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Social and Political Change in A Tale of Two Cities

2004-12-05T21:36:09-05:00

Government has been an essential part to any civilization for as long as human kind has existed. People who disagree with the government have also existed for just as long. Whether the government was so simple that the leader was the strongest in the tribe, or whether the government was so complex that it involved thousands of people to make one decision, it always was challenged and eventually changed. The means of change are quite diverse. Assassination, protests, war, petitions, and others are amongst the large list of means for governmental reform. Revolution has also been a frequent method to try to achieve the desired change. Revolutions have made profound impacts in history, for both the better and for the worse. Charles Dickens is among those who advocates change both socially and politically, but believes revolution is not an efficient means for change. His classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, clearly shows the negative impacts of revolting against the government. The years in which Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities were much like those which led up to the French Revolution. Everything was great for the people of the upper class, but hunger, disease and poverty plagued the lower class people of London. He became appalled with the social and economic inequality of British society. He felt that there was little he could do to prevent a revolution, much like the one in France, from occurring. Therefore, he wrote this novel to warn the people of London what could happen. Dickens, who was fascinated with the history of the French Revolution, began by criticizing the treatment (both socially and politically) of the poor people of France. In the seventh chapter of book two, the Monsieur the Marquis had accidentally driven his carriage over a young child, killing him. Instead of worrying about the welfare of the chile, the Monsieur worried about his horses: "One or the other of you is for ever in the way. How do I know what injury you have done to my horses."(p. 116) He deemed the peasants’ lives inferior and insignificant, as shown when he tossed a gold coin to the boy’s father as compensation for his son’s death. The Monsieur the Marquis told his nephew, Darnay, how he felt about the people: "Repression is the only lasting philosophy... fear and slavery, my friend, will keep the dogs

A Tale of Two Cities: Sydney Carton vs. Charles Darnay

2001-04-14T14:00:00-04:00

A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, takes place during the French Revolution. The book centers on the heroic attempts of Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay. Sydney Carton puts on the façade of being insolent and indifferent, but his true nature is expressed in the book when he puts others first, defends Charles, and dies for the ones he loves. Charles Darnay is a once wealthy aristocrat whose attempts at heroism include going back to France, his financial sacrifice, and the noble way in which he was willing to face his death. Sydney Carton is a true hero in the way that he puts others first. He shows this quality as he works for Stryver to save the wrongfully accused from death and when he goes back to France to try to help put a stop the bloodshed. Carton has a better perspective on the situation in France as opposed to Charles Darnay. Darnay also possesses worthy heroic qualities. However, the reader could interpret a misuse of them. Darnay’s return to France to save Gabelle and help save the peasants was very notable, but probably not the most intelligent act to make. The revolutionaries of France were known to try to trick aristocrats into coming back to murder them. Darnay could have been walking into his death. Darnay’s financial sacrifice was also note-worthy, but once again not very intelligent. Darnay renounced his aristocracy and sacrificed the wealth that went along with it in favor of helping those in need. A reader might have thought it more appropriate when interpreting this book for Darnay to have owned up to his aristocratic name and attempted to change the government’s problems, despite the problems that it caused him. It is true that Darnay was tried numerous times for treason. He was, however, acquitted more than once with the help of Carton. An example includes Darnay’s first trial where Carton forced the jury to realize that it was impossible to prove that Darnay was a passenger on the Dover Mail. He did this by calling to attention the intense similarities in appearance between himself and Darnay. This example brings out another one of Carton’s heroic qualities. Despite his outer attitude, Carton is a generally good-hearted character. It is later stated in the book by Carton to Darnay that Carton really does not like Darnay. With this fact known, the reader would realize that Carton

