MovieChat Forums > A Christmas Carol (1999) Discussion > What happened to the girl he let go ?

What happened to the girl he let go ?



I am a bit ashamed to say this, but ive never read the book by dickens, though ive seen all the versions of the various films, and really liked this one. But having watched it today, i wondered what did happen to the young lady he lets go ?, dont think ive ever seen a version which shows you, but kind of remember from somewhere, which may have been from one of the films, or a tv version, that one of the ghosts shows him she went onto a happy life as a nurse, saving people or something like that, any one know ?, does it say in the book ?

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In the book, she goes on to have a happy marriage and several children.

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Yes, in the book, the Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge a vision of Belle many years later at Christmas time, happily married to another man, and surrounded by loving children and grandchildren. A scene omitted from most versions, because as pointed out in a note to an annotated edition of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, as the Ghost was only supposed to show Scrooge visions from his actual past, he could never have seen this scene. Some versions have this shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Present instead. In the Alastair Sim version, she apparently never marries, and instead becomes a nurse (which back then was no means as respectable as it is now), and does much work making poor peoples' lives happier.

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Yes, in the book, the Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge a vision of Belle many years later at Christmas time, happily married to another man, and surrounded by loving children and grandchildren. A scene omitted from most versions, because as pointed out in a note to an annotated edition of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, as the Ghost was only supposed to show Scrooge visions from his actual past, he could never have seen this scene. Some versions have this shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Present instead. In the Alastair Sim version, she apparently never marries, and instead becomes a nurse (which back then was no means as respectable as it is now), and does much work making poor peoples' lives happier.

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A scene omitted from most versions, because as pointed out in a note to an annotated edition of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, as the Ghost was only supposed to show Scrooge visions from his actual past, he could never have seen this scene.


Not sure what that means exactly. Does this mean the Ghost/Past could only show Scrooge visions of Scrooge's past particularly or only things in any Christmas past?

I don't see any contradiction in any manner. When Scrooge asked "long past?",the ghost answered "no, your past". This doesn't mean that the ghost couldn't show Scrooge visions that didn't include him directly. I don't recall any hard and fast rule book for the ghosts to follow.

In 1984's G.C. Scott version, Belle is shown married with a family on the day that Marley was near death, so it was still in the past. In any case, any Christmas shown at least one year before the night of the ghosts visits qualify as "past".

Throughout the whole story we see ghosts show Scrooge visions he isn't directly involved in, such as the present scene at Fred's house or the future scene in the beetling shop.


Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.

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