Dickens' characterization in A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Dickens' characterization in A TALE OF TWO CITIES


Dickens is one of the greatest creators of characters in English fiction. A mere glance of at the listof persons who figure in any of his novels is enough to remind us of the author’s

amazing fertilityin invention. He has portrayed a whole variety of characters such as David Copperfield, Pip,Trotwood and Sam Weller. There is no dearth of real and unique characters

in his works.
Dialogue vs. Incident:
 A TALE OF TWO CITIES affords ample evidence of Dickens’ capacity for character –portrayal. The range of characters in A TALE OF TWO CITIES is wide and has deepand penetrating

studies. Some of the figures like Monsieur Defarge and Madame Defarge arememorable. Dickens purpose in the case of this novel was to allow the characters to revealthemselves through

incidents and through their deeds and actions rather than through dialogues,but it is wrong to assume that he ignores dialogues. They are as important as the actions. JohnForster, his

friend and biographer says, “
To rely less upon character than upon incident and toresolve that his actors should be expressed by the story more than they should expressthemselves by dialogue, was for him a

hazardous and can hardly be called an entirely successful experiment
.”
The characters are sharply individualized:
The characters of A TALE OF TWO CITIES havebeen sharply been individualized. Each character is a distinct person in his or her own right.(Describe their individual qualities to

distinguish them.)
The Character of Dr. Manette:
discuss his role in the novel/ his habit of shoe-making andcondition of inaction/ his performance at the end of the novel/ his salient qualities/ his insanity/father-daughter relationship

etc./ his responsibility at the attendance of a sick girl and boywronged by the Evremonde family/ His prison.
Charles Darnay:
Charles Darnay too reveals the essential traits of his character throughdialogue. Of course, one of his basic traits appears through action also. His help to Gabelle/ hisrenunciation/ his

love with Lucie/ his sincerity: He says to Dr. Manette:“
Dear Dr. Manette, I love your daughter fondly, dearly, disinterestedly devotedly. If ever therewere love in the world, I love her
.”So we can say that dialogue and incident play an important part in the novel.
Sydney Carton
: We then come to Sydney whose action is giving up his life for the sake of thehusband of the woman whom he loves is great importance. Carton’s character appears before usonly

through dialogues. He has a conversation with Darnay immediately after his acquittal at theOld Bailey. Carton says that he cares for no body in the world and no body cares about him.

Helooks into the mirror and says that he hates Darnay even though there is a physical resemblancebetween the two. A dialogue between Carton and Stryver reveals that the former is a “
see-saw
”kind of man.
Up one minute and down the next
. He expresses his love for Lucie in a dialogueand says that he is a profligate. Describe his aspects of personality from the above answers.
Mr
.
Lorry
: The character of Mr. Lorry is also revealed to us through dialogue. In the beginning, hehas a long conversation with Lucie where he appears to be “
a man of business
” and describeshimself as such. He has a dialogue with Miss Pross about his concern for Dr. Manette. Towardsto end, he rebukes Jerry for his impious activities.

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Dickens’ use of symbolism in 'A Tale of Two Cities'

Dickens’ use of symbolism in 'A Tale of Two Cities'

