A Tale of Two Cities

(set in1775)
GENERAL IDEA

A Tale of Two Cities contrasts the social and political events taking place in Paris and London during (and prior to) the
French Revolution in the mid-to-late eighteenth century. Dickens draws unsettling parallels between the two cities,
describing abject poverty, appalling starvation, rampant crime, ruthless capital punishment, and aristocratic greed. The novel,
which was published in three books during the mid-nineteenth century, retrospectively questions the degree to which the
French revolutionaries of the late eighteenth century upheld Enlightenment-era ideals of rational thought, tolerance,
constitutional government, and liberty.

Plot Overview

The year is 1775, and social ills plague both France and England. Jerry Cruncher, an odd-job man who works for Tellson’s
Bank, stops the Dover mail-coach with an urgent message for Jarvis Lorry. The message instructs Lorry to wait at Dover for
a young woman, and Lorry responds with the cryptic words, “Recalled to Life.” At Dover, Lorry is met by Lucie Manette, a
young orphan whose father, a once-eminent doctor whom she supposed dead, has been discovered in France. Lorry escorts
Lucie to Paris, where they meet Defarge, a former servant of Doctor Manette, who has kept Manette safe in a garret. Driven
mad by eighteen years in the Bastille, Manette spends all of his time making shoes, a hobby he learned while in prison. Lorry
assures Lucie that her love and devotion can recall her father to life, and indeed they do.

The year is now 1780. Charles Darnay stands accused of treason against the English crown. A bombastic lawyer named
Stryver pleads Darnay’s case, but it is not until his drunk, good-for-nothing colleague, Sydney Carton, assists him that the
court acquits Darnay. Carton clinches his argument by pointing out that he himself bears an uncanny resemblance to the
defendant, which undermines the prosecution’s case for unmistakably identifying Darnay as the spy the authorities spotted.
Lucie and Doctor Manette watched the court proceedings, and that night, Carton escorts Darnay to a tavern and asks how it
feels to receive the sympathy of a woman like Lucie. Carton despises and resents Darnay because he reminds him of all that
he himself has given up and might have been.

In France, the cruel Marquis Evrémonde runs down a plebian child with his carriage. Manifesting an attitude typical of the
aristocracy in regard to the poor at that time, the Marquis shows no regret, but instead curses the peasantry and hurries home
to his chateau, where he awaits the arrival of his nephew, Darnay, from England. Arriving later that night, Darnay curses his
uncle and the French aristocracy for its abominable treatment of the people. He renounces his identity as an Evrémonde and
announces his intention to return to England. That night, the Marquis is murdered; the murderer has left a note signed with
the nickname adopted by French revolutionaries: “Jacques.”

A year passes, and Darnay asks Manette for permission to marry Lucie. He says that, if Lucie accepts, he will reveal his true
identity to Manette. Carton, meanwhile, also pledges his love to Lucie, admitting that, though his life is worthless, she has
helped him dream of a better, more valuable existence. On the streets of London, Jerry Cruncher gets swept up in the funeral
procession for a spy named Roger Cly. Later that night, he demonstrates his talents as a “Resurrection-Man,” sneaking into
the cemetery to steal and sell Cly’s body. In Paris, meanwhile, another English spy known as John Barsad drops into
Defarge’s wine shop. Barsad hopes to turn up evidence concerning the mounting revolution, which is still in its covert
stages. Madame Defarge sits in the shop knitting a secret registry of those whom the revolution seeks to execute. Back in
London, Darnay, on the morning of his wedding, keeps his promise to Manette; he reveals his true identity and, that night,
Manette relapses into his old prison habit of making shoes. After nine days, Manette regains his presence of mind, and soon
joins the newlyweds on their honeymoon. Upon Darnay’s return, Carton pays him a visit and asks for his friendship. Darnay
assures Carton that he is always welcome in their home.

The year is now 1789. The peasants in Paris storm the Bastille and the French Revolution begins. The revolutionaries murder
aristocrats in the streets, and Gabelle, a man charged with the maintenance of the Evrémonde estate, is imprisoned. Three
years later, he writes to Darnay, asking to be rescued. Despite the threat of great danger to his person, Darnay departs
immediately for France.

As soon as Darnay arrives in Paris, the French revolutionaries arrest him as an emigrant. Lucie and Manette make their way
to Paris in hopes of saving him. Darnay remains in prison for a year and three months before receiving a trial. In order to
help free him, Manette uses his considerable influence with the revolutionaries, who sympathize with him for having served
time in the Bastille. Darnay receives an acquittal, but that same night he is arrested again. The charges, this time, come from
Defarge and his vengeful wife. Carton arrives in Paris with a plan to rescue Darnay and obtains the help of John Barsad, who
turns out to be Solomon Pross, the long-lost brother of Miss Pross, Lucie’s loyal servant.
At Darnay’s trial, Defarge produces a letter that he discovered in Manette’s old jail cell in the Bastille. The letter explains the
cause of Manette’s imprisonment. Years ago, the brothers Evrémonde (Darnay’s father and uncle) enlisted Manette’s
medical assistance. They asked him to tend to a woman, whom one of the brothers had raped, and her brother, whom the
same brother had stabbed fatally. Fearing that Manette might report their misdeeds, the Evrémondes had him arrested. Upon
hearing this story, the jury condemns Darnay for the crimes of his ancestors and sentences him to die within twenty-four
hours. That night, at the Defarge’s wine shop, Carton overhears Madame Defarge plotting to have Lucie and her daughter
(also Darnay’s daughter) executed as well; Madame Defarge, it turns out, is the surviving sibling of the man and woman
killed by the Evrémondes. Carton arranges for the Manettes’ immediate departure from France. He then visits Darnay in
prison, tricks him into changing clothes with him, and, after dictating a letter of explanation, drugs his friend unconscious.
Barsad carries Darnay, now disguised as Carton, to an awaiting coach, while Carton, disguised as Darnay, awaits execution.
As Darnay, Lucie, their child, and Dr. Manette speed away from Paris, Madame Defarge arrives at Lucie’s apartment,
hoping to arrest her. There she finds the supremely protective Miss Pross. A scuffle ensues, and Madame Defarge dies by the
bullet of her own gun. Sydney Carton meets his death at the guillotine, and the narrator confidently asserts that Carton dies
with the knowledge that he has finally imbued his life with meaning.

EXTENDED SUMMARY

Book the First, Chapters 1, 2, and 3 Summary and Analysis

The novel opens on England in 1775. Western Europe is in the throes of social unrest, and France is headed toward
revolution (the French Revolution began in 1789). England is not faring much better; corruption and criminality are major
problems, with crimes ranging from muggings to murders happening daily.

Late on a densely foggy night, Jarvis Lorry accompanies a mail coach to Dover. Highway robberies are common, and
everyone in the coach is petrified when they hear a horse approaching. However, it is only Jerry Cruncher, who has a
message for Lorry from Tellson’s Bank: “Wait at Dover for Mam’selle.” Lorry gives Cruncher a message in return:
“RECALLED TO LIFE.” Cruncher appears startled and gallops away on his horse.

