Jacob Marley's Ghost: [Scrooge has arrived in Hell] Ah! So there you are. Ebenezer Scrooge: Marley! Where am I? Jacob Marley's Ghost: I should have thought it was obvious. I heard you were coming down today, so I thought I'd come to greet you, show you to your quarters. Nobody else wanted to.…
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Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge (/ˌɛbᵻˈniːzər ˈskruːdʒ/) is the focal character of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. Dickens describes him thus: "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice, bah humbug." His last name has come into the English language as a byword for miserliness and misanthropy. The tale of his redemption by the three Ghosts of Christmas (Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) has become a defining tale of the Christmas holiday in the English-speaking world. Ebenezer Scrooge is arguably both one of the most famous characters created by Dickens and one of the most famous in English literature. Scrooge's catchphrase, "Bah! Humbug!" is often used to express disgust with many of the modern Christmas traditions. 2Origins Several theories have been put forward as to where Dickens got inspiration for the character. Ebenezer Scroggie, a corn merchant from Edinburgh who won a catering contract for King George IVs visit to Scotland. He was buried in Canongate Kirkyard, with a gravestone that is now los
[a knock at the door] Ebenezer Scrooge: Fire and damnation! Don't they know that I'm trying to run a business here? [flings the door open] Nephew Fred: Uncle Ebenezer! I cannot tell you what a joy it is to see your happy, smiling face. Ebenezer Scrooge: Oh...it's you.
Ebenezer Scrooge: [Ghost of Christmas Present has brought Scrooge to Bob Cratchit's home] I want to look in the window. Ghost of Christmas Present: It will cost you nothing, which I'm sure is good news for you. Ebenezer Scrooge: Will they be able to see me? Ghost of Christmas Present: No, which I'm…
[singing] I will start anew / I will make amends / and I will make quite certain / that the story ends / on a note of hope / on a strong amen / and I'll thank the world / and remember when / I was able to begin again!
Ebenezer Scrooge: And be good enough to leave me alone during business hours. Nephew Fred: Seven o'clock on Christmas Eve? That's not business hours, that's drudgery for the sake of it, and an insult to all men of goodwill. Bob Cratchit: Here, here! Nephew Fred: [surprised] Thank you, Bob Cratchit.…
Ebenezer Scrooge: [watching Fezziwig's Christmas party] What a marvelous man... Ghost of Christmas Past: What's so marvelous? He's merely spent a few pounds of your mortal money. Three or four, perhaps. What is that to be deserving of so much praise? Ebenezer Scrooge: You don't understand. He had…
Ebenezer Scrooge: Why do you walk the earth? Why'd you come to persecute me? And what is that great chain you wear? Jacob Marley's Ghost: I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it, link by link and yard by yard, while on Earth, and now I will never be rid of it, any more than you will ever be rid…
Now, I'll tell you what, my friend. I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore I am about to raise your salary!
I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!
Spirit! Hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope?
Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me.
You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us. Is that so, Spirit?
Spirit! Remove me from this place.