 A TALE OF TWO CITIES contains an abundant use of symbols and symbolic imagery.Symbolism implies the use of an object, an idea, or a person in a larger or wider deeper sensethan is literary conveyed by that object. An employs symbolism in order to give a deeper meaningto his writing. Symbolism is an essential element in the structure of the novel.
The Woodman and the Farmer as Symbols:
The Woodman symbolizes Fate ad the Farmer issymbolizing Death. The author says that they work silently and no one hears them when theywalk with their muffled steps. They work like Fate and Death silently and these are the two forceswhich destroy France.
Journey of the Mail-Coach
: The manner in which the writer describes the journey of the mail-couch is also highly symbolic. It is an uphill journey; the hill, the harness, the mud and the mailgive the horses a tough time. The horses, however, continue with their drooping heads. There isalso an atmosphere of suspicion all over. The rough journey and the air of suspicion aroundsignifies the following crisis for the Manette family and the turmoil for the land of France.
The Spilling of Wine
: A striking use of symbolism is made in the chapter called, “The Wine-Shop”. A cask of wine gets broken in the street by accident and the wine is spilled on the ground.This red wine paints and stains the streets of Saint Antoine in Paris symbolizing the bloodshedand massacre looming over the country. Many people rush towards it to drink mouthfuls of wine.The people’s hands and foot are stained red by the wine. This symbol becomes perfectly explicitwhen some body dips his fingers in the wine and scrawls upon a wall the word “blood”. Theauthor comments on his action: “
The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled onthe street-stones and when the stain of it would be red upon many there
.”
The Mill, the Grindstone, and the Carmagnole
: In the same chapter, Mill has been symbolized.Literally, a mill of course, grinds wheat into flour which serves as food fro the human beings. Herethe mill performs a different function. Here we are told that the people of Saint Antoine hadundergone a terrible grinding and re-grinding in the mill. The writer says that the children in thissuperb had “
ancient faces and grave voices
” and the sign of Hunger is apparent upon the facesof the children, the young and the old. So the mill is not grinding wheat for the people, adverselyit is grinding the people themselves. In the later case, the revolutionaries are described assharpening their bloody hA Tale of Two Citieshets, knives and swords at a grindstone. Both themill and the grindstone are the symbols of destruction which the people in France face. Alliedwith these two symbols and with the symbol of the spilled wine, is the account of the Carmagnolewhich also occurs in the final part of the novel. The dancing of the Carmagnole is a dreadful sightfor spectators like Lucie
The Echoing Steps
: In the chapter called “Hundreds of People” Lucie, in her conversation tellsthe others that she has often sat alone in a corner of the house in the evenings, listening to theechoes of all the footsteps which are to come by and by into their lives. Sydney Carton thereuponremarks that, “
If such be the case, there will be a great crowd coming one day into the lives of all of them
.” The whole scene is symbolic. Lucie says that she hears footsteps and Sydney remarksthat a crowd will come into the lives of all. Just then there is a roar of clouds and a flash of lightening. All these are the indications of the coming of a great tempest in their lives in the formof French Revolution when people will be in the state of turmoil and the Manette family will getinvolved with those multitudes.
The Bastille, a Symbol of Tyranny
: The Bastille is another symbol. Hundreds of prisoners havebeen languishing in this prison for years and years, neglected, un-cared and almost forgotten anddead. The inhabitants of Saint Antoine, under the leadership of Monsieur and Madame Defarge,march upon the Bastille and capture it. Their jubilation knows no bounds. The governor is seizedand Madame Defarge herself cut off his head with a knife.
La Guillotine, symbol of excesses
: La Guillotine symbolizes the excess committed by therevolutionaries. If the Bastille was the symbol of tyranny and the government of the King LouisXVI, La Guillotine has reversed the process. La Guillotine has become, “
The National Razor which shaved close
.” It is regarded as the sign of regeneration of the human race. The eloquent,the powerful and the beautiful are all being mercilessly beheaded. La Guillotine is a symbol of

the tyrannies, the brutalities which are committed by the down-trodden and poor revolutionaries.La Guillotine is an ugly and hateful symbol as the Bastille previously was.
Madame Defarge, Miss Pross and Carton as Symbols
: Madame Defarge symbolizesunlimited hatred and evil. She certainly has motive and reason for her revengeful and blood-thirsty attitude but all her vindictiveness and blood-ruthlessness cannot be explained in terms of those motive and reasons. She is the personification of hatred, revenge and violence. Her knitting requires a sinister significance because in her knitting are registered those who must beexterminated from the ground. Miss Pross on other hand is a personification of love. Her attachment to Lucie is deep and abiding. In the tussle between Madame Defarge and Miss Pross,the Frenchwoman is killed by a bullet from her own hands thus symbolically representing thattruth prevails and evil is self-destructive. Sydney Carton has a symbolic purpose. His sacrificialdeath symbolizes the way by which the highest human aspirations can be achieved and also themeans by which a profligate can attain regeneration.
Opposed Symbols of Life and Death
:
William H. Marshall tells us that A TALE OF TWOCITIES is a story about rebirth through death and that therefore, Dickens gives us opposed symbols of life and death. These symbols, he says, take the form of images of food and destruction. The symbol of death seems to triumph over the symbol of life.

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Major Themes of the Novel "A Tale of Two Cities"

Major Themes of the Novel "A Tale of Two Cities"

