Complete collection of Scrooge's most important quotes for GCSE English Literature, including “Bah! Humbug!”, “Are there no prisons?”, and his transformation quotes.
Ebenezer Scrooge is the protagonist of Dickens' A Christmas Carol and one of literature's most famous characters. He begins as a cold, miserly businessman who values money above all else, dismissing Christmas as “Humbug” and refusing to help the poor.
Through the visits of four ghosts (Marley and the three Spirits of Christmas), Scrooge undergoes a complete moral transformation. His journey from isolation to community, from greed to generosity, embodies Dickens' message about redemption and social responsibility in Victorian England.
Scrooge is “solitary as an oyster”, rejecting Christmas with “Bah! Humbug!” and dismissing the poor with “Are there no prisons?” He values money over humanity.
The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge his lonely childhood and lost love, Belle. He sees how his obsession with money cost him happiness and human connection.
The Ghost of Christmas Present reveals the poverty around him - the Cratchits' humble joy, Tiny Tim's illness, and the starving children Ignorance and Want hiding under the Ghost's robes.
After seeing his lonely death, Scrooge awakes transformed. He becomes “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew.”
View quotes from other characters including Jacob Marley, the Ghosts, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim.