In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Ebenezer Scrooge back in time to when he was dating Belle. The reader witnesses their breakup when Belle and Scrooge have the following conversation. Belle speaks first:
"Another idol has displaced me; and it can cheer and comfort you in time to come as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause to grieve."
"What idol has replaced you?" he rejoined.
"A golden one." (Dickens 47)
Here, Belle is saying that Ebenezer Scrooge once loved her--perhaps to the point of worship like one worships a religious idol. Now she has been replaced by money. Scrooge cares more about wealth and how much money he can make than he does about anything else, and Belle recognizes this. The "golden idol" is a metaphor for wealth. Belle feels that if they continue their relationship, Scrooge will eventually resent her, and their relationship will continue to deteriorate, so she breaks up with him.
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