 A TALE OF TWO CITIES is rich in meaning and significance because it deals with severalthemes all of which have been skillfully coordinated and integrated with another. Some of thesethemes are obvious and others are less obvious and need careful examination. Dickens showsgrand objectivity of historical events, but also shows personal projection in the novel. However, ATALE OF TWO CITIES is a highly impersonal work with multiplicity of themes. Resurrection isindeed the central theme of A TALE OF TWO CITIES. Resurrection here takes a variety of forms,and almost at every stage, we witness some manifestation of it. Resurrection has, of course, areligious connotation and generally calls up the image of Jesus Christ rising from his grave onthe third day of his Crucifixion. But here resurrection requires a secular meaning. In addition to itsreligious meaning. Related to this is the theme of renunciation. Dickens makes use these twinthemes in a very elaborate manner. Dickens derived both of these themes from Wilkie Collin’splay,
The Frozen Deep
in the performances of which Dickens himself had taken part as an actor.
The resurrection of Dr Manette
: First Resurrection: The theme of resurrection is introduced atthe very beginning when Mr. Lorry, who is traveling by the mail-coach top Dover, sends amessage to Tellison’s Bank through the messenger, Jerry Cruncher. The words of Mr. Lorry‘smessage are “
Recalled to Life
”. (Give summary of Dr. Manette’s story) Mr. Lorry begins to feeldrowsy and it seems to him that he is going to Paris in order to dig out a dead man from the gravewhere he had been long buried. When Lorry meets Dr. Manette, it is truly a resurrection or rebirthafter death for Dr. Manette. Second Resurrection: Normal life and living with his daughter,starting his medical practice and his giving up the habit of shoe-making and the return of sanity ishis second resurrection.
Charles Darnay’s Resurrection
: Give Darnay’s account of Old Bailey where Dr. Manette, Lucieand Carton are present and Darnay is resurrected because of Sydney Carton from a seriouscrime of treason against England. Darnay’s second resurrection: When he is caught in Paris andis prisoned for fifteen months at La Force and is resurrected by the influence of Dr. Manette. (Giveaccount of case and the prevailing condition of Paris after the revolution). Darnay’s thirdresurrection: which is the most important. Dr. Manette’s written paper discovered from his cell isread out in the court and Darnay is sentenced to death, but his death is replaced by SydneyCarton, a kind fellow. (Give an account his story at the prison). This is his third resurrection. Thistime he has almost been taken out of his grave.
The Resurrection of Carton
: Though Carton dies, but he achieves a resurrection in two senses:Firstly, his death constitutes a spiritual resurrection for him. By this sacrificial death, Carton whohas been leading a life of profligacy, is morally regenerated. This moral regeneration or redemption is a kind of resurrection for him. Secondly, when Carton conceives his bold plan tosave Darnay’s life, the words of the Christian Burial Service are echo in his ears, “
I am theResurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall helive: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die
.” Carton had heard these words atthe time of his father’s funeral, and these words now come to him as a promise that the man whobelieves in Lord Jesus Christ never dies. These words echo in his ears when he is actually goingto be executed. Thus, Carton dies, feeling sure that he will find himself alive in another world.Carton dies with the certainty of resurrection.
The Grotesque resurrection of Cly:
There are comic and serious resurrections. Resurrection inthis novel assumes some comic and grotesque forms also. Roger Cly, a spy, is believed to havedied and been buried in the graveyard of Saint Pancras’s Church, but later we find him alive inParis at his old occupation of spying. So a man who was thought to be dead, came to life is alsoa kind of comic resurrection. His normal funeral ceremonies were performed and he was buriedto avoid the wrath of certain person who had become hostile to him in London.
The comic resurrection of Solomon (Barsad)
: Another comic example of resurrection isBarsad – Miss Pross’ brother whom she had almost given up as dead, but he appears in Paris.Miss Pross unexpectedly sees him and is astonished, though he feels greatly embarrassed to berecognized by her.
Jerry Cruncher – A Resurrection Man:
 Another example of the grotesque type of resurrection

