A Christmas Carol, first published in 1843, is Charles Dickens's timeless festive tale of transformation and redemption. On Christmas Eve Ebenezer Scrooge, the uncharitable miser, is visited by the ghost of his dead business partner, Jacob Marley, who comes with a warning. Later that evening, Scrooge falls into a deep sleep and is called upon in the night by three more spectres, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. These apparitions bring strange visions and offer Scrooge the chance to absolve for his lifetime of avarice and greed.