A Tale of Two Cities Speech

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Recommended: Comment on the two major characters in the novel A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities Speech

"The storming of the Bastille…the death carts with their doomed human cargo…the swift drop of the guillotine blade-this is the French revolution that Charles Dickens vividly captures in his famous work "A Tale of two cities". With dramatic eloquence, he brings to life a time of terror and treason, a starving people rising in frenzy and the to overthrow a corrupt and decadent regime. With insight and compassion, he casts his novel of unforgettable scenes with unforgettable characters: the sinister Madame defarge, knitting her patterns of death, the gentle lucie manette, unswerving in her devotion to her broken father: the heroic Sydney Carton, who gives his life for the love of a girl who will never be his."

That is what is on the back of this book…Sounds interesting huh? "Yeh sure" you say…WRONG!

Upon reading "A tale of two cities" and studying the characterization, and writing techniques I have come to the conclusion that it is entirely over rated. Character development and portrayal is idealistic and clichéd, the ending is incredibly predictable and it is rife with unfeasible coincidences, mainly centering about the character of Charles Darnay. Also Dickens's uses the tale to express his often-bias views on France and the French people as a whole.

A skeptic, like myself can see this novel as an unbelievable, idealistic and overrated. An unbiased reader however can see this novel as inspiring, a tale of love, hate and the human spirit. Love and Hate play a constant role, as does the underlying historical event of the French revolution. These factors make up the bare bones of the novel so that one must look closely to see Dickens's Biases, attempts at pe...

... middle of paper ...

...left for a few weeks, even though he is seen to and looked after by two of his closest friends.

Overall Dickens's a tale of two cities is an enduring novel that I have to admit has been read countless times and become incredibly popular since its first publication. It is still loved and revered by both critics and experts today. However if written by a modern author I believe it would be butchered, taken apart and laid out for the true farce that it is. Yes it is both a love story and a historical novel, but is entirely unbelievable in its characterization and coincidental storyline. I believe that today it would be doomed by its unrealistic portrayal of human qualities and its simple idealism. I believe that the evil characters had much more weight than the good characters, and in all probability it should have been the Defarge's that came out on top

Thank you

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