Ghost of Christmas Past

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The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge his past at Mr. Fezziwig's ball

The Ghost of Christmas Past is a character in the well-known work of the English novelist Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.

The Ghost of Christmas Past was the first of the three spirits (after the visitation by Jacob Marley) that haunted the miser Ebenezer Scrooge in order to prompt him to repent. It showed him scenes from his past that occurred on or around Christmas, in order to demonstrate to him the necessity of changing his ways, as well as to show the reader how Scrooge came to be the person he was.

According to Dickens' novel, the Ghost of Christmas Past appears to Scrooge as a white-robed, androgynous figure of indeterminate age. It had on its head a blazing light, reminiscent of a candle flame. It carried with it a metal cap, made in the shape of a candle extinguisher. While the ghost is often portrayed as a woman in most dramatic adaptations, Dickens describes the Ghost of Christmas Past only as “it”. ^[1]

The Ghost of Christmas Past first showed Scrooge his old boarding school where he was deserted by family and friends. Then he was shown the day when his beloved, younger sister Fan picked him up from there after repeatedly asking their father if he could come back home. Next, Scrooge was shown an episode from his time as an apprentice to Mr. Fezziwig. The spirit also showed Scrooge the day when, as a young man, he let Belle, his fiancée, leave him, as he had developed more interest in money than in her. Finally the Ghost showed him how she married and found true happiness with another man. After this vision Scrooge, out of anger, extinguished the Ghost of Christmas Past with its cap and found himself back in his bedroom.

[edit] Appearance in various film adaptations

In the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol, the ghost is portrayed as a sweet-faced young woman looking somewhat like an angel.

In the 1951 film A Christmas Carol the ghost is an elderly man. In this version, story is changed so that Fan is older than Ebenezer and the ghost shows him his sister’s death through childbirth.

In the TV special Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, a 1962 animated version, the Ghost is portrayed as a young boy with a flame above his head, a sprig of holly and an orange glow.

In the 1970 version titled Scrooge, the Ghost is portrayed as an elderly but elegant lady with a red dress and a black hat.

In a 1982 version the Ghost of Christmas Past is a Cupid-like young man

In Disney's 1983 animated adaptation titled Mickey's Christmas Carol, Jiminy Cricket takes the role of the Ghost.

In the 1984 made-for-television version of A Christmas Carol, the Ghost is portrayed as a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and a white robe rather than a childlike, long white haired figure as described in the novel written in 1843.

1992's The Muppet Christmas Carol did not use a Muppet character to portray the spirit, but re-imagined it; this version appeared as a tiny, ghostly child of ambiguous gender, dressed in white and floating as if immersed in water.

In the 2005 film V for Vendetta, the character V sarcastically claims to be the Ghost of Christmas Past, just before he takes his revenge against the propagandist news reader.

In the 2006 CGI film A Christmas Carol, the Ghost is portrayed as an anthropomorphic stork.

In A Flintstones Christmas Carol varios characters rolled the ghost.

In the animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the Ghost is parodied as the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, a robot with a penchant of making houses run with elf blood and telling long-winded, incomprehensible stories about the origins of Christmas.

[edit] References

^ Stave 2, note 7, Hearn, Michael P. 1989. The Annotated Christmas Carol / A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; illustrated by John Leach; with an introduction, notes and bibliography by Michael Patrick Hearn. Avenel Books. New York. ISBN: 0-517-68780-1.