is to be found in the nefarious business which Jerry Cruncher is pursuing in order to supplementhis income. He and his associates dig out newly-buried coffins from their graves and take out thedead bodies in order to sell them to a surgeon for medical purposes. Young Jerry has espied hisfather at this kind of work and he too aspires to become “A resurrection man.”
Resurrection in the sense of Political and Social regeneration:
Finally, resurrection, for thepurpose of this novel, may also be taken to mean political and social regeneration. The FrenchPeople having been oppressed and exploited for centuries have been clamoring for a newpolitical and social order without any success. Ultimately they rise in revolt against theestablished authority and try to being about sweeping reforms. Of course, their action involvesunheard-of-criminal acts. The moral of the French Revolution, according to Dickens is that theupper classes everywhere should take a warning from what happened in France and shouldmend their ways in order to see that the poor are contented and happy.
Renunciation as a theme:
The other theme, less prominent but more valuable, is renunciation. Itis through a renunciation of his claim to the family estate and the family title that Charles Darnayattains a heroic stature in our eyes. When Charles Darnay was still a child, his mother hadimposed a duty on him and he had bravely promised to keep faith with her. On growing up, hedecides to give up his claim to the family inheritance because he realizes that the family to whichhe belongs had done many wrongs to the poor people. To him the family inheritance signifies, “
acrumbling tower of waste
”. This act of his shows his generous heart, a spirit of self-sacrificeindicative of his humanitarian instincts.
Social injustice, violence, bloodshed and imprisonment as themes of the novel:
 Among thevarious themes of this novel is the social injustice. This theme is related of course, to the FrenchRevolution which was largely a result of those oppressive classes. The first glimpse of socialinjustice is given in the chapter called the Wine-Shop. When the wine from the broken cask isspilled on the ground symbolize bloodshed in the streets of Paris and the hunger and poverty of the people who rush to drink it. The incident of the child being run over by Marquis’s carriage. Hescolds the people for not caring about their children and spins a coin for the bereaved father as if for the compensation of the death of the child. The most shocking example of social injustice isthe prolonged imprisonment of Dr. Manette has recorded the circumstances under which he wasmade a prisoner is hair-raising. A TALE OF TWO CITIES is deeply colored by Dickens’ earlyexperiences in life and by what was happening to his emotional life when he started writing thisnovel. Early in his life, he had been a miserable witness to the imprisonment of his father whichhad left an unforgettable impression upon his mind. Prison and Imprisonment are two themesalways present in various novels of Charles Dickens. Almost every body in A TALE OF TWOCITIES is in prison.
Doubling as a theme
: The two lovers of Lucie seem to symbolize the duality in Dickens’s ownheart. Darnay and Carton who physically resemble each other were self-projections by Dickens.These two men represent the two different sides of Dickens’s literary personality. Darnayrepresents the light, sunny and optimistic aspect of Dickens’ personality who goes to France tohelp Gabelle without releasing the dangers he will face there. And Carton, on the other hand,represents the dark aspect of Dickens who loves Lucie but denies her by describing her as “
agolden-haired doll
” and he fails to claim her. Dickens’ own optimistic mood is reflected in thenovel. Doubling is also a theme in the sense that every thing in the novel is double. Doubleappearances, madness and sanity recurrences, the double arrest of Darnay, his doubleresurrection and Darnay’s and Carton’s love for Lucie is also a triangle. Doubling is a techniqueof symbolism in the fantasizing of reality, reappears throughout the book. The most obviousexample is physical resemblance of Darnay and Carton. These two personalities represent twodifferent worlds the social and collective on the one hand and the individual and subjective onthe other. Madame Defarge is an instructive example of Dickens’ attempt throughout this novel toidentity fantasy with reality, as in his own life. This is Dickens’ most personal novel in one wayand the most impersonal in the other.

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A Tale of Two cities - As Historical and Tragical Novel

A Tale of Two cities - As Historical and Tragical Novel

 A TALE OF TWO CITIES is a historical novel pertaining to the period before and during theFrench Revolution. CHARLES DICKENS had always written one historical novel,

Barnaby Rudge

which dealt with the period of English History. By the time, he wrote A TALE OF TWOCITIES he was vitally interested in history. In FR, he found a subject worthy of his 

broadconceptions a great nation ripening its own destruction – literally France of course, but byimplication England, too. However, it must be kept that CHARLES DICKENS’s novel doesn’t 

byany means depict the enormous sweep and drama of the French Revolution in all its complexity.CHARLES DICKENS has condensed the basic threat of the Revolution and the basic lesson 

thatcan be drawn from it by depicting the effects of the Terror, or the revengeful side of the revolution,on small group of people who get involved in these public events against their 

will. A number of sources supplied to Dickens the inspiration of his story of the FR. The main source was Carlyle’sFrench Revolution which Dickens had studied many times. In this book, 

he found a perfectsource for the principal historical scenes and events that he needed for his purpose. The basicidea for the plot was derived by Dickens from a play called the

Frozen Deep

by Wilkie Collins. Anovel called Zanoni written by Lytton in a similar context also supplied help to CHARLESDICKENS. The core of the story of the play is the sacrifice which a character 

called Wardour makes in order to save the life of Aldersley. When this play was staged the role of the self-sacrificing lover was played by Dickens himself with great zest and passion. 

Dickens transferredthe involvement which he had experienced in the acting of The Frozen Deep to the writing of ATALE OF TWO CITIES. Dickens has identified himself completely with 

the part played bySydney Carton in the story. This is one aspect of the link between the novel and the personalfeelings of the author. http://www.allonlinefree.com/

Crisis and Revolution in his personal life

: While A TALE OF TWO CITIES was maturing in hismind, Dickens was passing through a series of dramatic personal events. His married life withCatherine had never been happy since the 

marriage took place. There were two reasons for thisunhappiness. One was incompatibility with his temperament. Second was that Dickens wasdeeply interested in a girl before and 

during the marriage. In his early youth, he had successfullycourted a young girl named Maria Beadnell, but she died causing a great shock and grief toDickens. Later his feelings were taken 

up by an actress named Ellen Ternan who played the roleof Clara in the Frozen Deep with Dickens. Catherine could no longer bear this relationship andgot separated. Such was the 

personal crisis in his life which were externalized into A TALE OFTWO CITIES. The French Revolution which deeply affected the destiny of the characters in ATALE OF TWO CITIES 

overtook Dickens as a man, as a husband and as a lover. A TALE OFTWO CITIES enabled Dickens to combine his bent toward social criticism and warning with thetechnique and point of 

view of the historical novel, and it also enabled him to find an escape fromthe torments of his personal struggles and at the same time expose those pains in a symbolicform.