Chapters 20 and 21

2001-02-10T13:00:00-05:00

It is now 1789, eight years later. Life is pleasant for the Darnays. Both he and the Doctor are earning good money. Lucie and Darnay have a little girl who is also named Lucie; they also had a son who died young. Lucie constantly hears echoes of footsteps that seem to come from afar and indicate trouble. On little Lucie's sixth birthday, these echoes seem to rumble menacingly and suddenly change in sound to that of a great storm in France. Mr. Lorry comes in one night. He is a bit grumpy since things are very busy at the bank. There is more work because of the unrest in Paris. Mr. Lorry recalls the footsteps that Lucie had heard earlier and confesses that he too can now hear footsteps converging upon them. Both he and Lucie have clear premonitions of the revolution in France having an affect on them. The district of St. Antoine in Paris is a seething mass of raging women and men. Arms and weapons of all kinds are being distributed. Every woman and man seems to be mad with a fierce, implacable passion for revenge; they are ready to sacrifice everything. Defarge’s wine-shop is the center point for a angry mob Dickens describes them as a “whirlpool of boiling water”. “With a roar that sounded as if all the breath in France had been shaped into the detested world, the living sea rose” the mob storms the Bastille. Once inside the prison a living, breathing, human storm of hatred is displayed. “Flashing weapons” and “blazing torches” act as lighting. “Smoking wagon-loads of wet straw” severe as a thick covering of storm clouds. “Shrieks, volleys, execrations”, booms, smashes, and rattles play the part of tremendous bone shaking thunder. “Of all these cries and ten thousand incoherencies, The prisoners! Was the cry most taken by the sea that rushed in.” Finally the mob releases all the prisoners. Defarge and Jacques Three then make their way to One Hundred and Five, North Tower, the number of the cell where Dr. Manette was imprisoned. The two men search the cell for something, which Defarge evidently finds and stuffs into his pockets. They then join the rest of the force outside, which is continuing with their bloody rioting. Madame Defarge beheads the governor of the prison. “The remorseless sea of turbulently swaying shapes, voices of vengeance, and faces hardened in the

A Tale of Two Cities: Foreshadowing

2000-05-20T14:00:00-04:00

Many famous writers use foreshadowing. An author needs to use different instances of foreshadowing. Charles Dickens was a great British author who used foreshadowing. A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, contains many examples of foreshadowing. One example of foreshadowing is Sydney Carton’s promise to Lucie that he will do anything for Lucy or any dear to Lucie. At the beginning of the novel when Stryver brought up to Carton his love for Lucie, “Sydney Carton drank the punch at a great rate, drank it by the bumpers, looking at his friend” (129). The fact that Sydney began drinking quickly gave the clue that Carton is developing a love for Lucie. Earlier we know this fits because of Stryver and Carton’s conversation at the Old Bailey. Carton says, “[W]ho made the Old Bailey a judge of beauty? She was a golden haired doll!” (84). These two quotes show that Sydney Carton has feelings for Lucie. When Charles Darnay marries Lucie, Carton’s feelings do not waver. “For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything” Carton says (141). This promise is the key to Carton’s fate, and with this he foreshadows his doom when he follows through with it, costing him his life. Another example of foreshadowing is the clues to the death of the Marquis St. Evremonde. The people that want a revolution hate the Marquis. “That I believe our name to be more detested then any name in France” from Charles Darnay to the Marquis (113). The Marquis hears this and reply’s “’A compliment’, said the Marquis, ‘to the grandeur of the family’”(showing that he is completely oblivious to what is going on in France)(113). This is foreshadowing that the people will probably punish the Marquis. The final event is when the Marquis’s coach ran over a child and he replied “’It is extraordinary to me, said he ‘ that you people cannot take care of yourselves and you children’”(102). Then Defarge throws his coin back into the carriage, showing his anger. This event angers the people, and is a key part in the foreshadowing of the Marquis’s death. The final example of foreshadowing is Dr. Manette‘s ordeal with the Evremondes. Throughout the second book in the novel, Dr. Manette’s past was clouded. We get some foreshadowing when Darnay offers to reveal his name to Dr. Manette, but Dr. Manette says “Stop!” and we start to hint

