A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol in Prose is a Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens first published on December 19, 1843. The story was instantly successful, selling over six thousand copies in one week and has become one of the most popular and enduring Christmas stories of all time.

Contemporaries noted that the story's popularity played a significant role in redefining the importance of Christmas and the major sentiments associated with it. A Christmas Carol was written during a time of decline in the old Christmas traditions.

Plot summary
A Christmas Carol is a Victorian morality tale of an old and bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who undergoes an intense experience of salvation over the course of one evening. Mr Scrooge is a financier who has devoted his life to the accumulation of wealth and has no regards for friendship, love and the Christmas season.

Dickens divides his work into five "staves" instead of chapters. The story begins by establishing that Jacob Marley, Scrooge's business partner in the firm of Scrooge & Marley, was dead the story begins seven years after his death to the very day, Christmas Eve. Scrooge and his clerk, Bob Cratchit, are at work in the counting-house. Scrooge's nephew, Fred, enters to wish his uncle a "Merry Christmas" and invite him to Christmas dinner the next day.

Scrooge wakes at the stroke of one. After more than fifteen minutes, he rises and finds the second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present. The spirit shows him the small Christmas celebrations of the Cratchit family. This prospect is the immediate catalyst for his change of heart. They also show the faith of Scrooge's nephew in his uncle's potential for change. The Ghost also reveals two pitiful children who personify the major causes of suffering in the world, "Ignorance" and "Want". At the end of the visitation, the bell strikes twelve. The Ghost of Christmas Present vanishes and the third spirit appears to Scrooge.

The Ghost of Christmas takes the form of a grim ghost. This spirit frightens Scrooge more than the others, and harrows him with visions of the Cratchit family bereft of Tiny Tim, of Scrooge's own lonely death. Scrooge learns that he can avoid the future he has been shown. In the end, Scrooge changes his life as he was in his youth before the death of his sister.

The story deals extensively with two of Dickens' repeated themes, social injustice and poverty. It was written to be abrupt and forceful with its messageDramatic adaptations and sequels:

A Christmas Carol' was the subject of Dickens' first public reading, given to the Industrial and Literary Institute. This was repeated three days later to an audience of 'working people'. Over the years Dickens edited the piece down and adapted it for a listening, rather than reading, audience.

A Christmas Carol has been adapted countless times to theatre, opera, film, radio, and television. According to the Internet Movie Database, various movie adaptations of the story were filmed as early as 1908.

Perhaps the most popular and critically acclaimed film adaptation of the story was made in Britain in 1951. Originally titled Scrooge, it and was directed by Brian Desmond-Hurst with a screenplay by Noel Langley.

Dickens wraps up the story with a "happily ever after" ending in two short paragraphs telling us that sickly Tiny Tim survives and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge becomes renowned for his newfound goodness. But he provides no detail on what happens to any of the characters. A number of authors have crafted their own versions of what befell Scrooge and company. From Internet stories to best-selling novels, several different works have picked up the characters and events of Dickens' classic to spin new tales for the story's aftermath.

A Christmas Carol is the name of a musical which is based on the timeless classic novel by the award winning writer Charles Dickens. The novel was written back in 1943 and became widely popular and successful. The story follows the themes of social injustice and poverty, which Dickens usually incorporates in his writings. Its musical adaptation took place during the mid nineties, with the assistance of Alan Menken who was responsible for its music and Lynn Ahrens who wrote the lyrics. The musical was seen at the Madison Square Garden from 1994 till 2003.

The story of this award winning musical A Christmas Carol revolves around the major character Miser Ebenezer Scrooge. It starts with the musical numbers 'Jolly, Rich and Fat' and 'The Years Are Passing By' followed by Scrooge's encounter with the spirits. He is revealed (by the spirits) on the Christmas evening that his existence is miserable, the cruelness which will in turn lead him to the bad fate awaiting him. He can only save it by changing his ways and he must decide it himself what he wants. The story concludes with a happy ever after ending.

Many adaptations to the original story have been seen; including film, musical opera, among others. But this two hours long musical is definitely very enjoyable especially if you love the reality based stories by Dickens. It has won an Emmy and a Golden Real Award and received various nominations. Purchase A Christmas Carol tickets soon and get ready for a great entertainment.