A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

19th CenturyFiction
28,402 words5 chapters~114 min read
Start Reading

Charles Dickens' beloved 1843 novella follows the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge as three Christmas spirits guide him through past, present, and future on Christmas Eve. This enduring work of Victorian fiction explores themes of redemption, social responsibility, and the transformative power of compassion in 19th-century London.

Opening lines

MARLEY was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years. Scrooge wa
Continue reading →

About Charles Dickens

Born in 1812, this Victorian master transformed literature through vivid portrayals of London's poor and working class. His serialized novels like Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol exposed social injustices while entertaining millions of readers. His compassionate storytelling and memorable characters made him one of England's most beloved authors until his death in 1870. All works by Charles Dickens

More by Charles Dickens

19th Century Fiction

Browse all Fiction · 19th Century works