The three passengers are left alone. The narrator muses that although they are crowded together within the small mail coach,
they are strangers. Cruncher makes his way back to Tellson’s Bank, but he continues to agonize over Lorry’s message.
Lorry, meanwhile, falls asleep in the mail coach and dreams about digging a man out of a grave. The man tells him he has
been buried alive for eighteen years and had “abandoned all hope of being dug out.” Lorry wakes up with a start.

Analysis

The contradictions listed in the opening of the novel portray 1775 as an age of profound transition, full of promise and threat.
The comparison to Dickens's Victorian times establishes the novel's use of the past to comment on the present.

In the novel’s opening lines (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”), Charles Dickens establishes a parallel
between London and Paris—the “Two Cities”—in order to explore the profound and unsettling sociopolitical changes of
mid-eighteenth-century Western Europe. Corruption is as rampant in England as it is in pre-revolutionary France; harsh
laws, as well as aristocratic and political nefariousness, incite unrest and radicalism. Though Dickens acknowledges that
England is no better than France, he suggests the possibility of redemption and, as we will see later, resurrection through
Jarvis Lorry’s words: “RECALLED TO LIFE.” Presumably, redemption will be possible if England avoids making the same
mistakes that are being made in France.

Book the First, Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis

Summary

The mail coach arrives safely in Dover. Jarvis Lorry is the only passenger left, as the other passengers were dropped off at
earlier stops. He reserves a room at the Royal George Hotel. After eating breakfast, dozing, and having his hair cut, he books
an additional room for a young lady who is supposed to meet him there. He idles in the hotel’s coffee room all afternoon,
drinking wine and staring anxiously at the “live red coals” in the fireplace.

The young lady, Lucie Manette, arrives at last. Lorry (Mr. Lorry works like a secret agent for Tellson's Bank. He uses the
cover of "business" to assist in political activities (like freeing Dr. Manette). But he also uses "business" rhetoric to hide his
feelings and protect others' emotions, even when explaining a father's history to his daughter.)meets her in her room, and we
learn that he is supposed to accompany her to Saint Antoine in Paris to settle a business matter concerning her deceased
father. Lorry reveals, however, that Lucie’s father is not actually dead; he has been in prison for eighteen years. He has been
released and is now in need of Lucie’s care and Lorry’s guidance. Lucie is greatly shocked and becomes unresponsive. Her
servant arrives to care for her, and Lorry departs. 20 years ago, Dr. Manette, a renowned doctor, married an English woman
and trusted his affairs to Tellson's Bank. One day, Manette disappeared, having been jailed by the authorities and taken to a
secret prison. Rather than tell Lucie the truth, Lucie's mother told her that her father was dead. Lucie's mother herself died
soon afterwards, and Mr. Lorry took Lucie from Paris to London.

Analysis:

The parallel between the two cities is further solidified by the introduction of Lucie Manette, who was born in Paris but
raised in London. Her origins are “recalled” by the news that her French father is alive and hiding in Saint Antoine, a suburb
of Paris. Jarvis Lorry, the staunchly pragmatic businessman, also represents a strong connection between London and Paris.
He works for Tellson’s Bank, which is “quite a French house, as well as an English one.” He conducts business, sometimes
in secret, between Paris and London on behalf of the bank.

The Manettes exemplify several of the novel’s key themes. The inescapability of one’s heritage is closely tied to the
symbolic resurrection of Dr. Manette. Consequently, Lucie (though addressed as “a young English lady”) cannot avoid the
responsibilities accompanying her family history and is obligated to retrieve her father and nurse him back to health.
Furthermore, the importance of heritage seems to underscore the novel’s growing preoccupation with fate—especially for
French emigrants, like the Manettes, who attempt to discard their backgrounds in favor of a new life.

Book the First, Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

Summary:

A large cask of red wine has fallen off a cart and shattered on the street in dirty, poverty-stricken Saint Antoine. People stop
what they are doing to rush over and drink what has pooled in the uneven stone pavement. They create embankments in the
mud to collect the wine so they can scoop it up in their hands. Faces and hands are stained red, and a man writes “BLOOD”
on a wall.

Jarvis Lorry and Lucie Manette sit quietly in Ernest Defarge’s wine shop. Monsieur Defarge is discussing the spilled wine
with three men, each of whom he calls “Jacques” (a code name that identifies themselves to one another as revolutionaries).
Madame Defarge, his wife, knits intently and appears to not take notice of the conversation. At length, Monsieur Defarge
directs the three men to an apartment that they wish to see. They leave, and Lorry approaches Defarge to inquire after Dr.
Manette.

Monsieur Defarge is visibly shocked by Lorry’s inquiry. He leads Lorry and Lucie up to a garret, far above the wine shop,
where Dr. Manette has been hiding. They encounter the three “Jacques” outside the garret. Lorry is angry that Defarge
allows anyone to see Dr. Manette, and Lucie is afraid to go inside. They enter the garret to find Dr. Manette making shoes in
the dark.

Analysis:

Red wine symbolizes and foreshadows the blood that will later be shed in the French Revolution. Scenes of “gaunt
scarecrows” frantically crowding one another to drink the spilled wine reveal two of the novel’s main concerns: the rise of
revolutionary sentiment and its influence on large crowds of people—especially the outraged lower classes. The French
peasants are starving, but Dickens suggests a distinction between physical hunger and a growing “Hunger” that will soon
fuel the revolution.

The Parisian revolutionaries first began addressing each of other as “Jacques” during the Jacquerie, a 1358 peasant uprising
against French nobility. The nobles contemptuously referred to the peasants by the extremely common name of “Jacques” in
order to accentuate their inferiority and deny their individuality. The peasants adopted the name as a war name. Just as the
fourteenth-century peasants rallied around their shared low birth, so too do Dickens’s revolutionaries fight as a unified
machine of war. For example, at the storming of the Bastille in Book the Second, Chapter 21, Defarge cries out, “Work,
comrades all, work! Work, Jacques One, Jacques Two, Jacques One Thousand, Jacques Two Thousand, Jacques Five-and-
Twenty Thousand . . . work!”

Book the First, Chapter 6 Summary and Analysis

Summary:

Dr. Manette, who appears to be a weak and half-insane old man, barely takes notice of his three visitors. He answers some of
Ernest Defarge’s questions but otherwise focuses on making shoes. He tells them he is making a lady’s shoe. When Defarge
asks him to state his name, he says, “One hundred and five, North Tower.”

Lorry addresses Dr. Manette by name, and Dr. Manette slowly begins to remember both Lorry and Lucie. Lucie is overcome
with pity and approaches her father, much to the alarm of Lorry and Monsieur Defarge. She holds him and declares that she
will “be true” to him “‘with all my duty and with all my faithful service.’”
Monsieur Defarge and Lorry decide that Dr. Manette must return to England as soon as possible. Lucie stays alone with her
father while Defarge and Lorry arrange for the departure. As they leave, Lorry asks Dr. Manette if he cares “to be recalled to
life,” to which Dr. Manette replies, “I can’t say.”

Analysis:

Dr. Manette, though free from prison, has yet to be “recalled to life.” The trauma of his long imprisonment has reduced him
to a shoemaker who cannot remember his past. His identity as a prisoner (he states his name as “One hundred and five, North
Tower”) has superseded his past identity as a physician. Furthermore, he is no longer a productive member of society; his
industriousness as a shoemaker, for example, does not benefit anyone—the “lady’s shoe” he crafts in perpetual solitude will
probably never be worn. Dr. Manette’s madness introduces another one of the novel’s major concerns: the consequences
(both social and individual) of solitary confinement as a means of punishment.

Lucie Manette’s role as a virtuous, self-sacrificing redeemer is underscored by the symbolism of her golden hair, which
momentarily reminds Dr. Manette of his wife’s hair (thus beginning the process of remembering who he is). Lucie, as we
shall see, is the weaver of the “Golden Thread” that will bind her family together through future trials—and restore her
father’s health.

Book the Second, Chapters 1-9 Summary and Analysis

Summary:

Five years have passed. Book Two opens with a grim description of Tellson’s Bank, which is old-fashioned and dark.
Dickens connects Tellson’s dirty and gloomy appearance, as well as the highly questionable morals of its bankers, to
England’s outdated stance on the death penalty. We learn that, during the time of the novel, people are being regularly
executed for minor offenses.

The scene shifts to Jerry Cruncher waking up in his “decently kept” home nearby. He begins berating his wife, who is
kneeling in prayer beside him. Cruncher thinks her praying will cause the family to have bad luck. He and his son, who bears
a remarkable resemblance to him, continue to ridicule her throughout breakfast. They go to work outside of Tellson’s Bank,
where they await orders from Lorry. Cruncher is called away to perform an errand. His son sits outside of the bank and
wonders why his father’s fingers are always rusty.

Cruncher arrives at the Old Bailey (London’s largest court) for his errand. He is supposed to deliver a message to Lorry in
the courtroom and then wait for Lorry’s instructions. Cruncher learns that the man on trial has been accused of treason, the
punishment for which is execution. Cruncher enters the courtroom and speaks with a man who eagerly awaits the sentence.
We learn that the man on trial is Charles Darnay, a twenty-five-year-old described as “well-grown and well-looking,” and
that Lucie Manette and Jarvis Lorry have been summoned as witnesses against him.

Analysis:

Tellson’s Bank symbolizes not only the major economic ties between London and France but also the tyrannical and archaic
systems of power (especially the aristocracy and corrupt politicians) that oppress the lower classes. The bank is “very small,
very dark, very ugly.

Chapter 3: A Disappointment

Charles Darnay is charged with shuttling back and forth between France and England in order to spy. John Barsad, who was
his friend, is the chief witness against him. Darnay was allegedly involved in traitorous activities as far back as five years
ago, during the outbreak of the American Revolution.

Mr. Lorry is called to give evidence against Charles Darnay, and he identifies Darnay as the man who came on board in the
middle of the night at Calais on the way from France to England. Miss Manette is called and, though she identifies him, she
strongly regrets that her evidence could bring him any harm. Lucie testifies that the prisoner confided in her that he was
traveling under an assumed name on a delicate business. Dr. Manette testifies that he also recognizes the man.

The case is thrown into uproar and made fruitless, however, when a Mr. Carton reveals himself. Mr. Stryver is in the middle
of cross-examining another witness “with no result” when his insolent young colleague, Sydney Carton, passes him a note.
Stryver begins arguing the contents of the note, which draws the court’s attention to Carton’s own uncanny resemblance to
the prisoner. Carton looks so much like Darnay that a positive identification of the defendant is made impossible. Darnay's
defense counsel, Mr. Stryver, shows that Barsad was himself a traitor. The jury deliberates for a long time. Lucie faints and
is taken out of the courthouse. Mr. Lorry tells Jerry to remain to take the verdict to Tellson's. Jerry receives a piece of paper
on which it is written that Darnay is acquitted.

Chapter 4: Congratulatory
Dr. Manette, Lucie, Mr. Lorry, the solicitor for the defense, and Mr. Stryver all congratulate Darnay on his escape from
death. Dr. Manette's face is clouded over by the negative emotions caused by being cross-examined about being imprisoned.
Darnay kisses Lucie’s hand and then turns to Stryver to thank him for his work. Lucie, Manette, and Stryver depart, and a
drunk Sydney Carton emerges from the shadows to join the men. Lorry chastises him for not being a serious man of
business. Darnay and Carton make their way to a tavern, where Carton smugly asks, “Is it worth being tried for one’s life, to
be the object of [Lucie’s] sympathy and compassion . . . ?” When Darnay comments that Carton has been drinking, Carton
gives his reason for indulging himself so: “I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth
cares for me.” Mr. Carton proposes a toast to Miss Manette. After Darnay leaves, Carton curses his own image in the mirror,
as well as his look-alike, who reminds him of what he has “fallen away from.” He hates Darnay for inspiring Miss Manette
to look at him with such compassion.

Chapter 5: The Jackal

Mr. Stryver is prone to alcoholism, and he is a drinking companion of Mr. Carton's--they had been fellow students in Paris.
The narrator describes Mr. Stryver as an ambitious man starting to climb the professional ladder. Due to his problem
distilling information, he partnered with Sydney Carton, who now secretly does all the work for Stryver to win his cases. If
Stryver is a lion in court, Carton is a cunning jackal behind the scenes. Mr. Stryver, despite all of his capacity to push
himself ahead, became a much more successful lawyer when Mr. Carton began working on and helping summarize his
documents for him. Thus Carton became Stryver's jackal. When Stryver talks about how pretty Miss Manette is, Carton
denies it, claiming she is nothing but a blond "doll." Carton leaves Stryver's house and returns to his own, crying himself to
sleep. He is haunted by the honourable glories that once were available to him but are now out of his reach.

Chapter 6: Hundreds of People

Four months after the trial, Mr. Lorry dines with the Manettes. The Manettes live in Soho, a charming part of London not yet
fully urbanized. Dr. Manette has revived his medical practice out of the house and lives comfortably. He converses
with Miss Pross, who is upset because, as she terms it, hundreds of people come looking for Miss Manette (whom she calls
"my Ladybird") although Miss Pross thinks they do not deserve her.  In Miss Pross’s opinion, the only man worthy of Lucie
is her own brother, Solomon Pross, who, she laments, disqualified himself by making a certain mistake. Lorry knows,
however, that Solomon is a scoundrel who robbed Miss Pross of her possessions and left her in poverty. Mr. Lorry
recognizes Miss Pross's devotion and values her more highly than wealthier women who have balances at Tellson's. He
questions Miss Pross about whether Dr. Manette knows the identity of the person who caused him to be jailed for so long;
she thinks he does. When Lucie and her father arrive, Miss Pross fusses over the girl, arranging her bonnet and smoothing
her hair. Miss Pross had scoured the neighborhood for French expatriates to teach her cooking tricks, and she is now
considered a sorceress in the kitchen. After dinner,

Mr. Darnay comes to call. Dr. Manette is in good humor until he gets flustered when Darnay tells a story about the Tower of
London, in which many prisoners' initials were carved. The only ones that couldn't be matched by a former prisoner were
D.I.G., which the guards figured was an imperative to dig (they dug, but found only remains of a possible letter).

Mr. Carton joins the party as it moves inside out of a rainstorm. Lucy tells of her fancy that the footsteps that echo outside
her house are the footsteps of people to come in and out of her life. Mr. Carton observes that this vision represents a great
number of people who really will be in her life.

