Ebenezer Scrooge 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...". 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 Charles Dickens and one of the most famous in English literature.