Foreshadowing in Tale of Two Cities

2000-01-19T13:00:00-05:00

In Charles Dickens’, Tale of Two Cities, the author repeatedly foreshadows the impending revolution. In Chapter Five of Book One, Dickens includes the breaking of a wine cask to show a large, impoverished crowd gathered in a united cause. Later, we find find Madame Defarge symbolically knitting, what we come to find out to be, the death warrants of the St. Evremonde family. Also, after Marquis is murdered for killing the small child with his horses, we come to see the theme of revenge that will become all too common. The author uses vivid foreshadowing to paint a picture of civil unrest among the common people that will come to lead to the French Revolution. In Chapter Five of Book One, Dickens includes the breaking of a wine cask to show a large, impoverished crowd gathered in a united cause. At this point in the novel, Lucie Mannette and Mr. Lorry had just arrived in Paris to find Lucie’s father. The author appears to get off of the subject to describe the breaking of the wine cask. This however, is much more significant than it would first appear. Outside of a wine-shop, a wine cask is broken in the street. Many people rush around the puddle on the ground trying to scoop it up and drink as much as they can. Dickens describes the rush to the spilled wine by saying “The people within reach had suspended their business, or their idleness to run to the spot and drink the wine... some men kneeled down, made scoops with their two hands joined and sipped.”(Dickens 27). This goes to show how desperate the people are. The quote also infers that many people are unemployed. As a joke, a man writes the word “BLOOD” on a wall next to where the cask broke open. This foreshadows the violence of the unruly mobs later in the novel. This scene points out how impoverished the people of Paris are and how rowdy a crowd can become when they are unified under a united cause. Later, we find find Madame Defarge symbolically knitting, what we come to find out to be, the death warrant of the St. Evremonde family. Madame Defarge was a very hateful character. She hated the upper-class and was never able to get past this hatred. Thus, she and her husband become leaders of the Jaquerie, a group that is planning the revolution. Madame

A Tale of Two Cities: Best or Worst of Times?

1999-12-21T13:00:00-05:00

In the novel "A Tale of Two Cities" Charles Dickens describes "the best of times [and] the worst of times" (1) of the characters. France and England struggle through political confusion, which is one of the most disturbing periods of history. On the other hand, for the characters of the novel, these are the times of rebirth and revival. The author conveys the dual nature of this epoch by contrasting representations of light and dark, chaos and stability, doom and hope with the use of setting, characterization, foreshadowing, symbolism, and plot set up. The novel opens in the troubled year of 1775, with a comparison of England and pre-Revolutionary France. It conveys the sense of doom and chaos. Both countries go through extreme social turmoil. With sarcasm, Dickens condemns the nobles as responsible for the disorder. "Under the guidance of [France's] Christian pastors, she entertained herself, besides with such humane achievements as sentencing a youth to have his hands cut off because he had not kneeled down to a dirty procession of monks" (2) France has mostly political difficulties while in England the issues are largely social. France "rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, making paper money and spending it." (2) In England, "there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting. Daring burglaries by armed men, and highway robberies, took place in the capital itself every night." (2) The portrayal of the countries' state conveys the atmosphere of doom and chaos. On the other hand, the plot set up and characterization in the novel imply a sense of hope, a light in the darkness. The central characters in the first book are all likeable people. Jarvis Lorry, the banker, is very reliable and responsive. He takes on a role of Lucie's friend and guardian. He is there to help and support her as they travel to Paris to find Mr. Manette, Lucie's father. "Rendered in a manner desperate, by [Lucie's] state, [Mr. Lorry] drew over his neck the arm that shook upon his shoulder, lifted her a little, and hurried her into the room. He set her down just within the door, and held her, clinging to him." (31) Lucie is a classical Victorian heroine. She is delicate and softhearted. She acknowledges her father at once as if she had known him all her life and expresses her feelings for him. "I pray to