Chapter 7: Monseigneur in Town

Monseigneur is a powerful lord of France who holds receptions every two weeks in his hotel in Paris. It takes four men to
muster the ceremony necessary to serve him his morning chocolate. His idea of general public business is to let things go
their own way, and his idea of specific public business is for things to go whatever way is most profitable for him.
Monseigneur found that these principles, in addition to the reduction of his finances, made it advantageous for him to ally
himself with a Farmer-General by marrying his sister to one. Everyone in his court is unreal because none knows how to do
a lick of work that is useful to anyone els. Miffed at Monseigneur’s haughtiness, one guest, the Marquis Evrémonde,
condemns Monseigneur as he leaves. The Marquis orders his carriage to be raced through the city streets, delighting to see
the commoners nearly run down by his horses. Suddenly the carriage jolts to a stop. A child lies dead under its wheels. e.
The Marquis de Evremonde, also known as Monseigneur, condemns the commoners as he leaves, and then rides away in his
own carriage.

Monseigneur's carriage, driving recklessly fast, runs down and kills a child. The Marquis gives Gaspard, the child's father, a
gold coin, and gives Defarge another gold coin for making the philosophical observation that the child is better off dead. As
the Marquis is driving away. As the Marquis drives away, a coin comes flying back into the carriage, thrown in bitterness.
He curses the commoners, saying that he would willingly ride over any of them. Madame Defarge watches the scene,
knitting the entire time. Upper-class people continue to drive through Saint Antoine as the poor and hungry look on.

Chapter 8: Monseigneur in the Country

The Marquis continues driving in his carriage through another poor village, this one made destitute by over-taxation. He
stops and demands to speak with one of the villagers, asking him why he stared so intently as the Marquis drove up the hill.
The man replies that there was a man under the carriage hanging from the shoe. He describes the man as white as a miller
and tall as a ghost. The villager claims that when the carriage stopped, the man underneath dived headfirst over the hillside.
The Marquis loses patience with the story and asks Monsieur Gabelle, the Postmaster, to put the villagers out of his sight.
The Marquis sets off again but is waylaid by a woman with a petition. Her husband has died and she wishes for a piece of
wood or stone to mark his grave; too many have died and become heaps of unmarked earth. He pushes away from her
without replying and continues the journey to his château. When he arrives he asks if Monsieur Charles has yet arrived
from England.

Chapter 9: The Gorgon's Head

The chateau is all stone, as if a Gorgon's head had looked at it. Monseigneur sits down to dinner after complaining that his
nephew has not yet arrived. When Charles Darnay does arrive, Monseigneur observes that he has taken a long time coming
from London. Darnay accuses Monseigneur of an effort to have him imprisoned in France with a letter de cachet.
Monseigneur does not deny this, but he complains about the inaccessibility of such measures and the privileges that the
aristocracy has lost. He considers repression to be the only effective and lasting policy; Darnay replies that their family has
done wrong and will pay the consequences. Darnay renounces his property and France. Monseigneur mocks him for having
not been more successful in England, then mentions the doctor and his daughter but ominously refuses to say more.

Owls howl through the night, and when the sun rises its slanting angle makes the chateau fountain seem full of blood. The
villagers wake up first to start their toil, and the occupants of the chateauawake later, but when they do arise, they engage in
frenzied activity. Monseigneur was murdered during the night. There is a knife through his heart, containing a piece of paper
on which it is written: "Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques."

Analysis

The courtroom scenes that open the second book of the novel allow Dickens to use a wonderful range of language. He
employs a technique known as free indirect style, which fuses third-person narration with an interior point of view. He
reveals the charges for which Darnay is being tried while rooting the reader in the uneducated mind (and ear) of the
spectators: “Charles Darnay had yesterday pleaded Not Guilty to an indictment denouncing him (with infinite jingle and
jangle) for that he was a false traitor to our serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth, prince. . . .” The juxtaposition of
formal (“our serene, illustrious, excellent”) and informal (“and so forth”) speech produces a comical effect by highlighting
the unrefined crowd’s zealous craving for the juicy details of the case, even as they recognize the decorum of their setting.

Dickens also uses these scenes to implement another of his favorite literary devices, parody. The Attorney-General’s long,
self-important, and bombastic speech at the opening of Chapter 3 offers a highly comical imitation of legalese and serves
indirectly to ridicule the Attorney-General, as well as the entire legal system. Thus the Attorney-General’s informs the jury:

The Attorney-General melodramatically touts the virtues of his witness, John Barsad, and absurdly deifies him, as though
Barsad were a great figure from antiquity. When he explains that Barsad would not in fact have such a statue erected in his
honor, as no such practice exists in England, his words again produce a comical effect. They draw attention to the fact that
the attorney’s first sentence glorified Barsad to the point of irrelevant hypotheticals. Moreover, the redundant nature of the
Attorney-General’s statement highlights his obliviousness to the emptiness of his words.

The passage makes clear how Dickens’s comical characterizations have won him the admiration of generations of readers. A
Tale of Two Cities, however, is far from a comic novel; and perhaps in withholding humor from the book, Dickens sacrificed
some opportunity to put his greatest talents to work. Dickens’s most “Dickensian” novels abound with hilariously grotesque
characters, whose speech (usually vulgar) and appearance (usually freakish) are rendered with extreme exaggeration. With
his impeded speech, violent temper, mysteriously rusty fingers, and muddy boots, Jerry Cruncher comes as close as any
other character to this sort of caricature. But with A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens was making a conscious decision to steer
away from his trademark characters, in order to write a novel in shorter and more frequent installments than usual. He
determined to strip the story of dialogue, upon which he often relied to flesh out his characters and further his narration, in
favor of describing the story’s action. By shifting his attention from character to plot, Dickens crafted A Tale of Two
Cities into a rather un-Dickensian novel. His biographer, John Forster, doubted the benefits of such a move:

As in Shakespearean tragedies, the great elements of tragedy are provided by the upper classes, while the lower classes
provide comic relief, often by the distinct color and topics of their language. In Chapter 1, the Cruncher family provides
comic relief from the heavy sentimentality of the reuniting of the Manettes. Jerry Cruncher uses laughably vivid language to
censure his wife's sense of religion: "You're a nice woman! What do you mean by flopping yourself down and praying agin
me?" There is humor in the fact that Jerry objects to the very characteristics that actually make his wife nice. For a man who
claims not to believe in religion, Jerry has a very real fear of the success of prayer, believing that he has been "religiously
circumwented into the worst of luck."
Physical appearance and names continue to be accurate indicators of the conditions of the humans they belong to. Despite
Jerry's favorite appellation of himself as an "honest tradesman," the details illustrate that the opposite is more likely the case.
The last name of Cruncher is illustrative of the morbid nature of his job, which is echoed by the younger Cruncher's hobby of
"inflicting bodily and mental injuries of an acute description" on boys younger and weaker than himself on Fleet Street.

The boy is a physical double; he is destined to develop into his father. He wears a slightly less dangerous version of the
spikes that adorn his father's head. These spikes, which an earlier chapter described as making him an undesirable player of
leapfrog, are portrayed as more hazardous in this chapter; they might "tear his sheets to ribbons." The father and son are also
united in their resemblance to animals, looking like a pair of monkeys as they absently survey Fleet Street.

