Tale Of Two Cities Resurrection

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During the Reign of Terror, which ran from 1793 to 1794, forty thousand Frenchmen were either executed or murdered. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a literary masterpiece that shows the terror of the French Revolution in a dark and gruesome fashion. The story follows the lives of Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and his wife, Lucie Manette. When a past servant of Darnay is detained by the French revolutionaries, Charles travels to France. When he arrives in Paris, the french people imprison and sentence him to death. Sydney Carton trades places with Darnay and in the process, saves him. Dr. Manette, Sydney Carton, and Charles Darnay show resurrection in the novel. Dickens uses literary devices in A Tale of Two Cities to portray a prominent theme of resurrection. Doctor Manette was in prison for eighteen years without prosecution and had begun to lose hope in freedom. His mental state was …show more content…

When Dickens introduces Darnay to the reader, he is on trial for treason against the French Government. Mr. Stryver, Darnay’s lawyer, states “‘Look well upon that gentleman, my learned friend there,’ pointing to him who had tossed the paper over, ‘and then look well upon the prisoner. How say you? Are they very like each other?’”(Dickens89). Charles Dickens is “slapping” the face of the reader with foreshadowing in this particular scene. This is extremely effective half way through the novel when the reader ultimately knows the outcome. As stated, the trial isn’t the first example of resurrection for Charles Darnay. Eventually he is put on trial again, and Sydney Carton saves him one last time. Carton sacrifices himself in order to secure a new and happy life for both Darnay, Lucie, and their daughter Little Lucie. Sydney Carton is a major example of resurrection in A Tale of Two Cities, however, there are plenty of characters that exalt to higher levels of life or

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