History Fact Finder | Culture and Recreation - Which Came First, The Word "Scrooge" Or Charles Dickens' Character "Scrooge"?

Which came first, the word "Scrooge" or Charles Dickens' character "Scrooge"?

The character Scrooge came first. In his famous story A Christmas Carol (1843), English novelist Charles Dickens (1812–1870) created Ebenezer Scrooge, a stingy shop owner who is cruel to his employees. Scrooge has a series of visions of Christmases past, present, and future, and he confronts the fact that he is a lonely and despised. Upon paying a visit to the joyful home of his underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit, on Christmas Day, Scrooge undergoes a transformation. He becomes a cheerful, loving person who is in turn loved by all. By 1899 the term "scrooge" had come to mean a miserly, heartless person.

Further Information: Charles Dickens. [Online] Available http://www.skittler.demon.couk/victorians/dickens.htm, October...

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