Also in Chapter 1, Dickens drops more clues to foreshadow the unsavory nature of Jerry Cruncher's real business. One as yet
inexplicable detail is the rustiness that surrounds Jerry. Others include the fact that while he returns home from Tellson's
with clean boots, he wakes up in the morning to a set of muddy boots.

Like France, England has its prisons that admit young men and release old men. In England, the prisons are transformed into
"acceptable" social structures. Tellson's Bank serves as one of these prisons. It has very elderly clerks who have committed
themselves to service, or kept themselves "in a dark place" since their youth. It has a "condemmed hold" for those who need
to visit the House. Everything in Tellson's points towards death and decay: the letters and deeds are decaying from being
kept for so long. The Bank is also down the street from the Temple Bar Courts, which send several people to gruesome
deaths everyday.

Old Bailey is described in Chapter 2 as a perfect example of the precept, "Whatever is is right," a direct quotation from
Alexander Pope, an eighteenth- century satirist. The phrase is the last line of the first Epistle of his Essay on Man, which
Pope wrote to laud man's abilities and the great possibilities of his relationship with God. The first Epistle is mainly
concerned with theodicy, that is, explaining why a perfect God would allow suffering in a world of his own creation.

The French philosopher Voltaire challenged the optimism of "whatever is is right" in his satire Candide. In his own way,
consistent with his self-image as a social crusader, Dickens also finds this optimism unlikely. It seems unforgivable that Old
Bailey is allowed to continue in its abuses, despite the fact that it has handed down incorrect and probably unjust sentences.

Trials, like the famous madhouse named Bedlam, not only were designed to deal with criminals and the insane, but they also
served as entertainment for the general public. Families would go on outings to Old Bailey to jeer at criminals. Dickens
strongly critiques this excessive interest in human suffering, illustrating that the only reason for the interest in Mr. Darnay's
person is the possibility of his severe sentence. Dickens condemns this monstrous interest in viewing a body that is later to
be mangled as "at the root of it, Ogreish."

Dickens also presents another version of the Paris mobs - in this case, it becomes the English crowd at the courts. Dickens
thus presents a foreshadowing of future events: the mob, hungry for blood, eagerly watches a man who is under the threat of
death.

The accused man's name is Charles Darnay. Observant readers will notice that the CD of Darnay's initials are also the initials
for Charles Dickens. Some scholars suggest that Darnay is an idealized version of Dickens. Darnay is clearly an idealized
man, with his handsome looks and calm demeanor. However, he is placed under a mirror on the stand, and he looks into it.
Dickens uses the mirror to suggest that Darnay will be presented with a mirror image of himself - an image we will see in
chapter 3.

Darnay's acquittal in Chapter 3 is the second example of resurrection in the novel. His conviction is almost certain before the
appearance of Mr. Carton, and this is what has brought out the crowd. Dickens compares the onlookers to blueflies, noting
their buzz after any piece of evidence in Darnay's disfavor is disclosed. The title of the chapter refers to the crowd's
disappointment when there is no blood for them to see, and the final image of the chapter is of the masses buzzing Old
Bailey in search of other carrion to feed on.

Dickens included frequent biblical references, and these would have been very familiar to the audience of his day. In Chapter
2, he depicts the mirror that hangs over the bar as having recorded innumerable criminal faces. He reflects on how haunted
Old Bailey would be if the mirror would give up its previous reflections, "as the ocean is one day to give up its dead."
Dickens alludes here to Revelations 20:13--"And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and hell delivered up the
dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

A more obvious biblical reference is the portrayal of Barsad by the defense lawyer as "one of the greatest scoundrels upon
the earth since accursed Judas-which he certainly did look rather like." This is, of course, a reference to Judas Iscariot, the
apostle who betrayed Jesus in return for money. The assertion that he looks like Judas is absurd, because there is no record
of how Judas looked, but it is representative of the wild accusations and poetic license used in courts of the day. Barsad's
characterization as Judas highlights the thematic connection of Darnay's acquittal with Jesus's resurrection.

Dickens presents Sydney Carton as a lowly clerk. However, he is actually a powerful man. His power is a covert power that
stems from his powers of observation. After all, he is the first one to see Darnay's resemblance to him, and he calls for help
for the fainting Lucie, who is ignored by the crowd. Carton's observations will become a force later in the book, especially
when his resemblance to Darnay holds importance again.

In Chapter 4 we learn that in Book II ("The Golden Thread"), the golden thread most obviously refers to Lucie's hair. It also
refers more abstractly to her curative power over her father. She commands the golden thread because she connects him to
an earlier time that was not painful and to a present beyond his miserable period of imprisonment. Lucie is important not
only for her golden nature, which has the power to redeem him, but also for the connective nature of her existence. She is the
only person able to pull her father away from recollecting his time of misery.

The conversation between Carton and Darnay reintroduces the theme of doubles. Although their facial features are the same,
Carton's dissolute behavior marks their difference. This behavior is observable in his unkempt, "debauched" appearance.
Another set of doubles is Lucie and her father. They have many of the same facial characteristics, most notably the habit of
knitting their foreheads up, but their different experiences have left the Doctor's face almost unrecognizably marked with
cares, while Lucie's face is still fresh and fair. As a social crusader, Dickens was preoccupied with the way that debauched or
unhealthy environments could corrupt even good people, and the presence of doubles in his novel illustrates how the same
characteristics might grow in different ways in response to different environments.

Dickens reveals Darnay to be the ideal romantic hero - a man who is swayed by love, and a gallant gentleman. Lucie's
memory of his actions five years ago and her worry over him are more important than her near-destruction of his life, so he
acknowledges her with a polite kiss on the hand. Carton, with his rude manners, sharp tongue, and drinking habits, serves as
a darker version of Darnay. Carton, like Darnay, is forced to look into a mirror and to confront this opposite version of
himself. If these men are supposed to be the two sides of Dickens, Carton is the new, sinister side that writes darker books
and leaves his wife, while Darnay is the former young, idealistic writer.

Chapter 5 is primarily concerned with establishing Sydney Carton's admiration for Lucie Manette and his self-loathing in the
knowledge that he has done nothing in his life worthy of her admiration - or anyone's admiration, for that matter. His love
for Miss Manette and his self-hatred generate motives that will be crucial later on.

Despite the presentation of Carton as debauched, Dickens exercises the sentiments of his readers to garner some sympathy
for Carton. His propensity to shoot himself in the foot is traced back to primary school, where he did other boys' work rather
than his own. The responsibility for his own lack of success is placed somewhat on Stryver, who was born with more
advantages than Carton. The chapter ends with the pathetic image of the sun rising sadly. Carton's state is pitiable enough to
draw an emotional response even from nature herself, or at least that is how it seems from Carton's perspective.

Stryver calls Carton "Memory" in this chapter. The nickname echoes the theme of time. It implies that Carton has the ability
to transcend time - he can move well in the past and the present because of his power to remember things.

The description of the Manettes' Soho home, which opens Chapter 6, is in strong opposition to the description of the
Defarges' dwelling in Paris. All of the misery, filth, and want which are apparent in Paris are nowhere to be seen in this
charming rural suburb. If Doctor Manette has something in common with the French underclass, this is not it. Nature is
allowed to function uninterrupted here, and its fruits are seen in beautiful hawthorn and peach trees. Class struggle is clearly
not a possibility in this part of London, or at least it is not an issue for the Manettes.