Elements of a tragedy

: It is not a full historical or personal novel. It is basically a tragedy writtenin the background of French Revolution. It depicts the fortunes and misfortune of someindividuals who are 

drawn into the public events. It is impossible to take the French Revolutionas the theme of the novel. Despite all its melodramatic, injustice, barbaric and historical scenesof the 

Revolution, we can, unhesitatingly, state that A TALE OF TWO CITIES is a genuine andrealistic tragedy. A true tragedy in literature depicts suffering and misfortune and shows humanbeings 

struggling against the whirlpools of life. Pathos is the chief emotional effect of a tragedy,but not pathos alone because pathos alone means sentimentality. In a tragedy, the feeling of 

pathos is essentially noble and capable of rising to great heights. A true tragedy produces anexhilarating effect upon the reader by showing the lofty and heroic side of human nature 

whilealso taking cognizance of the mean, evil and wicked manifestations of human nature. Pity andFear are the two dominant emotions aroused by a tragedy, but a true tragedy must 

effect acatharsis of these and kindred emotions. Though a novel written with a great deal of objectivityand detachment is yet one having a great personal and autobiographical 

significance. It waswritten at the time when Dickens was passing through a great crisis and a mental struggle in his

ife. The crisis and the mental struggle are reflected in the troubled lives of the characters. Therevolution in Dickens’ own mind shows him struggling with himself not only as a man but 

also asan artist in order to evolve a new method and technique of expression. So far his life as a man isconcerned, three of the main characters, namely Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton 

and LucieManette become projections of Dickens himself. At the time this novel was written, Dickenswanted an escape from the torments of his personal struggle and this novel helped 

him.

Limitations

 

of A TALE OF TWO CITIES as a historical novel

: A TALE OF TWO CITIES doeshave obvious limitations as a historical novel. It attempts no really panoramic view of either theEnglish or The French political world of those critical years 

(1775-1793). Barnaby Rudge waseven more comprehensive in nature as a historical novel. In A TALE OF TWO CITIES,CHARLES DICKENS depicts the beginnings of popular discontent in 

France; the risingdissatisfaction of the people, the turmoil caused by public fury, and the excesses and barbaritiescommitted by the revolutionaries during the years of the FR. CHARLES 

DICKENS gives us noconnected account of the FR, its progress, and its culmination. He gives us brief and shatteredaccounts of some of the principal episodes. He doesn’t give us 

systematic analysis of the causesof the FR, but he manages to convey to us all the horrors of the FR. Similarly, he takes no noticeof the historical personalities and their contribution such 

as Mirabeau and Napoleon. Nor did heattempt to do what Tolstoy might have attempted. Dickens’s main concern so far as FR isconcerned, was to show that extreme injustice leas to 

violence and violence then leads to inhuman cruelty as shown by the Reign of Terror in France. In the first part, Dickens’s sympathizeswith the poor and downtrodden, but at the end 

these people become the villains who thereforerepel him.

Historical scenes in A TALE OF TWO CITIES

: Dickens’s first reference to the outward causesof the FR comes in the chapter, “The Wine-Shop” in which he uses the symbol of the mill toconvey the grinding poverty though which 

the people of Saint Antoine are passing. Other chapters such as, “

Monseigneur in town

”, “

Monseigneur in the country 

” and “

The Gordon’s Head 

”Monseigneur, Marquis Evremonde symbolizes the entire privileged class and his assassinationby Gaspard, Gaspard’s hanging and the registration of the Evremonde family and of the 

spy,John Barsad are the pointers in the same direction. One of the best-known episodes of theFrench Revolution is then briefly described by Dickens in the Chapter; “

Echoing Footsteps

” Thatepisode is the storming of the Bastille Madame Defarge’s cutting off the head of the governor withher own hands prepares us for the excess which will be committed by the 

revolutionaries. But thereal brutalities and excesses are described at the end when the prisoners in La Force are waitingto be cut off, a frightening description of the weapons by the 

revolutionaries on the grindstoneand the awful working of the La Guillotine (The National Razor which shaved close). None of thegreat historical leaders are mentioned, only the 

executioner Samson is mentioned. In the finalpart of the novel, Dickens has followed Carlyle very closely. However, Dickens’s debt to Carlyleis much greater than has been indicated 

above. Dickens’s accounts of trials, prison procedures,the tumbrels and the guillotine have all come from Carlyle.

