Table of Contents
Which Ghost is Marley in A Christmas Carol?
Marley’s Ghost Jacob Marley was Scrooge’s business partner, and the narrator goes to some lengths to make us accept he is dead. His Ghost appears to Scrooge on Christmas Eve with a warning for Scrooge about the need to change his focus in life from money to ‘mankind’. In the story it: has been dead for seven years.
How is Marley’s Ghost described in A Christmas Carol?
His Ghost is described as having chains “made of cash boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds”, all items connected with his job. Indeed, Dickens clarifies that these are the “chains (he) forged in life”, reinforcing the idea that he is suffering due to his own actions.
What does Marley’s Ghost symbolize?

Marley’s Ghost carries the concerns Marley had in life. The chain it carries is made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel (p. 14). These items symbolise the things Marley spent his life on – they are all related to money and protecting his possessions.
Who is the scariest Ghost in A Christmas Carol?
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a silent, hooded phantom not unlike a Grim Reaper. The figure is meant to be a foreboding warning of imminent doom, a final push to scare Scrooge straight. But as ominous as this spirit is, the most terrifying ghost of the story and its many adaptations is Jacob Marley.

Why is Marley’s Ghost transparent?
Cleverly, the turn-of-the-century illustrator renders Marley as completely transparent, so that one sees the flaring candle throughthe spectre, who drags his chain of ledgers, keys, and cash-boxes behind him (left).
What does Marley’s Ghost look like?
The narrator describes Marley’s ghost’s appearance as he visits Scrooge. Marley looks like he did in life except that he now appears transparent and wears a chain of items related to his business. Scrooge will learn that the chain serves as Marley’s punishment.
How is Marley’s Ghost presented?
How does Dickens present Marley’s ghost?
“The chain he drew was clasped around his middle.” Dickens presents Marley with a long chain wrapped around him made of “cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds and heavy purses” to show that he is trapped by his regrets made in life and he isn’t free of his sins.
Why is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come scary?
Dickens shows a ‘solemn’ and spooky spirit in the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The ghost fills Scrooge with terror. Scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him, and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to follow it. The presence of this ghost makes Scrooge afraid.
What does Marley’s ghost look like?
Who was the first Ghost in Scrooge?
the Ghost of Christmas Past
The first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to Christmas scenes of Scrooge’s boyhood, reminding him of a time when he was more innocent.
How is Marley’s face described?
Marley’s face. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. It was not angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead.
How is Marley described?
Marley symbolises worldly greed and spiritual poverty. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.
What turned into Marley’s face?
T. W. Tyrell in “The ‘Marley’ Knocker” in the Dickensian (October 1924) has suggested that Dickens’s transformation of bronze door-knocker into Marley’s face was influenced by an unusual knocker with a man’s face “that hung on the front door of No. 8 Craven Street when it was occupied by one Dr.
How would you describe Marley?
Who are the three ghosts in a Christmas Carol?
A Description of the Ghosts in “A Christmas Carol”. 1 Jacob Marley. Marley is the first ghost to confront Scrooge. He is transparent but has heavy, locked chains wrapped around his body. He informs 2 Ghost of Christmas Past. 3 Ghost of Christmas Present. 4 Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
Did Scrooge know Old Marley was dead?
The register of his burial was signed by the church, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. [1] Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise?
Who is Jacob Marley in a Christmas Carol?
Jacob Marley. Marley is the first ghost to confront Scrooge. He is transparent but has heavy, locked chains wrapped around his body. He informs Scrooge that he cannot rest in peace. He is cursed to roam the Earth in chains because he mistreated the poor and hoarded his money during his lifetime.
What is the meaning of Marley in a Christmas Carol?
A Christmas Carol is composed of five parts or ‘staves’ as Dickens called them, reflecting a Vitruvian star shape, symbolic of perfection and harmony, or a musical composition–on which a complete tale of the redemption of a man will be written. Indeed, we get a clue as soon as the tale begins. The name Marley is a dead give away.