thirteen editions were published by the end of 1844. Most critics gave the novel positive reviews. After it was discovered that the story had been illegally copied in January 1844, Dickens sued the publishers and eventually filed for bankruptcy, severely reducing his meager income from the book. In subsequent years, he wrote four more Christmas stories. He began performing the story aloud in public in 1849 and performed it 127 times before his death in 1870. The story of A Christmas Carol has been adapted many times for film, stage, opera, and more. media. It has been translated into many languages and is out of print.

An early Victorian revival of the Christmas holiday was incorporated into a Christmas carol. Recognizing the influence of contemporary Western Christmas celebrations, Dickens encouraged various elements of the holiday, such as family gatherings, festive food and drink, games, dancing, and the spirit of giving.

Publications

Due to disagreements between Chapman and Hall over Martin Susilwit's commercial failures,[64] Dickens arranged to finance the publishing house himself to reduce sales.[33] The production of A Christmas Carol was not without its problems. The first printed endpapers were supposed to be a festive green, but they turned out to be a dull olive. Publishers Chapman and Hall redesigned the title page in a coordinating shade of blue and red, substituting these for yellow endpapers. [65] The finished work was completed two days before publication on December 19, 1843, and was bound in red cloth with gilt-edged pages.

At five shillings or £26 in 2023, the first 6,000 copies were sold out by Christmas Eve, note [68]. By the end of the year, Chapman and Hall had published second and third editions of the book, and sales of the first edition lasted until 1844. [70] Eleven more editions were published by the end of 1844. [71] The book has been translated into several languages, published in both hardcover and paperback, and has never been out of print since its original publication. [72] Over 100 years after its initial publication, it became Dickens' most popular work in America, selling two million copies. [52]

Dickens' emphasis on high production costs led to low profits; Instead of the £1,000 (or £104,000 in 2023 pounds)[68] he had hoped for, the first edition earned him only £230, or £24,000 in 2023 pounds.[73] When profits came to just £744 a year later, Dickens was not happy.

Performance and adaptations

Dickens was engaged to David Copperfield in 1849 and had neither the desire nor the time to write another Christmas novel.[90] He concluded that giving public readings of his "Carole philosophy" would be a more effective way of reaching his audience. [91] Dickens read to the Industrial and Literary Society at Birmingham Town Hall during Christmas 1853, and the event was a huge success. [92] [93] He subsequently performed an abridged version of the story 127 times, including his final performance in 1870, the year of his death. [94]

The first motion picture adaptation of Scrooge or Marley's Ghost (1901).

W. M. Swepstone (Shadows of Christmas, 1850), Horatio Alger (Job Warner's Christmas, 1863), Louisa May Alcott (A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True, 1882), and other authors who imitated Scrooge as a man who changed his life—or some whom Dickens misunderstood and corrected. who believed that—published their responses to the story within a few years of the book's publication.95]

The novel soon became a stage play. On February 5, 1844, three productions were launched. One, directed by Edward Stirling and titled A Christmas Carol; Or, Past, Present and Future, ran over 40 nights under Dickens' approval. [96] By the end of February 1844, there were eight competitive stage productions of A Christmas Carol in London. [75] There have been more film and television adaptations of the story than any other of Dickens's writings. [97] One of the earliest film adaptations of a Dickens work was made into a silent black-and-white British film in 1901 titled Scrooge or Marley's Ghost. However, it is now mostly lost. [98] In 1923, the story was adapted for BBC radio.

According to Davis, people now remember the adaptations more than the originals. Many have forgotten some of Dickens's scenes, such as visiting the miners and lighthouse keepers, while others believe that frequently added events, such as Scrooge's visit to Cratchits on Christmas Day, were part of the story. Davies consequently makes a distinction between the "remembered version" and the original text.