"Hundreds of People," the humorous title of Chapter 6, is derived from Miss Pross's exaggeration of the number of Lucie's
admirers. Miss Pross has great concern for her "Ladybird." This concern seems excessive, especially since Lucie has just
three suitors at the most. This chapter develops more fully the character of Miss Pross, who up to this point has only been
seen in a forceful and somewhat masculine light. Her character is referred to as "a Sorceress, or Cinderella's godmother,"
alluding to her transformative power over food.

The running joke of the chapter is that Mr. Lorry continuously recalls Miss Pross's phrase, "hundreds of people." Throughout
the evening he notes that they still have not turned up; only Carton and Darnay are visiting. The phrase is somewhat
justified, however, in that Lucie fancies that the people walking outside will eventually walk into her life - this would indeed
include hundreds of people.

The main theme of Chapter 7 is the uselessness and absurdity of the pre-Revolutionary French upper class. Although they
consider the world to be in order so long as everyone is dressed correctly as for a fancy ball, their position is unsustainable
because none of them performs any useful jobs. The military men know nothing about war, the religious men are lascivious,
and the doctors cure only imaginary diseases.

Dickens sets up the Marquis as a representative of the French aristocracy and, as such, a direct cause of the imminent
revolution. Using a device called personification, he creates human manifestations of such abstract concepts as greed,
oppression, and hatred. The Marquis, so exaggeratedly cruel and flamboyant, hardly seems an actual human being—hardly a
realistic character. Instead, the Marquis stands as a symbol or personification of the “inhuman abandonment of
consideration” endemic to the French aristocracy during the eighteenth century.
The corruption of the upper class is conveyed through the ironic religious language used to describe Monseigneur. His
personal room is called the "Holiest of Holies," a direct translation from the Latin sanctum sanctorum and ultimately from
the Hebrew Bible, referring to the especially sacred inner chamber of a temple. As for his philosophy of personal gain: "the
text of his order (altered from the original by only a pronoun, which is not much) ran: 'The earth and the fullness thereof are
mine, saith Monseigneur.'" The altered pronoun is the substitution of "Monseigneur," for "Lord," the irony being that
Monseigneur does not consider the exchange a very considerable alteration. The substitution is a pun in French, because
"Monseigneur" literally translates as "my Lord," so the biblical address ("my Lord" referring to God) and the feudal address
("my Lord" as a reference to an aristocrat or a superior) are perhaps not as distant as the two beings themselves really are.
The line between religion and political hierarchy is further blurred by the extent to which his servants kowtow to
Monseigneur. Their excessive adulation seems to violate the first commandment, that "thou shalt have no other gods but
me." Monseigneur's contempt for religion is further demonstrated by his valuation of the nun's veil as the "cheapest garment
she could wear," having no appreciation for her intentional humility, when he resolves to sell her into marriage for more.

Monseigneur is the French counterpart to Miss Pross' benevolent magic. He literally weaves a spell over the nobles, who
obey his every whim. He is portrayed as the leader of a pagan sect, who is spirited away by little sprites. His followers
engage in all sorts of pagan practices, from Convulsionists, who have fits, to those who follow "Truth" and ignore faith
completely.

A Farmer-General was a type of French tax collector whose job was to "farm" the taxes of a particular district at his
discretion. Such collectors were notorious for ripping off their struggling neighbors by collecting even steeper taxes than
what they were required to send to the monarch, then pocketing the difference. The Farmer-General is an extremely wealthy
man described as carrying "an appropriate cane with a golden apple on top of it." The cane is appropriate in the sense that the
Farmer-General is not really a farmer, but merely collects money. His harvest is made of gold.

It is important to note that the child is crushed near the fountain in the center of the square. The themes of water and
fountains become important throughout the novel as well. The fountain that sees the child's death does not have the power to
cleanse and purify. From this death, all fountains will become places of death. In lieu of the purifying fountains, the mob
itself will resemble a large sea. In turn, this new water will replace these fountains with fountains of blood.

In Chapter 8, en route from Paris to his country house, the Marquis is put into direct contact with the poor people whom he
wants nothing to do with. Consistent with the negative images of the French aristocracy in this novel, the Marquis is brutally
contemptuous of the plight of the lower class. He is willing to stop his carriage not in response to poverty and want, but only
when he thinks that the class hierarchy is being breached. The trouble is that a lower-class man is staring at the carriage
instead of showing respect. The Marquis shows his contempt for the villagers by calling them "pig" and "dolt."

Dickens uses an illusion to classical mythology to illustrate how frightful the appearance of the coach was to the lower
classes. He describes the "cracking of his postilions' whip which twined snakelike about their heads in the evening air, as if
he came attended by the Furies..." The Furies were ancient Greek goddesses usually represented with snakes twined in their
hair, sent to avenge wrong and punish crime. The irony is, of course, that the Marquis's assumed role is to perpetuate, rather
than to avenge, wrong, although the Marquis probably would claim that the poor morally deserve their poverty. The religious
undertones of his power are reinforced by the image of him being waited on by goddesses.

Although Dickens consistently writes in English, the French language is extremely important to those chapters that he sets in
France. For example, the Postmaster's name, Gabelle, who is also "some other taxing functionary," is a direct reflection of
his occupation. "Gabelle" was formerly the general name for taxation, but it became associated right before the Revolution
with a particularly oppressive salt tax. Hence, the Gabelle's name evokes the most infamously unjust pre-Revolutionary tax.
Dickens peppers his text with other French words, such as "flambeau," to describe the lighting of the chateau. Most
noticeably, the names of the French aristocracy are given either in French or in direct translation. For example, Monsieur the
Marquis, which does not make sense in English, is a direct translation of Monsieur le Marquis.

The dramatic cliffhanger in Chapter 8 is that Monsieur Charles of England almost certainly refers to Charles Darnay. Is
possible that Charles is associated with this terrible man?

The title of Chapter 9 refers again to Greek mythology. A Gorgon was a woman with hair made of snakes and whose gaze
turned the beholder into stone. The most famous Gorgon was Medusa. The identification of a Gorgon's gaze with
Monseigneur's house is apt, highlighting the viciousness of the ancient regime (the name for the "old rule" of the monarch
and aristocrats in feudal France).

The murder of Monseigneur is the first event in the great class struggle that erupts in the text. Details of the furnishings of
the chateau also hint at the character of the family who own it, and they give further justification (beyond Monseigneur's
personal brutality) for his murder. His furniture, "diversified by many objects that were illustrations of old pages in the
history of France," is mainly in the style of Louis XIV, the so called "sun-god" who ruled France from 1643 to 1715. The
style is highly decorative, and at the time in which the novel is set, it is somewhat out of date. This opulence, in combination
with even older furnishings, not only displays Monseigneur's wealth but also illustrates that his disregard of the common
people is not particular to him; his fortune has been entrenched in his family for many generations and has its roots in
feudalism.

