# Jacob Marley — A Christmas Carol character guide

> Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Marley, Mr. Marley, old Marley, Old Marley, Jacob, Old Jacob Marley, old Jacob Marley, old Jacob

**First appearance:** 0002-stave-i-marley-s-ghost

## Snapshot

Scrooge's seven-years-dead business partner, dragging a chain of cash-boxes and ledgers, who returns to warn that a worse fate awaits his old friend.

## Who they are

Marley was Scrooge's mirror in life — same counting-house, same clenched fist — and in death he is the book's first terrible proof that a fortune can be a prison. His clanking ghost, bound by the very keys and padlocks he hoarded, delivers the warning that sets the whole haunting in motion. Scrooge's kneeling cry of 'O Jacob Marley!' in the final stave shows how deeply that warning lodged.

## Relationships

### [Ebenezer Scrooge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_christmas_carol_se/characters/ebenezer_scrooge)

_psychological_

Marley's ghost appears to Scrooge as a warning from beyond the grave, representing Scrooge's own potential fate.

### [Ghost of Christmas Past](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_christmas_carol_se/characters/ghost_of_christmas_past)

_psychological_

The Ghost of Christmas Past is connected to Marley as part of the supernatural intervention to redeem Scrooge.

### [Ebenezer Scrooge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_christmas_carol_se/characters/ebenezer_scrooge)

_psychological_

Marley's ghost appears to Scrooge as a warning from beyond the grave, representing Scrooge's own potential fate.

## In the story

### [A Christmas Carol](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_christmas_carol_se/chapters/a-christmas-carol)

Scrooge's deceased business partner, who appears as a ghost to warn Scrooge of his fate.

### [Stave I: Marley's Ghost](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_christmas_carol_se/chapters/stave-i-marley-s-ghost)

Marley's ghost appears to Scrooge, bound in chains of his own making. He warns Scrooge of the consequences of a selfish life and announces the coming of three spirits.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_christmas_carol_se/characters/jacob_marley
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_christmas_carol_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_christmas_carol_se/characters