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Charles Dickens (1812–1870) -

On December 19, 1843, 'A Christmas Carol' was published. Written by Charles Dickens, the novella introduced to the world a character called Ebenezer Scrooge. 

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What is a scrooge? -

Scrooge's last name entered the English language as a byword for greed and misanthropy. 

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A selfish and unfriendly person -

A scrooge also describes a selfish and unfriendly person who is not willing to spend or give money away.

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A miserly attitude -

A person who demonstrates a great desire to possess money but hates to spend it is also known as a miser. 

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Definition of a miser -

And a miser can be defined variously as a cheapskate, penny-pincher, skinflint, piker, or tightwad. 

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A wretched individual -

But it's as a scrooge that a person who is stingy with money is best known. And they are often depicted as living in wretched circumstances in order to accumulate their wealth. 

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Origins of the miser -

Dickens wrote 'A Christmas Carol' in the mid-1800s. But the earliest known use of the word 'miser' is in the Middle English period (1150–1500).

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'Dance of Death' -

'Dance of Death' is the most celebrated series of woodcuts designed by the German-Swiss painter and printmaker Hans Holbein. Created in 1523, 'Dance of Death' is often interpreted as part of the contemporaneous rise of Protestantism, with its implicit judgement against indulgence and excess. In one scene, Death intrudes on a miser and snatches his gold coins. 

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John Elwes (1714–1789) -

Dickens is said to have based his Scrooge on English politician John Elwes, an eccentric miser who adopted his uncle's miserly ways. This included, for example, retiring to bed when darkness fell to save on candles and wearing only ragged, hand-me-down clothes.  

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Daniel Dancer (1716–1794) -

Dickens later made reference to Elwes in 'Bleak House' (1853), along with another notable 18th-century miser, Daniel Dancer, in 'Our Mutual Friend,' first published in serialized form in 1864–65.  

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Jemmy Wood (1756–1836) -

Another potential real life source for Ebenezer Scrooge is Jemmy Wood, the so-called "Gloucester Miser." A character called Dismal Jemmy appears in 'The Pickwick Papers' (1836) and Jemmy Wood of Gloucester is mentioned in 'Our Mutual Friend.'

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'A Christmas Carol' -

The moral of 'A Christmas Carol' is that the pursuit of money will not make a person happy. In the novella, Scrooge, a miserly curmudgeon, is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley. Marley warns Scrooge of his impending visits from the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come

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Ghost of Christmas Past -

The Ghost of Christmas Past represents memory. It shows Scrooge events from his past in hopes of shedding light on how he became bitter and miserly, and to remind him that he was not always that way. 

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Ghost of Christmas Present -

The Ghost of Christmas Present represents generosity and good will. A jovial manifestation of everyone's Christmas celebrations, the spirit shows the irascible Scrooge scenes of people sharing what they have with each other, even if they have very little.

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Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come -

The shrouded, ominous, and silent Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is Scrooge's final visitor. It warns him that if he continues in his current stingy and unfriendly manner, there is a reckoning that awaits him. Pressing the point home, the spirit shows Scrooge that his death is mourned by no one. 

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Redemption -

'A Christmas Carol' ends with Scrooge a changed man and befriending the family of Bob Cratchit, his clerk, and becoming a second father to Crachit's crippled son, Tiny Tim. 

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Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834) -

Dickens based Scrooge's views of the poor on those of English political economist and demographer Thomas Malthus, who harbored a callous attitude towards the "surplus population." The Malthusian ideology that pervaded Victorian society, and which Scrooge adopts, was based on The Poor Law of 1834 which overhauled the system of providing support to the poor and reduced the amount of individual charity the wealthy were willing to contribute. In the novella, Scrooge despises the poor and sees them as worthless and expendable members of society.  

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Scrooge syndrome -

Psychologists today have diagnosed Dickens' fictional character with various disorders, including obsessive compulsive disorder, pathological narcissism, and post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED). So, could the cold, bitter, and contemptuous Scrooge be a poster boy for PTED?

