The Ghost of Christmas Present is a fictional character in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' 1843

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

''. The Ghost is one of three spirits that appear to miser

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, ''A Christmas Carol''. Initially a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas, his redemption by visits from the ghost of Jacob Marley, the G ...

to offer him a chance of redemption. Following a visit from the ghost of his deceased business partner,

Jacob Marley Jacob Marley is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. Marley has died seven years ago, and was a former business partner of the miser Ebenezer Scrooge, the novella's protagonist.Hawes, Donal''Who's Who i ...

, Scrooge receives nocturnal visits from three Ghosts of Christmas, each representing a different period in Scrooge's life. The Ghost of Christmas Present is concerned with Scrooge's current life and the present

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

. The Ghost of Christmas Present is presented as a personification of the Christmas spirit,Hearn, Michael Patrick. ''The Annotated Christmas Carol'', W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York (2004), p. 83 and in the novella's first edition hand-coloured drawing by John Leech resembles early- Victorian images of

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

. The spirit first appears to Scrooge on a throne made of traditional Christmas foodstuffs that would have been familiar to Dickens's more prosperous readers. The spirit becomes the mouthpiece for

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...

's view on

social reform Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements which reject t ...

and Christian charity:Hind-Portley, Mary
Is 'A Christmas Carol' more than a ghost story?

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, 9 December 2020 generosity and goodwill to all men – especially to the poor – and celebration of Christmas Day.

Background

Portrait of Charles John Huffman Dickens

By early 1843 Dickens had been affected by the treatment of the poor and, in particular, the treatment of the children of the poor after witnessing children working in appalling conditions in a tin mine and following a visit to a

ragged school Ragged schools were charitable organisations dedicated to the free education of destitute children in 19th-century Great Britain, Britain. The schools were developed in working-class districts and intended for society's most impoverished youngste ...

. Indeed, Dickens experienced poverty as a boy when he was forced to work in a blacking factory after his father's imprisonment for debt. Originally intending to write a political pamphlet titled, ''An Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man's Child'', he changed his mind and instead wrote ''

'' which voiced his social concerns about poverty and injustice. Dickens's friend and biographer John Forster said that Dickens had 'a hankering after ghosts', while not actually having a belief in them himself, and his journals ''

Household Words ''Household Words'' was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens in the 1850s. It took its name from the line in Shakespeare's '' Henry V'': "Familiar in his mouth as household words." History During the planning stages, titles orig ...

'' and ''

All the Year Round ''All the Year Round'' was a British weekly literary magazine founded and owned by Charles Dickens, published between 1859 and 1895 throughout the United Kingdom. Edited by Dickens, it was the direct successor to his previous publication '' Ho ...

'' regularly featured ghost stories, with the novelist publishing an annual ghost story for some years after his first, ''

'', in 1843. In this

, Dickens was innovative in making the existence of the supernatural a natural extension of the real world in which Scrooge and his contemporaries lived.Mullan, John
Ghosts in A Christmas Carol
Discovering Literature: Romantics & Victorians -

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

Database Dickens making the Christmas Spirits a central feature of his story is a reflection of the early- Victorian interest in the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

Origins

The Ghost of Christmas Present is described as "a jolly Giant", and

Leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...

's hand-coloured illustration of the friendly and cheerful Spirit, his hand open in a gesture of welcome confronted by the amazed Scrooge has been described by Jane Rabb Cohen as elegantly combining "the ideal, real, and supernatural" with humour and sympathy. It is clear that the Spirit is based on

, the ancient patriarchal figure associated with the English Christmas holiday, traditionally a bearded pagan giant depicted in a fur-lined evergreen robe wearing a crown of holly while holding mistletoe. Father Christmas, or Old Christmas, was often represented as surrounded by plentiful food and drink and started to appear regularly in illustrated magazines of the 1840s. The American

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

commemorated in the 1822 poem '' A Visit from St. Nicholas'' (better known as ''The Night Before Christmas'') by

Clement Clarke Moore Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. He is best known as author of the Christmas poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas", which first named each of Santa Claus's reindeer. M ...

is derived from his pagan English counterpart and the gift-giving Saint Nicholas of Myra, but the Ghost of Christmas Present should not be confused with the American version, who was little known in England before the early 1850s.