The interweaving of personal life with the FR

: A TALE OF TWO CITIES essentially the story of a group of private individuals, but this story has been told against the background of the FrenchRevolution which shook France in the 

years 1789-93. Dickens’s main achievement lies not onlyin giving us graphic and stirring accounts in the manner of Carlyle, but also in interweaving thepersonal lives of a group of private 

characters with the events of the FR. (a brief summary thathow the characters are slowly drawn into the FR. The real identity of Charles Darnay, wrongsdone to Dr. Manette by 

Evremonde family. Their sexual harassment of a girl and Dr. Manette’sevidence so that he had to stay under prison. Why Madame Defarge is revengeful because sheis the sister of the girl 

raped by the Evremonde family. Etc. describe Darnay’s visit to France, thearrest and acquittal of Darnay linked with the revolution, the death sentence against Darnay, thesubstitution of 

Sydney Carton and conclusion of the whole incident.).

The Tragedy of Dr. Manette

: This man was a promising young physician, leading a quiet andpeaceful life with his wife in the city of Paris. His life was blighted by the cruelty of the twoEvremonde brothers who 

took him to attend upon a young girl and her dying young brother. Givehis story of suffering…to the end…

Sufferings of Lucie and Darnay

: Life is not very kind to Lucie and her husband either. Lucie losther mother when he was still a child. She had never seen her father who lay in the Bastille. She

falls in love with Darnay and marries him though she doesn’t leave her father. Describe their sufferings. Lucie’s sufferings as a wife and daughter. Darnay’s trial at the Bailey and later 

imprisonment at the Bastille and his rescue etc.

The Tragedy of Sydney Carton

: Describe his profligate and depressed life. He himself says toLucie, “

I am like one who died young 

.” He is a frustrated individual who sinks lower and lower inlife and who is without any hope of improvement. Describe his resurrection and sacrifice for Darnay.

The Tragedy of People in General

: The grim instance of Marquis’ running over a child, thedrinking of spilled wine. The storming of the Bastille, Defarge’s cutting the governor’s head, thesharpening of the weapons, the 

carmagnole and the National Razor and all tragic incidences.(Describe them in detail from the precious answers.)

Dickens’ own Tragedy

: Finally, this novel also conveys indirectly and in a veiled manner thetragic conflict that had been going on in Dickens’ own mind just before he wrote this novel. In1855 he separated 

from his wife because of his love for Ellen Ternan, an actress.

The Moral and the theory of revolution

: Although Dickens doesn’t present any systematictheory of revolution, he certainly reveals a well-defined attitude towards the revolution and seemsto have formed certain definite 

views about it. In writing this novel, he was he was very particular about integrating the personal lives of his characters with wider pattern of history. It is theprincipal scheme of the 

novel to show the individual fate mirroring the social order. The lives of both Dr. Manette and Sydney Carton are parables of the revolution, of social regeneration thoughsuffering and 

sacrifice. (

Describe suffering of Manette and sacrifice of Carton and theme

). According to one critic, there is no other piece of fiction in which the domestic life o a few simpleprivate people is in such a manner integrated and knitted with the outbreak of a 

terrible publicevent, so that one seems to be a part of it. Although Dickens was obsessed with the revolutionand its massacre, but he was no revolutionist. It is true that certain Marxist 

critics have treated ATALE OF TWO CITIES as the text of revolutionary intentions. A revolution, according to Dickens,fills prisons, just as the just social order fills them. Madam Defarge is 

the ultimate personificationof the FR in A TALE OF TWO CITIES; and she is a person whose uncontrolled desire for revenge has changed her into a monster or pure evil. The final struggle 

between her and Miss.Pross is a contest between the forces of hatred and of love. It is love that wins when MadamDefarge is self-destroyed thought the accidental shooting off her own 

pistol. This incident showsthat Dickens feels no sympathy for the revolutionaries of Madame Defarge type. The actual fact isthat Dickens regarded the revolution as a monster. The scenes 

painted in A TALE OF TWOCITIES are a nightmare it is Dickens’s own nightmare. He teaches us that violence leads toviolence, that prison is the consequence of prison and that hatred is 

the reward of hatred. If allFrench noble men had been as willing to give up their class privileges as Darnay and if allFrench intellectuals had been so as keen to expose social abuses as Dr. 

Manette, there mighthave been no revolution or at least no revolution of this intensity. His conclusion about theFrench Revolution in the final chapter is as follows:

Crush humanity out of shape and once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the sameseed of rapacious license and oppression over 

again and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind.

