Ebenezer Scrooge (/ˌɛ.bɪ.ˈniː.zər ˈskruːdʒ/) is a fictional character and the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. Initially a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas, his redemption by visits from the ghost of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come has become a defining tale of the Christmas holiday in the English-speaking world.