How Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol anticipated the psychology of Freud in its tale of childhood trauma

Arthur Rackham , CC BY

With a joyful celebration of family love and communal bonds at its heart, Charles Dickens’s story A Christmas Carol has often been credited with creating our modern idea of Christmas. Published on December 19 1843, the first edition sold out rapidly and the story was immediately adapted onto the Victorian stage.

The Internet Movie Database now lists 213 versions of the story, with the first film made in 1901, the same year Queen Victoria died. Less well-known than the story itself though is Dickens’s importance to our understanding of trauma.