Duality Of Man In A Tale Of Two Cities

Of all the themes displayed in A Tale of Two Cities, one of the most prominent and important is the duality of man. This theme is incorporated largely through the actions of the main characters and is often conveyed through the use of metaphor. As the nature of man is widely important to the theme, is also greatly important to the books purpose, to portray the consequences of inequality. Dickens reason for writing A Tale of Two Cities was to symbolize the discrimination present in England during his life through the circumstances of revolutionary France. These metaphors are also central to the themes expressed in the novel. The duality of man is asserted by the polar opposites present in many different aspects of the narrative. While Lucie and Madame Defarge represent unchanging good and evil, the transformation of Sydney Carton from morally inferior to moral perfection also stresses the theme of man’s duality. In A Tale of Two Cities, metaphor greatly contributes to the theme of the duality of man, by using numerous characters and conditions to symbolize the contradictory nature of man, as well as the moral teaching of book, through symbolic representations of Victorian England. One of the most substantially

From vengeful bloodlust to unrequited sacrifice for others, both the best and worst of man are put on display. Just as it was the best of times and the worst of times, men were both entirely immoral and entirely altruistic. Similar to the duality of man, the clear division of the destitute poor and frivolously wealthy aristocrats stands as a metaphor representing the oppressed lives of those who lived under the repressive upper class of Victorian England. Substantially due to the deft application of metaphor, both Dickens’ themes and moral teaching are thoroughly conveyed to the reader in A Tale of Two