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Summary of a tale of two cities
Reflection on the Tale of Two Cities by C. Dickens
Summary of a tale of two cities
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Set during the French Revolution, Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities remains one of the most influential books of the modern era. Within A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens provides an alternate social and political structure for society through the rehabilitation of Doctor Manette, the sacrifice of Sydney Carton, and the change that Charles Darnay undergoes.
One of the ways in which Dickens provides an alternate social and political structure for society is through the eventual rehabilitation of Doctor Manette. “So sunken and suppressed it was, that it was like a voice underground. So expressive it was, of a hopeless and lost creature, that a famished traveller, wearied out by lonely wandering in a wilderness, would have remembered home and friends in such a tone before lying down to die” (Dickens 29). In this quotation, Doctor Manette is shown as a weak and pale individual with little ambition or connection to the outside world. The analogy between Doctor Manette and a “weary traveller” as well as a “lost creature” serves to depict his seemingly hopeless situation. Further, the imagery used to depict the action of lying down to die represents Doctor Manette’s struggles and symbolic death as a result of his experiences while imprisoned in the Bastille. Through this characterization of Manette, Dickens is able to parallel the current political situation in both France and England. During the eighteenth century, the King was most commonly perceived as being the figurative father of the nation he ruled, thus presenting the idea of the King as a leader and protector. In the social structure that Dickens condemns, the King was perceived as being detached from the needs of the country and his subjects. This is shown primarily through the...
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...in aspects of society should also be receptive to change such as that of the political structure within France and England as well as the judicial system. Through Darnay’s representation of embracing change, Dickens supports that idea that such actions could benefit society and serve as a model for a more enlightened alternate political and social structure.
Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents a model for an alternate social and political structure within both France and England. Through the character of Doctor Manette, Dickens is able to present the concept of a social structure in which the King acts as a leader for society. Through Sydney Carton, Dickens presents the idea of compassion and unity within society. Finally, through the change that Charles Darnay undergoes, Dicken’s presents the concept of a society that embraces change.
Although the passage foreshadows the events later throughout the novel, Dickens ultimately uses a pathetic tone toward the social conditions of France before the French Revolution through the use of anaphora in the first half of the passage and the diction throughout the second half of the passage.
In this passage, Dickens’ juxtaposition, personification, detail, and diction reinforce Dickens’ tone of empathy and pity for the social conditions of the people of lower class France. When a large cask of wine spills open on the streets of France there is a mad rush to collect a taste of the spoiled wine. The people’s reactions consisted of “...frolicsome embraces, drinking of healths, shaking of hands, and even joining of hands and dancing a dozen together.” This exciting and scene of much happiness is juxtaposed by the “gloom that gathered on the scene that appeared more natural than sunshine” that occurs after all the wine has run out. This juxtaposition of the momentary happiness that the peasants of St. Antoine experience provide a contrast
Another dynamic character in A Tale of Two Cities is Dr. Alexander Manette. Before Dr. Manette went to the Bastille, he is a “young physician, originally an expert surgeon, who within the last year or two has made a rising reputation in Paris” (298). When the reader met Dr. Manette for the first time, much of is memory is forgotten and he is very weak.
Charles Dickens writes this book explaining the French Revolution, in which the social and economic systems in France had huge changes and the French monarchy collapsed. This causes high taxes, unfair laws, and the poor being mistreated. Charles Dickens shows that cruelty of other people will lead to a revolution and in addition to the revolution more cruelty will occur. He explores the idea of justice and violence through the use of ambiguous characters with positive and negative qualities, meaning that they have to different sides to them; for example, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Dr. Manette. Throughout the story of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles dickens uses ambiguous characters to shows how violence and cruelty can be stopped through the power of true sacrifice.
To support a major theme of this novel, scarecrows and birds of fine song and feather, wine and knitting, all represent the theme of man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man. The Revolution was a tragically devastating time full of senseless and meaningless violence, deception of neighbors as well as treason towards the government, and blissful ignorance of the surroundings. Many scenes and dialogue from this novel point out what contributed to make the revolution a period of intense political destruction. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens includes many themes pertaining to the French Revolution and the moralities and immoralities that goes with violence, betrayal, and ignorance, by using many different types of symbolism.
The French Revolution was a period of radical social and political upheaval, lead by the lower class of France, which began the decline of powerful monarchies in France and the rise of nationalism and democracy. In A Tale Of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, he highlights these aspects of the war between classes and makes them personal to the reader. Throughout the novel, Dickens’ establishes and develops several symbols in order to help the reader better understand the Revolution and the way people acted during this time. He shows that while emotion, desperation, and irrationality run high, humanity, justice, and morality are scarce. The blue flies, Madame Defarge’s knitting, and the sea are three of Dickens’ symbols that develop his theme of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man throughout the novel.
Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens repeats a number of symbols and motifs. By employing these two literary devices throughout the duration of the story, Dickens is working to emphasize the importance of these specific components of the story. Motifs and symbols represent repeating ideas that help the reader to understand, as well as highlight the author’s central idea. Dickens employs the usage of symbols and motifs, such that by using both he adds a layer of significance and deeper meaning to actions, people, as well as objects. Additionally, by using symbols and motifs, Dickens is able to create a story in which both the characters, and the plot are interwoven.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a classic novel written in the 1850’s by Charles Dickens. The novel is set in London and France during the French Revolution. The novel features an amazing use of themes as well as sensational development of characters. Charles Dickens and his feature style of the poor character who does something great is very evident in Sydney Carton, a drunken lawyer who becomes the hero of the book.
Kalil, Marie. Cliffs notes on Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Cliff Notes Inc, June 2000
Upon the opening of the novel Dr. Manette is a weak and horrific man. He is a man “recalled to life” (Dickens 24) from an eighteen-year imprisonment and has the appearance of an aged man having white hair and a ragged face; “he is a ghost, the empty shell of a man” (Glancy 69). He is very confused, so confused he cannot recall any of his past or even remember his name. “The experience of oppressive misery has not merely twisted him…it has broken down the whole system of memory in his psyche” (Lindsay 104). He is a mere victim of the past. “Dr. Manette has been driven mad, broken and goaded into a destroying curse, by eighteen years of unjust imprisonment in the Bastille” (Johnson 30). He is too accustomed to imprisonment to be able to bear freedom, which was true of many prisoners during the Revolution. But he is resurrected at the sight of his daughter, who stimulates the memory of his wife with her “threads of gold”, or her golden hair.
The novel, A Tale of Two Cities, was written by Charles Dickens. It takes place in ENgland and France during the late eighteenth century. Despite horrors like the guillotine, gestures of humanity were shown, especially through Sydney Carton when he sacrificed himself for Charles Darnay. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens exemplifies the natural goodness of the characters Charles Darnay, Dr. Manette, and Sydney Carton in Book 2, Chapter 18, Book 3, Chapter 15, …. By showing many acts of sacrifice.
With imagery revealing the poor straits and desperation of the peasant class of France, Dickens influences the reader to pity them. He writes, “The cloud settled on Saint Antoine, which a momentary gleam had driven from his sacred countenance, the darkness of it was heavy—cold, dirt, sickness, ignorance, want were the lords waiting on the saintly presence—nobles of great power all of them; but most especially the last” (Dickens 22). Through hunger, want, etc. being personified and compared to nobles through language such as “nobles” and “lords”, Dickens shows the extent of the suffering of the peasants, their deserving to be pitied, and the human nobles’ apathy towards them. The peasants of Saint Antoine suffer in the 1770s, and the town’s name is made into a play on words with “saintly presence”, with the cloud of cold, dirt, sickness, ignorance, and want looming forming the imagery of irony. Another description of the peasants’ plight is revealed in the quote saying, “Ploughed into every furrow of age and coming up afresh, was the sign Hunger. It was prevalent everywhere...Hunger was the inscription on th...
First of all, Dickens presents a harsh view of the aristocracy through two of the key characters: Charles Darnay and Marquis Evrémonde. Darnay is a member of the French elite who rejects the cruel ways of his family and flees to London to forget about the injustices his family has committed. While this may seem honorable he is not because he acts as a coward and runs away rather than standing up and trying to stop the inhumane treatment of the poor. Evrémonde on the other hand is as harsh and cruel as they come. He embodies the terrible atrocities committed against the people of France by the landed nobility. The way that Dickens uses these characters he establishes a very cynical view of the elite as being either cruel or impotent; and thus there is no hope for the French people from this class. How does this view stack up to reality during the French Revolution? Well, the nobility were cruel, and had been for...
History has not only been important in our lives today, but it has also impacted the classic literature that we read. Charles Dickens has used history as an element of success in many of his works. This has been one of the keys to achievement in his career. Even though it may seem like it, Phillip Allingham lets us know that A Tale of Two Cities is not a history of the French Revolution. This is because no actual people from the time appear in the book (Allingham). Dickens has many different reasons for using the component of history in his novel. John Forster, a historian, tells us that one of these reasons is to advance the plot and to strengthen our understanding of the novel (27). Charles Dickens understood these strategies and could use them to his advantage.
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, is a story set in the year 1775 and through the turbulent time of the French Revolution. It is of people living in love and betrayal, murder and joy, peril and safety, hate and fondness, misery and happiness, gentle actions and ferocious crowds. The novel surrounds a drunken man, Sydney Carton, who performs a heroic deed for his beloved, Lucie Manette, while Monsieur and Madame Defarge, ruthless revolutionaries, seek revenge against the nobles of France. Research suggests that through Dickens’ portrayal of the revolutionaries and nobles of the war, he gives accurate insight to the era of the Revolution.