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Post-traumatic embitterment disorder -

PTED is best described as an extreme, enduring reaction to negative life-events, which those affected experienced as a grave insult, humiliation, betrayal, or injustice. The condition is on occasion referred to as the "Scrooge syndrome." 

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Socially inept -

Prevalent emotions of PTED are embitterment, anger, fury, and hatred. Ebenezer Scrooge demonstrates significant impairment in social and interpersonal functioning. He famously greets the idea of Christmas with the indignant retort: "Bah humbug!"

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Childhood trauma -

Through reading 'A Christmas Carol' it becomes apparent that Scrooge suffered emotional injury from a very young age, the nature of which contributes to his character's pathology. 

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Damaged youth -

Ergo, the psychotherapeutic insights contained in 'A Christmas Carol' are transferable into current psychotherapeutic and spiritual care practices, particularly with those who experience early childhood traumas. 

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Scrooge effect -

And then there's the 'Scrooge effect.' This is a psychological phenomenon that describes a noticeable behavioral change in individuals towards increased generosity and altruism following encounters with mortality or existential dread, in Scrooge's case his confrontation with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  

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John Paul Getty Sr. (1892–1976) -

One could argue that American oil tycoon John Paul Getty Sr. experienced the Scrooge effect. He famously had a pay phone installed at Sutton Place, his home in England. He also laundered his own shirts by hand, and reused envelopes and paper. When his grandson John Paul Getty III was kidnapped in Italy in July 1973, he initially refused to pay for the teenager's release. But throughout his life, Getty donated more than £140 million to artistic and cultural causes, thus somewhat countering his reputation as a miser. 

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Thomas Cooke (1726-1811) -

Ebenezer Scrooge is, of course, a fictional miser. But besides those already mentioned as possible inspirations for the character, history's other notorious real life skinflints include the contemptible Thomas Cooke, who became wealthy after marrying a rich widow and then spent the rest of his life penny-pinching and manipulating the goodwill of strangers. 

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William Stevenson (?–1817) -

When he died in 1817, Scotsman William Stevenson was worth £900 (about US$1140). That's equivalent to about £96,000 (US$121,800) in 2024. What's surprising is that Stevenson was an unscrupulous beggar who hoarded his ill-gotten gains. His only saving grace was paying for a two-week-long wake party with cakes and wine for Ayrshire's poor and homeless.

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John Camden Neild (1780–1852) -

John Camden Neild was an eccentric who lived as a recluse in a large house in Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London. Worth £500,000 (US$634,682), about £87 million (approximately US$110.5 million) in today's money, Neild nonetheless loathed spending money (his home was practically bereft of furniture). In his will, after bequeathing a few trifling legacies, he left the whole of his property to Queen Victoria. 

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Wellington R. Burt (1831–1919) -

Wellington R. Burt was an American lumber baron from Saginaw, Michigan. When he died at age 87, he was one of the eight richest men in America. But his greed and selfishness followed him to the grave. In his will, he barred any money from his estate being distributed until 21 years after the death of his last grandchild.

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Hetty Green (1834–1916) -

Her famous frugality won Hetty Green the title of the "greatest miser," an honor bestowed upon her by the Guinness Book of World Records. An American businesswoman and financier, Green appeared to care more about hoarding money than she did about her own children. Her refusal to buy expensive clothes or pay for hot water, and her habit of wearing a single black dress, earned her another unflattering sobriquet, that of the "Witch of Wall Street." 

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'The Miser's Prayer' -

It's worth noting the words of this early 19th-century 'Miser's Prayer.' It reads, in part, "O enable my banker to answer all my bills ... and also pray thee to keep the funds from sinking, and preserve from prying eyes the chest, buried in my back cellar, and all that is therein. Teach me the most prudent method to procure clothing, preserve me from prodigality, and send me more money."

Sources: (Penguin) (Psychology Today) (Everything Everywhere) (Historic London Tours) 

See also: Countries with the most millionaires and billionaires. 

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