The irony in the description of the chateau as solid, stony, and rooted in history is that Dickens portends that it will be
destroyed in the French Revolution. (See the passage, "If a picture of the chateau as it was to be a very few years hence...
[Monseigneur] might have been at a loss to claim this own from the ghastly, fire-charred, plunder-wrecked ruins.") Because
Dickens did not witness the French Revolution firsthand, his primary reference on the period was Thomas Carlyle's The
French Revolution, as he acknowledges in his preface. Carlyle's book includes a chapter on the destruction of aristocrats'
chateaux in the period following the storming of the Bastille.

The passage foreseeing the destruction of the chateau also serves to foreshadow the actual vulnerability of the seemingly
impregnable Monseigneur himself. Further foreshadowing of Monseigneur's death can be traced to the hooting of the owls
on the night of his death. This is an allusion to Shakespeare's Macbeth on the night when King Duncan is killed. Macbeth
says, "I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?" and Lady Macbeth replies, "I heard the owl scream and the
crickets cry" (II.ii.14-15). Popular superstition in the 19th century held that an owl screaming was a harbinger of death.

Darnay serves as another mirror for his uncle in this chapter. We learn that his father and the Marquis were actually twins,
mirror images of each other. In that time, both brothers reflected the corrupt habits of the nobility off each other. Darnay is
the flipped image of his uncle. Instead of being a corrupt nobleman, he wants to renounce his title completely; instead of
repressing the people, he wants to help them.

A Tale of Two Cities Summary and Analysis of Book II, Chapters 10-14

Chapter 10: Two Promises

A year later, Charles Darnay is back in England, happily working as a tutor of French. He has been in love with Lucie since
he met her, and he finally asks her father for permission to make his feelings known to her. Despite Dr. Manette's hesitations,
Darnay convinces him that his intentions are honorable and sincere. He does not wish to come between Lucie and her father;
he wishes, if possible, to bind them closer. He honors Manette’s special relationship with his daughter, assuring him that his
own love for Lucie will in no way disturb that bond. Manette applauds Darnay for speaking so “feelingly and so manfully”
and asks if he seeks a promise from him. Darnay asks Manette to promise to vouch for what he has said, for the true nature
of his love, should Lucie ever ask. Manette promises as much. Wanting to be worthy of his confidence, Darnay attempts to
tell Manette his real name, confessing that it is not Darnay. Manette stops him short, making him promise to reveal his name
only if he proves successful in his courtship. He will hear Darnay’s secret on his wedding day.

There is always a touch of reserve in Dr. Manette's reception of Darnay, and this struggle is evident in his expression of
dread, and although he gives his blessing to Darnay, something is not quite right. Darnay tells the doctor that he is using an
assumed name and tries to tell him why he is in England and what his real name is, but the doctor stops him. He says that if
Charles does marry Lucie, he should tell him these secrets on the marriage morning. When Lucie returns to the house that
night, she hears him working on his shoemaking again for the first time since Paris and is very distressed. She knocks on his
door and he stops.

Chapter 11: A Companion Picture

Mr. Stryver and Mr. Carton are drinking together while the latter prepares the former's legal papers. Mr. Stryver, after
claiming that his own gallantry is superior to his friend's, announces that he intends to marry Lucie Manette. This causes
Carton to drink his punch more rapidly although he claims to have no objections. Stryver feels that he is doing Lucie a good
turn and marvels at his own economic disinterestedness in his choice. Stryver recommends that Carton find a woman with
some money or property and marry her.

Chapter 12: The Fellow of Delicacy

On his way to Lucie's house in Soho to declare his intentions, Mr. Stryver passes Tellson's and decides to step inside to ask
Mr. Lorry's opinion of the matter. Mr. Lorry expresses some politic confusion, and Stryver asks what could possibly be
wrong with his proposal. After all, he is eligible, prosperous, and advancing. He considers that if Lucie recognized these
qualities and turned him down, she would be a fool.

Despite the fact that he is at Tellson's and must act properly, Mr. Lorry grows angry at this disparagement of Lucie. Mr.
Lorry suggests that because it might be painful for Stryver, the doctor, and Lucie if the former were to make an unwelcome
suit, perhaps Lorry himself should go to Soho and feel out the subject. Mr. Stryver agrees.

When Mr. Lorry arrives at Stryver's house later that evening with a confirmation that a proposal would be unwelcome, he
gets a strange response from the would-be suitor. Stryver pretends to have forgotten the subject. When he is reminded, he
professes to be sorry for both the doctor and Mr. Lorry, insinuating that Lucie has gotten herself into trouble and is no longer
fit to be engaged. Lorry is so surprised that he merely leaves.
Chapter 13: The Fellow of No Delicacy

Mr. Carton had never spoken well or made himself agreeable at the Manette household, but he used to haunt their street at
night, dreaming of Lucie. One day he visits her and she asks him what the matter is. He claims that he is beyond help in his
profligate ways, but he says his familiarity with the Manettes' family scene has given him the desire to be a good man again.
Lucie tries to convince him that this is a possibility, but Carton declares that it is only a dream, however happy. He merely
wants to open his heart to her and have her remember that he did so. Before he leaves he promises that he would do anything
for her or for anyone close to her.

Chapter 14: The Honest Tradesman

Jerry Cruncher sits on his stool on Fleet Street outside Tellson's and sees Robert Cly's funeral procession approaching. A
crowd belligerently follows the funeral procession because Cly was allegedly a spy, and Jerry climbs along with the mob on
top of his coffin as they take over the procession. Jerry prudently leaves the mob before the police arrive.

Jerry goes home and lectures Mrs. Cruncher for praying again. He says he is going out fishing in the middle of the night, and
his son follows him out to see what he is doing. He sees his father creep down to a river and open a coffin. Young Jerry runs
home with the nightmarish image that the coffin is chasing him. The next morning, young Jerry asks his father what a
Resurrection-Man is, and he says that he would like to be one when he grows up. This pleases his father.

Analysis

Chapter 10 contains several references which would be more obvious to Dickens's contemporaries than to modern readers.
When describing Darnay's character and success in London, Dickens writes that he expected "neither to walk on pavements
of gold, nor to lie on beds of roses." The pavements of gold refer to the famous story of Richard Whittington, who grew up
to be Lord Mayor of London three times, after having come to the city when he heard that the pavements were made of gold.
Beds of roses allude to a passage in Christopher Marlowe's famous "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" (1599), in which
he promises his love beds of roses. Darnay is an even more attractive character because he expects none of these pastoral or
urban advantages, but instead is willing to work hard.

Psychic troubles cause the Doctor to resume his shoemaking. Trouble is foreshadowed when Darnay leaves the house; the
Doctor senses that Darnay will have very troubling news. Evidently something has been a throwback to his time in prison,
since the return to shoemaking shows that the Doctor is seriously disturbed by something Darnay has said. The Doctor's
occasional regressions will continue to be a great cause of concern for his friends and his daughter.

At first it appears that Lucie has an easy choice of the three suitors that Dr. Manette mentions. She can choose between the
handsome Darnay, the boorish Stryver, or the drunken, rude Carton. Yet Dickens makes the story interesting through his
introduction of tension between Darnay and Dr. Manette. Dickens makes it clear that something has occurred between
Darnay and Dr. Manette in the past, possibly something that has to do with Manette's imprisonment.