Significance to the story

As predicted by

, the second Spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, appears as the bell strikes one. While Scrooge is waiting to meet the second of the Spirits, '''nothing between a baby and a rhinoceros would have astonished him very much'''. However, the appearance of the Spirit takes him by surprise, with its vision of opulence and the good things of Christmas, a vision of how Scrooge with all his wealth could be living, but chooses not to:

The moment Scrooge's hand was on the lock, a strange voice called him by his name, and bade him enter. He obeyed... Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum-puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam. In easy state upon this couch there sat a jolly Giant, glorious to see; who bore a glowing torch, in shape not unlike Plenty's horn, and held it up, high up, to shed its light on Scrooge as he came peeping round the door. "Come in!" exclaimed the Ghost. "Come in! and know me better, man!" Scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before this Spirit. He was not the dogged Scrooge he had been; and, though the Spirit's eyes were clear and kind, he did not like to meet them. "I am the Ghost of Christmas Present," said the Spirit. "Look upon me!" Scrooge reverently did so. It was clothed in one simple deep green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air. Girded round its middle was an antique scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust. "You have never seen the like of me before!" exclaimed the Spirit.

Scrooge is more chastened in this Spirit's company than he was in the presence of the

Ghost of Christmas Past The Ghost of Christmas Past is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. The Ghost is one of three spirits that appear to miser Ebenezer Scrooge to offer him a chance of redemption. Following a visit from t ...

and expresses his willingness to learn from any lesson the Spirit will show him. The Spirit takes Scrooge to the city streets with which Dickens himself was very familiar and which he paced each night while composing '' A Christmas Carol'' – 'past the areas of shabby genteel houses in Somers or Kentish Towns, watching the diners preparing or coming in'. Dickens incorporated these scenes into his novella. In the original manuscript, the Spirit refers to "my oldest brother", a clear reference to Jesus Christ and the first Christmas, but Dickens erased this reference before publication as being irreverent. The Spirit shows Scrooge the joys and the hardships experienced by his fellow Man during one Christmas Day, that of the present, taking Scrooge to a joyous market with people buying the makings of

Christmas dinner Christmas dinner is a meal traditionally eaten at Christmas. This meal can take place any time from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day itself. The meals are often particularly rich and substantial, in the tradition of t ...

; to celebrations of Christmas in a miner's cottage, a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

, and at his nephew Fred's Christmas party. A major part of this stave is taken up with

Bob Cratchit Robert "Bob" Cratchit is a fictional character in the Charles Dickens 1843 novel ''A Christmas Carol''. The overworked, underpaid clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge, Cratchit has come to symbolise the poor working conditions, especially long working hou ...

and his family, who, although poor, love each other and delight in each other's company. During the family feast, we are introduced to Cratchit's youngest son, Tiny Tim, who, despite his disability, remains full of Christian spirit and happiness. The Spirit informs Scrooge that Tiny Tim will die unless the course of events changes, echoing Scrooge's own words he had earlier used to the two men who were collecting for charity, ''"If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."'' Scrooge notices that the Spirit : notwithstanding his gigantic size accommodate himself to any place with ease ... He stood beneath a low roof quite as gracefully and like a super-natural creature, as it was possible he could have done in any lofty hall. The Rev. Geoffrey Rowell has observed that the stooping of the Ghost of Christmas Present is a reflection of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

's statement that God stooped down to be born in human form in the

Incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...

at Bethlehem.

