Ghost of Christmas Past
Memory-showing holiday spirit
The Ghost of Christmas Past is a supernatural figure in Charles Dickens's 1843 novella *A Christmas Carol*, the first of three spirits who visit the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve.
This ghost appears as a strange, ethereal being—part child, part old man—who takes Scrooge back through memories of his youth and early adulthood to show how he became hardened and isolated.
In broader usage, the phrase evokes confronting one's past or being haunted by earlier versions of oneself.
- DickensianGrimly poor, socially unjust
- ScroogeMiserly, cold-hearted person
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- transienceBrevity of existence
- spiritSoul, mood, or liquor
Jacob Marley · specter · entity · moral lessons · Ebenezer Scrooge · allegory · Charles Dickens · Tiny Tim · novel · phantom · candlelight · Victorian England · transformative journey · redemption story · manifestation · childhood · childhood memories · supernatural phenomena
- A Christmas CarolEbenezer Scrooge, Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley
- Fictional GhostsCasper, Slimer, Moaning Myrtle, Nearly Headless Nick, Jacob Marley
- Winter Characterssnowman, Santa Claus, Santa, Frosty, Jack Frost
- DickensCharles Dickens, Dickens, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, Bleak House
- Holiday EntertainmentHome Alone, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Polar Express, The Nutcracker
- holiday figuresSanta Claus, Santa, St. Nicholas, Easter Bunny, Frosty
Ghost of Christmas PastGhost of Christmas Yet to Come
Silent spirit showing mortality
Ghost of Christmas Present · the present · tomorrow · Death · what will be
Ghost of Christmas PastGhost of Christmas Yet to Come
Silent spirit showing mortality
anticipation · dread · hope · futurity · forward-looking