Scrooge’s former business partner. Despite not being particularly missed by Scrooge, he was nevertheless the miser’s only friend, and is the figure that haunts and protects him by appearing in place of Scrooge's door knocker and introducing the three Christmas ghosts. He makes manifest the horror of regret with his burdensome chain and describes how he is doomed to wander the earth for eternity, a fate that Scrooge too will face unless he changes his ways.
Jacob Marley Quotes in A Christmas Carol
The A Christmas Carol quotes below are all either spoken by Jacob Marley or refer to Jacob Marley. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Stave 1
Quotes
Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Related Characters:
Jacob Marley
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
'Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. 'Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!'
Related Characters:
Jacob Marley (speaker), Ebenezer Scrooge
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Stave 5
Quotes
'I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!' Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. 'The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh, Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!'
Related Characters:
Ebenezer Scrooge (speaker), Jacob Marley
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire A Christmas Carol LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jacob Marley Character Timeline in A Christmas Carol
The timeline below shows where the character Jacob Marley appears in A Christmas Carol. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Stave 1
The narrator states that there was no doubt about Marley’s death. Scrooge, Marley’s business partner, signed the register of his burial. The narrator considers that...
(full context)
...to grieve much (apart from the loss of business), and got a bargain price for Marley’s funeral. Since the firm’s name has always been Scrooge and Marley, Scrooge has taken to...
(full context)
...one of the two partners listed above the door he is. Scrooge informs them that Marley died seven years ago this very night. The two gentlemen hope that Scrooge will be...
(full context)
...family. Scrooge, meanwhile, goes home to a suite of gloomy rooms that used to be Marley’s. The narrator describes the building as completely out of place, as if it was once...
(full context)
...sane man. He also mentions that Scrooge had not been thinking about his late partner Marley. The narrator then explains what a surprise it is to Scrooge when he looks at...
(full context)
...hurries indoors, annoyed by the apparition. He stops briefly to check that the back of Marley’s head is not similarly behind the door. Again scorning his fear, Scrooge goes upstairs to...
(full context)
...with tiles that illustrate stories from scripture but over all of these famous figures comes Marley’s ghostly face again. Scrooge dismisses the vision with a “Humbug!” but suddenly a bell in...
(full context)
The ghost appears just as Scrooge remembers Jacob Marley, except that he is totally transparent and carries a huge chain about him. But even...
(full context)
Scrooge asks Marley to sit. He wonders, because of his transparency, if he is able to sit, but...
(full context)
At this, Marley shakes his chain and makes a terrifying sound. Scrooge admits that he believes now but...
(full context)
Marley cannot stay long, with many journeys ahead of him. Scrooge jokes that he must have...
(full context)
Scrooge is now terrified and vows to listen. Marley tells Scrooge that he will soon be visited by three spirits, and he has the...
(full context)
Then, Marley’s ghost beckons Scrooge over. Scrooge begins to hear a chorus of wailing sounds, which Marley’s...
(full context)
Stave 2
...goes back to bed and thinks, but the more he thinks that the episode with Marley was all in his head, the more the visions spring up in his mind and...
(full context)
Stave 5
...door knocker again, and exclaims how thankful he is to it for showing him Jacob Marley’s face.
(full context)