Sabbath dinners of the poor

When the Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge the dinners of the poor being cooked in a local bakery, the houses of the poor at that time being ill-equipped for cooking, seeing the Spirit as representing God and Christianity Scrooge accuses him of wanting to close such bakeries on the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

which would have resulted in the poor having no hot food that day. The Sunday shuttering of businesses was of great importance to Dickens at that time: Several public figures wanted to keep the Sabbath holy by banning secular work on Sundays, which meant closing the bakeries. Among these Sabbatarians was the MP Sir Andrew Agnew (1793–1849), who introduced a Sunday Observance Bill in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

four times between 1832 and 1837, none of which passed. It was Agnew's third attempt which drew on him the wrath of

; Dickens' pamphlet in response is largely a personal attack on Agnew, who wished to not only close the bakeries but also to limit other "innocent enjoyments" of people experiencing poverty. The passing of the Bill, had it been successful, would not have affected the hot meals or amusements of the better-off on Sundays. Dickens wrote, : "Sir Andrew Agnew ... generally speaking, eat(s) pretty comfortable dinners all the week through, and cannot be expected to understand what people feel, who only have a meat dinner on one day out of seven." Dickens later supported the National Sunday League, which campaigned to relax Sunday restrictions further. In the novella, Scrooge points out to the Spirit that the actions of the Sabbatarians "... has been done in your name, or at least that of your family". This is a revealing comment, as it shows that God sent the Spirits for Scrooge's redemption and that Dickens, therefore, intended ''A Christmas Carol'' as a Christian allegory. In the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...

, the disciples of Jesus pluck the heads off grain to eat as they walked by some fields. They are accused of breaking Sabbath rules concerning resting on the Sabbath because plucking the grain was considered food preparation. Jesus replied, : "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Dickens himself professed to be a Christian, but it is hard to pigeonhole his faith into any particular sectarian branch of 19th century Christianity. The Spirit responds: : There are some on this earth of yours ... who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us. The Spirit's words point out to Scrooge that many hypocritically claim religious justification for their un-Christian actions, which adversely affect the lives of people experiencing poverty. He states that men should be judged by the morality of their deeds and not by the religious justification for them.

Ignorance and Want

The Spirit grows visibly older as his time with Scrooge passes, as he explains, "My life upon this globe, is very brief...it ends to-night...at midnight", but before disappearing Scrooge observes two hideous and emaciated children – ''Ignorance'' and ''Want'' – crouching beneath the robe of the Spirit. Dickens intends the two as a warning to Scrooge and Mankind of the consequences of ignoring the needs of the poor - and poor children in particular: The Spirit thus reminds the reader that poverty is not a problem of the past or the future but also the present and mocks Scrooge's concern for their welfare before disappearing at midnight. Dickens was to reiterate his warning about the treatment of people experiencing poverty in a speech he delivered at the Polytechnic Institute in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

on 28 February 1844, shortly after the publication of ''A Christmas Carol''. In a metaphor taken from 'The Genii in the Bottle' from ''

The Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

'' he said, :"Now, there is a spirit of great power, the ''Spirit of Ignorance'', long shut up in a vessel of Obstinate Neglect, with a great deal of lead in its composition, and sealed with the seal of many, many Solomons, and which is exactly in the same position. Release it in time, and it will bless, restore, and reanimate society; but let it lie under the rolling waves of years, and its blind revenge at last will be destruction."

Notable portrayals

Film

The character does not appear in ''

Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost ''Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost'' is a 1901 British silent film, silent trick film directed by Walter R. Booth, featuring the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Daniel Smith) confronted by Jacob Marley's ghost and given visions of Christmas past ...

'' (1901), the first film version of the story. *Richard L'Estrange in '' The Right to Be Happy'' (1916) * Oscar Asche in '' Scrooge'' (1935) * Lionel Braham in ''

'' (1938) *

Francis de Wolff Baron Francis-Marie Arist de Wolff (7 January 191318 April 1984) was an English character actor. Large, bearded, and beetle-browed, he was often cast as villains and foreigners in both film and television. Early life De Wolff was born in Essex ...

in '' Scrooge'' (1951) *

Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this period ...

in '' Scrooge'' (1970) * Felix Felton (voice) in ''

'' (1971) *

Will Ryan William Ryan (May 21, 1949 – November 19, 2021) was an American voice actor, musician and singer. He provided the voice of Petrie in the 1988 animated film '' The Land Before Time''. He was also known for his voice work as Eugene Meltsner in t ...