A Tale of Two Cities

1999-12-03T13:00:00-05:00

Throughout the book, A Tale of Two Cities the theme of sacrifice is used to help the reader realize the cost of life, as well as to develop the plot through the effects of those sacrifices. Through the characters of Sydney Carton, Dr. Manette, and Ms. Pross the theme of sacrifice is developed. The theme of sacrifice brings key aspects of the plot together, and Carton's sacrifice brings the novel to closer in the end. Sydney Carton paid the highest cost of sacrifice with his life, and in doing so he was very similar to Jesus Christ. Carton laid down his life for a man who had never done anything for him and who in fact had abused his relationship as demonstrated on page 191 when Carton describes himself in Darnay's view as "a dissolute dog who has never done any good, and never will." Similarly Jesus Christ let himself be beaten, abused, and killed for the same people who spit in his face. Other people in both cases thought that Jesus and Carton were not thought to be much more that dogs, while they both sacrificed their lives so these people who treated them like dogs could live. Both Carton's and Jesus' sacrifice was inspired by a deep desperate love for which they were willing to do anything. Carton was willing to die for Lucie because of his desperate, scandalous love for her, just as Jesus showed his love for man when he was willing to give up his life for every man. This level of love makes the sacrifice even more valuable and brings things to closure. Finally, Carton and Jesus both knew that through their sacrifice, others could have life. Carton's death breathed life into Darnay just as Jesus Christ's death breathes life into those who trust in him. The importance of their death is that it brings life. The role of Carton's sacrifice in the plot is that the cost of life is sometimes high. Through his sacrifice the cost and privilege of living can be measured, just as Christians can see the true cost and privilege of life through Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Dr. Manette also sacrificed much of his life by giving up his own personal goals and agenda for Lucie. On page 125 Dr. Manette says, "any fancies, any reasons, and apprehensions, anything whatsoever, new or old against the man she really loved…they shall all be

A Tale of Two Cities and Lord of the Flies: Cruelty

1999-12-03T13:00:00-05:00

The theme of human cruelty and its effects is displayed throughout the novels, A Tale of Two Cities, and Lord of the Flies. There were many deaths throughout both novels that could have been avoided, while instead they were lost. In A Tale of Two Cities, many people were left to die in

A Tale of Two Cities and The Princess Bride: Loyalty

1999-12-03T13:00:00-05:00

In the novels A Tale of Two Cities and The Princess Bride the theme of loyalty is displayed throughout the stories. Dr. Manette and Wesley are perfect examples of this. He is loyal to Lucie under all circumstances. This is shown by his daily devotion to her, as he forgets about everything else just to make her happy. Similarly, Wesley is devoted to Buttercup in a very similar fashion. He sacrifices everything else just for her. He gives up his own personal rights and desires, for the mere chance of having her love back. Secondly, both Manette and Wesley show loyalty even when they think they have lost what they are

Animal Farm and A Tale of Two Cities: Social Criticism

1999-11-27T13:00:00-05:00

Many authors receive their inspiration for writing their literature from outside sources. The idea for a story could come from family, personal experiences, history, or even their own creativity. For authors that choose to write a book based on historical events, the inspiration might come from their particular viewpoint on the event that they want to dramatize. George Orwell and Charles Dickens wrote Animal Farm and A Tale of Two Cities, respectively, to express their disillusionment with society and human nature. Animal Farm, written in 1944, is a book that tells the animal fable of a farm in which the farm animals revolt against their human masters. It is an example of social criticism in literature in which Orwell satirized the events in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. He anthropomorphises the animals, and alludes each one to a counterpart in Russian history. A Tale of Two Cities also typifies this kind of literature. Besides the central theme of love, is another prevalent theme, that of a revolution gone bad. He shows us that, unfortunately, human nature causes us to be vengeful and, for some of us, overly ambitious. Both these books are similar in that both describe how, even with the best of intentions, our ambitions get the best of us. Both authors also demonstrate that violence and the Machiavellian attitude of "the ends justifying the means" are deplorable. George Orwell wrote Animal Farm, "... to discredit the Soviet system by showing its inhumanity and its back-sliding from ideals [he] valued ..."(Gardner, 106) Orwell noted that " there exists in England almost no literature of disillusionment with the Soviet Union.' Instead, that country is viewed either with ignorant disapproval' or with uncritical admiration.'"(Gardner, 96) The basic synopsis is this: Old Major, an old boar in Manor Farm, tells the other animals of his dream of "animalism": " ... Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we would become rich and free.'" (Orwell, 10) The other animals take this utopian idea to heart, and one day actually do revolt and drive the humans out. Two pigs emerge as leaders: Napoleon and Snowball. They constantly argued, but one day, due to a difference over plans to build a windmill, Napoleon exiled Snowball. Almost immediately, Napoleon established a totalitarian government. Soon, the pigs began to get special favours, until finally, they were indistinguishable from