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A Christmas Carol was written as a metaphor for a traditional Christmas hymn. The title conjures the familiar Christmas tradition of singing round the fireplace or through the streets from door to door, a seasonal activity that joins rich and poor together and echoes the political theme of the story. Many features of the story also reinforce its musical quality. The virtuous characters, Fred Scrooge and his family, the Fezziwigs, and many other unnamed townspeople that Scrooge initially despises, all bring music into Scrooge’s life, be it through laughter, dancing or the joyful chanting of “Merry Christmas!”.
Get the entire A Christmas Carol LitChart as a printable PDF.
Music Symbol Timeline in A Christmas Carol
The timeline below shows where the symbol Music appears in A Christmas Carol. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Stave 1
...Christmas. The cold deepens. A youth out in the street crouches to Scrooge’s keyhole and sings “God bless you, merry gentlemen” . Scrooge, now in a miserable mood, throws a ruler at the door, scaring the...
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...been out of order for some time, starts to toll, and is followed by the chiming of all the other bells in the house. After a long minute of this cacophony,...
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Then, Marley’s ghost beckons Scrooge over. Scrooge begins to hear a chorus of wailing sounds , which Marley’s ghost joins. Then Marley floats out through the window. Scrooge looks out...
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Stave 2
...poor childhood self again. The thought of his own loneliness reminds him of the boy singing a carol he’d sent away from his own office door the previous night.
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...turned into a ballroom and they all dance to the sound of a very determined fiddler. Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig take to the floor and are a wonderful dancing pair, with...
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Stave 3
...further into the wild, they find the crew of a ship, humming together a Christmas tune. Scrooge is astonished at the kindness he finds in such a lonely place.
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Scrooge is interrupted in his vision by a hearty laugh . All of a sudden they are transported to his nephew’s house. There are few...
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Scrooge’s niece plays a tune on the harp that Scrooge remembers fondly. It makes him feel sentimental, and he thinks...
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Stave 5
The church bells start chiming. Scrooge runs to the window and sees a beautifully clear, cold day. He shouts out...
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...sending it to the Cratchit house, paying everyone handsomely for the job. He can’t stop chuckling, so much so that he has trouble shaving and dressing. He goes into the street...
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