“Bah! Humbug!” I have a fondness for Scrooge. Not only has he got a fantastic name (typically Dickensian), he’s a classic Christmas character. Endlessly portrayed in various film, TV and stage adaptations, Scrooge is popular with many readers and viewers, despite being frosty, uncharitable and selfish. As the Muppets’ version goes – ‘Oh, there goes Mr Humbug / There goes Mr Grim / If they gave a prize for being mean / The winner would be him’.
Scrooge is not wholly bad. He has the potential to change his ways, which he does after being visited by the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future. A Christmas Carol is heartwarming because in the end he is happy and is spreading happiness to others. However, I can’t be the only one who enjoys his pre-Ghosts nastiness. This would explain why I love Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, which reverses the original story and sees the jolly Ebenezer Blackadder become deliciously nasty, getting his revenge on all the spongers who took advantage of his niceness.
My favourite Scrooge quote:
“If I could work my will,” said Scrooge, indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas,’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”
And in case you missed it, here’s my popular blog post from last year: Fictional presents I’ll never get for Christmas.
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