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Individualized portrayal of characters in a TALE OF two CITIES

Individualized portrayal of characters in a TALE OF two CITIES

A diversity of characters: Dickens is one in all the best creators of characters in English fiction. A mere look of at the list of persons WHO figure in any of his novels is enough to cue United States of America of the author’s superb fertility in invention. He has delineated a full sort of characters like David Copperfield, Pip, Trotwood and SAM Weller. there's no dearth of real and distinctive characters in his works.
Dialogue vs. Incident: A TALE OF 2 CITIES affords ample proof of Dickens’ capability for character –portrayal. The vary of characters in a very TALE OF 2 CITIES is wide and has deep and penetrating studies. a number of the figures like man Defarge and madam Defarge square measure unforgettable. Dickens purpose within the case of this novel was to permit the characters to reveal themselves through incidents and thru their deeds and actions instead of through dialogues, however it's wrong to assume that he ignores dialogues. they're as necessary because the actions. John Forster, his friend and author says, “To believe less upon character than upon incident and to resolve that his actors ought to be specificed by the story over they must express themselves by dialogue, was for him a venturous and may hardly be referred to as a wholly in experiment.”

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The characters square measure sharply individualised: The characters of A TALE OF 2 CITIES are sharply been individualized. every character could be a distinct person in his or her claim. (Describe their individual qualities to tell apart them.)
The Character of Dr. Manette: discuss his role within the novel/ his habit of shoe-making and condition of inaction/ his performance at the top of the novel/ his salient qualities/ his insanity/ father-daughter relationship etc./ his responsibility at the group action of a sick woman and boy wronged by the Evremonde family/ His jail.
Charles Darnay: Charles Darnay too reveals the essential traits of his character through dialogue. Of course, one in all his basic traits seems through action additionally. His facilitate to Gabelle/ his renunciation/ his love with Lucie/ his sincerity: He says to Dr. Manette:
“Dear Dr. Manette, i like your female offspring lovingly, dearly, without bias devotedly. If ever there have been love within the world, I love her.”
So we will say that dialogue and incident play a crucial half within the novel.
Sydney Carton: we have a tendency to then return to Sydney whose action is dropping his life for the sake of the husband of the girl whom he loves is nice importance. Carton’s character seems before United States of America solely through dialogues. He features a speech communication with Darnay directly once his final decision at the criminal court. Carton says that he cares for no body within the world and no body cares regarding him. He appearance into the mirror and says that he hates Darnay even if there's a physical alikeness between the 2. A dialogue between Carton and Stryver reveals that the previous could be a “see-saw” quite man. Up one minute and down future. He expresses his love for Lucie in a very dialogue and says that he's a profligate. Describe his aspects of temperament from the on top of answers.
Mr. Lorry: The character of Mr. Lorry is additionally disclosed to United States of America through dialogue. within the starting, he features a long speech communication with Lucie wherever he seems to be “a man of business” and describes himself in and of itself. He features a dialogue with Miss Pross regarding his concern for Dr. Manette. Towards to finish, he rebukes Hun for his impious activities. Describe a number of his aspects.
Miss Pross, Hun Cruncher & Stryver: write from their buffoonish activities on top of.
The Defarges: write from on top of data.

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A Tale of Two Cities Summary

As  novel starts, a very businessman-like British gentleman makes his way into the heart of Paris. He’s on a very unsettling mission. In fact, it’s almost enough to make a businessman cry. You see, eighteen years ago, a French doctor was imprisoned without any warning (or any trial). He’s been locked up in the worst prison of all prisons, the Bastille. After almost two decades, he was released – again without any explanation – and he’s currently staying with an old servant of his, Ernst Defarge. Today, Mr. Lorry (that’s our British businessman) is on a mission to the French doctor back to England, where he can live in peace with his daughter.

Dr. Manette may be free, but he’s still a broken man. He spends most of his time cobbling together shoes and pacing up and down in his dark room. Too accustomed to the space of a prison to understand that he can actually leave his room, Dr. Manette seems doomed to live a pitiful life.

Fortunately for Dr. Manette (and for Mr. Lorry, now that we think about it), he happens to have the World’s Perfect Daughter. Lucie, the child he left eighteen years ago, is now a grown-up, smiling, blond, perfect ray of sunshine. Everything she touches seems to turn to gold. Vomit if you’d like, but Lucie is indeed perfect. And she’ll need every ounce of that perfection to restore her father back to health.

Of course, she does manage to bring Dr. Manette back into the everyday world. We never doubted her for a second. Within the space of five years (that’s 1780, for those of you who are counting), Dr. Manette is a new man. He’s a practicing doctor again; he and Lucie live in a small house in Soho. They don’t have much money (Dr. Manette’s cash was all seized in France), but Lucie manages to shine her rays of wonderfulness over their lives. In other words, they’re pretty happy. And they’ve adopted Mr. Lorry as a sort of drop-in uncle.

As we pick up the story in 1780, Dr. Manette and Lucie have been called as witnesses in a treason case. Apparently, a young man named Charles Darnay is accused of providing classified information to the French government. English trials at the time resemble smoke-and-mirror tricks: Dickens takes great delight in mocking the "esteemed" members of the court. Thanks to Lucie’s compassionate testimony and some quick work by a man who looks strangely like Charles Darnay, however, our man Charles is off the hook.

