I decided this Christmas to reread the familiar Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol. I would guess that I last read it some 40-plus years ago.

I wonder if there is a single work of fiction that has had more different adaptations of it filmed over the years. I highly doubt it.

The familiar character of Scrooge has become (along with such literary characters as Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula) much larger than a mere fictional character. Scrooge is an archetype and a touchpoint. He is, in a way, more “real” than real people are.

I am thinking now of other Iconic Characters in Literature:

• Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare
• Hamlet, William Shakespeare
• Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes
• Frankenstein’s Monster, Mary Shelley
• Captain Ahab, Herman Melville
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

Who am I leaving off the list? Harry Potter? Alice?