(

Willie the Giant The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional universe, fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving The Walt Disney Company, Disney cartoon characters, including Mickey Mouse, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Donald and ...

) in '' Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983) * Carol Kane in ''

Scrooged ''Scrooged'' is a 1988 American Christmas fantasy black comedy film directed by Richard Donner and written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue. Based on the 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol'' by Charles Dickens, ''Scrooged'' is a modern re ...

'' (1988) *

Jerry Nelson Jerry Nelson (July 10, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Known for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on ''Sesame Street'', ''The M ...

(face and voice) in '' The Muppet Christmas Carol'' (1992) *

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

(voice) in ''

'' (1997) *

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career ...

(voice) in '' Christmas Carol: The Movie'' (2001) * Keith Wickham (voice) in ''

'' (2006) *

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. Known primarily for his energetic slapstick performances, he has received two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for BAFTA Awards and ...

(voice and motion capture) in ''

'' (2009) * Justin Edwards in '' The Man Who Invented Christmas'' (2017) *

Daniel Kaluuya Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is an English actor. His work encompasses both screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Daniel Kaluuya, his accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two British Academy ...

in ''

'' (2020) *

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell received various accolades, including ...

in '' Spirited (2022) *Trevor Dion Nicholas (voice) in '' Scrooge: A Christmas Carol''.

Television

Les Tremayne Lester Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was a British-born American actor who performed in Vaudeville, film, theatre, radio and television. Early life Tremayne was born in Balham, London. He moved with his family at the age o ...

(voice) in '' Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol'' (1962) *Bernhard Lee in ''Scrooge'' (1977) *

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986), better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney the ...

(voice) in '' The Stingiest Man in Town'' (1978) * Edward Woodward in ''

'' (1984) *

Brian Cummings Brian Douglas Cummings is an American voice actor. He is known for his work in commercials, television and motion picture promos, cartoons and as the announcer on '' The All-New Let's Make a Deal'' from 1984 to 1985. Life and career Having begu ...

(voice) in '' A Flintstones Christmas Carol'' (1994) * Desmond Barrit in ''

'' (1999) * Ray Fearon in ''

'' (2000) *

John Taylor (bass guitarist) Nigel John Taylor (born 20 June 1960) is a British musician who is best known as the bass guitarist for new wave band Duran Duran, of which he was a founding member. Duran Duran was one of the most popular bands in the world during the 1980s ...

in '' A Diva's Christmas Carol'' (2000) *

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

in '' Nan's Christmas Carol'' (2009) * Karen Gillan in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' episode

(2010) * Andrea Libman in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode A Hearth's Warming Tail (2016) * Charlotte Riley in ''

'' (2019)

Musicals

Stratford Johns Alan Edgar Stratford Johnson (22 September 1925 – 29 January 2002), known as Stratford Johns, was a British stage, film and television actor known for playing the role of senior CID officer Charlie Barlow, a character he originated in the lo ...

in '' Scrooge'' (1992) *

Ken Jennings Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, former contestant, and author. He is best known for his work on the syndicated quiz show ''Jeopardy!'' as a contestant and later its host. Jennings was born in Edm ...

in ''

'' (1994)

Plays

* Paul Bedford in '' A Christmas Carol; or, Past, Present, and Future'' (1844) *

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...

(all characters) in ''

'' (1991) * Golda Rosheuvel / Nichola Hughes / Gloria Onitiri / Golda Rosheuvel / LaChanze in ''

'' (2017-2021)

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost of Christmas Present Literary characters introduced in 1843 A Christmas Carol characters Christmas characters Male characters in film Male characters in literature Father Christmas Fictional ghosts