A free man, Charles Darnay immediately realizes just how perfect our perfect Lucie actually is. He sets up shop in the Manette house, coming to visit almost every day. The Charles look-alike, a disreputable (but, let’s face it, really likable) guy called Sydney Carton, also takes a liking to Lucie. If Charles is shiny and good and perfect, Sydney is… not any of those things. He also likes to beat himself up a lot. (In fact, we’re thinking that he could really use one of those twelve-step esteem boosting programs.)

Sydney loves Lucie with all his heart, but he’s convinced that he could never deserve her. What does he do? Well, he tells her precisely why she could never love him. Surprise, surprise: she agrees. She’d like to help him be a better person, but he would rather wallow in his misery. After all, wallowing sounds like so much fun, doesn’t it? Wallow, wallow, wallow. That’s Sydney in a nutshell.

Charles, meanwhile, fares a little bit better. He marries Lucie. On the day of his wedding, he tells Dr. Manette a secret: he’s actually a French nobleman in disguise. A very particular French nobleman, as a matter of fact: the Marquis Evrémonde. Because everything in a Dickens novel has to fit into a neat pattern, it’s no real surprise that the Evrémondes were the evil brothers who locked Dr. Manette up in the first place. The good doctor is a bit shocked, of course, but he eventually realizes that Charles is nothing like his father or his uncle (the evil Evrémondes brothers). Dr. Manette is willing to love Charles for the man he is, not the family he left behind.

Things are going swimmingly in England. Charles moves in with the Manettes, he makes a decent wage as a tutor, and Dr. Manette seems to be as happy as ever. But wait, wasn’t this a tale of two cities? What happened to the other city?

OK, you got us. While everything’s coming up roses in London, everything’s coming up dead in Paris. We only wish we were kidding. People are starving, the noblemen run over little children with their carriages, and everyone is pretty unhappy. In fact, they’re so unhappy that they’re beginning to band together as "citizens" of a new republic. Right now, Ernst Defarge and his wife are at the center of a revolutionary group. We can tell that they’re revolutionary because they’re super-secret. And they also call each other "Jacques." That’s "Jack" in French.

In the village of the Evrémondes, the Marquis has been stabbed in the night. Gasp! The government hangs the killer, but tensions don’t ever really settle down. Finally, the steward of the Evrémonde estate sends a desperate letter to the new Marquis: because folks hated the old Marquis so much, they’re now throwing the steward into prison.

A bunch of fluke accidents conspire to make sure that Charles gets the letter. He’s the Marquis, remember? Even though he’s thrown off his old title and his old lands entirely, he can’t help but feel responsible for the fate of this steward. Without telling his wife or his father-in-law anything about what’s been going on, he secretly sets off for France.

Unfortunately for Charles, he picked a bad time for a summer vacation. By the time he arrives on the shores of France, the revolutionaries have overturned the country. The King is about to be beheaded. The Queen soon follows suit. Murder and vengeance and mob mentality are all boiling over. Immediately detained, Charles soon realizes that he’s made a big, big mistake. By the time he reaches Paris, he’s become a prisoner. New laws dictate that he’s going to be executed by La Guillotine. 

Fortunately, Dr. Manette hears about his fate. With Lucie in tow, he rushes to Paris. It turns out that he’s something of a celebrity there: anybody who was falsely arrested under the aristocratic rule of old is now revered as one of the heroes of the new Republic. The doctor shows up at Charles's trial and wows the judges with his heroic plea to save his son-in-law.

Everything seems happy again. Sure, it’s the middle of the French Revolution, but the Manettes and Charles are in the clear. Or at least, that’s how it seems for a few hours. All too quickly, however, Charles is arrested again. This time, the Defarges have accused him of being a member of the nobility and a stain on the country’s name.

Frantic, Doctor Manette tries to intervene. The court case for Charles’s second trial goes very differently from the first one, though. Ernst Defarge produces a letter, written by Dr. Manette himself, which condemns Charles to death.

Wait a second! Dr. Manette? Impossible! Well, not exactly. Long ago, Dr. Manette scribbled down the history of his own imprisonment and secreted it in a wall of the Bastille. The history tells a sordid tale of rape and murder – crimes committed by Charles’s father and brother. Incensed, the jury of French revolutionary "citizens" decides that Charles should pay for the crimes of his father.

Before he can be executed, however, Sydney Carton comes to the rescue. A few good tricks and a couple of disguises later, Charles is a free man. He and his family head back to England in (relative) safety. Sydney, however, doesn’t fare so well. He takes Charles’s place in prison and dies on the guillotine.



source---www.shmoop.com/

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