The humor in Chapter 11 comes from Stryver's prideful presumption that Lucie will willingly and eagerly accept him as a
husband. Gender roles in the nineteenth century were such that Lucie could not and would not express direct interest in a
man whom she loved or desired, but she could reject the suit of a man who was not agreeable to her. Stryver's dwelling on
the subject of marrying for love rather than money illustrates the fact that many marriages were made for economic
convenience rather than love. Although Stryver congratulates himself on sidestepping his economic interests, he
recommends an economically prudent marriage to Carton. Ironically, he will fall back on this type of union himself,
marrying a rich widow with three sons when he finds that his attraction to Lucie is not mutual.

The title of Chapter 12 is, like others, ironic. Mr. Stryver is far from delicate; he commits a number of indelicate actions. His
very deportment lacks tact, as he throws his overly large body around the street and then around the interior of Tellson's--
with no regard for the safety of others. His entire conversation with Mr. Lorry is indiscreet, and he puts Mr. Lorry in the very
awkward position of turning Stryver down on Lucie's behalf. Still, it is fortunate that Mr. Lorry is able to intervene to present
a worse situation later. Although marriage tended to be dominated by economics at the time, it is indelicate of Stryver to
mention Lucie's reasons for accepting him as materialistic. Mr. Lorry is forced to remind Stryver that he needs Lucie's
acceptance to go ahead, stressing that "the young lady goes before all." But Stryver looks at the matter backwards the whole
way through. When he is planning his intended wedding, he is merely debating when to "make her happiness known to her"
and when to "give her his hand." This is a humorous reversal of the usual assumption that a woman gives her hand in
marriage, not the other way around.

Stryver's second and more seriously indelicate action is his allusion to Lucie's virtue. His pride is hurt by the fact that she is
not inclined to accept him, and he protects his hurt feelings by suggesting that Lucie has acted improperly or even foolishly,
as though she has demonstrated that after all she is ineligible for his attentions. This is a very serious charge; in the
nineteenth century, a woman's virtue was priceless while a stain on her reputation was irreversible. It is good that Stryver
does not voice this idea to anyone other than Mr. Lorry, who is too bewildered to be outraged, because it could have done
serious damage to Lucie.
The humor in the title of Chapter 13 is that a fellow of no delicacy can be better than the fellow of false delicacy. Carton has
no delicacy because he honestly tells his feelings to Lucie while knowing they are not returned. However, something
productive comes of this interchange, in that Lucie is made aware of his true character and Carton is uplifted by her
compassion. This represents the most ideal way to approach Lucie. Although he wavers in the novel between intense feeling
and caustic flippancy, in this chapter Carton ironically reveals himself to be the fellow with the most delicacy.

Gender roles function in this chapter in precisely the formula of a sentimental novel. The sentimental novel, which excites
the readers' compassionate feelings, often includes the successful efforts of good women to reform men who are morally
corrupt. In this genre, women are seen as moral beacons whose influence is necessary to produce a more ethical society.

Chapter 14 foreshadows the mobs engaging in class struggle by showing how quickly a mob can form, and it recalls the mob
thirstily drinking the spilled wine. Mob members show their collective power by threatening to throw those officially in
charge of the funeral procession into the river. This power reversal echoes later mob scenes in France but, crucially, Dickens
shows that the mobs do not get completely out of control in England. The very suggestion that someone will call the guards
is enough to disperse the crowd, whereas in revolutionary France the mob might be more likely to kill the guards at the risk
of their own lives. Cruncher, for his part, is involved in the mob scene for a very particular reason: he has a professional
interest in funerals and dead bodies because he is a "Resurrection-Man." This position helps explain his previous uneasiness
at the idea that anyone really could be raised from the dead.

The opening section of Chapter 14 makes a connection between Jerry Cruncher and Dante Alighieri, the 13th-century Italian
author of the Divine Comedy. "Time was when a poet sat upon a stool in a public place and mused at the sight of men" refers
to the fact that Dante supposedly sat upon a stool to contemplate. There is a poetic connection, too, in that both were
concerned with what happens after death, although Dante was concerned about the soul's experience in the afterlife while
Cruncher is concerned with how he can profit from a dead body.

Jerry also shows his fondness for euphemisms, a fact that is reflected in the title of the chapter. His digging bodies from the
ground makes him "an honest tradesman," and the profession is known as "resurrection-man;" his wife is berated for
"flopping," Jerry's word for praying. In this way Jerry tries to invert normal values. He gives impolite terms to respectable
events (flopping for praying) and polite terms for questionable work in a comic reach for respectability.

A Tale of Two Cities Summary and Analysis of Book II, Chapters 15-19

Chapter 15: Knitting

There is an unusual amount of early drinking in the Defarges' wine-shop, despite the fact that Monsieur Defarge is not in.
Monsieur Defarge enters with a person who repairs roads and who is apparently named Jacques, whom he leads to the
apartment that Doctor Manette used to occupy. Defarge introduces him to the other three men named Jacques. The road-
mender recounts the story of how he saw a man hanging by the chain under Monseigneur's carriage. He says that although he
had never seen this man before, he recognized him again because of his unusual height. When he was returning home from
working on a hillside, he saw the man bound and led by six soldiers. He also claims that the captured man recognized him.
The man is lame, and the soldiers drove him along with the butts of their guns through a village full of gawking people and
to a prison gate. The road-mender saw him behind bars in the prison on his way to work the next morning. The man has been
imprisoned for having allegedly killed Monseigneur, and soldiers have built a gallows for his execution.  A petition to save
the man's life was presented to the King and Queen, but to no avail. The man was hung on a gallows above the village
fountain. The mender of roads explains how the corpse cast a long and frightening shadow.

The road-mender is asked to leave, and Defarge confers with the other Jacques characters. They decide to register the man as
doomed to destruction. One Jacques expresses uncertainty about the safety and secrecy of their register, but Defarge claims
that his wife knits it using symbols that no one but herself understands. The two Defarges take the road-mender to see
Versailles, where he waves and shouts enthusiastically at royalty and aristocrats. When a man asks Madame Defarge what
she is knitting, she answers that she is knitting shrouds. Several days later, Monsieur and Madame Defarge take
the mender of roads to Versailles to see a procession of the King and Queen. The mender of roads, overwhelmed with
excitement, shouts "Long live the King!" Defarge thanks the man for helping to keep the aristocrats unaware of the people's
rage.The mender of roads exemplifies the fickle mob, who crave spectacle above all else. One minute he's working for the
Revolution, the next he's overcome with joy at seeing the king. The Defarges exploit people like him. At the end of the
spectacle, the Defarges express contempt for the upper classes.

Chapter 16: Still Knitting

A policeman tells Monsieur Defarge that there may be an English spy stationed in Saint Antoine named John Barsad,
supplying a physical description of him. They return to the shop and Madame Defarge counts their money. Monsieur
Defarge shows some signs of fatigue, and Madame Defarge encourages him, saying that they might not see the revolution in
their lifetimes but that they need to help prepare it.
The next day, Madame Defarge recognizes Barsad when he enters the shop. A rose lies beside her on her table, and when he
enters she puts it in her hair and everyone else leaves the shop. Barsad chats with her about the cognac he orders, and he tries
to trick her into complaining about poverty or about Gaspard's execution. From this reference it becomes clear that Gaspard
is the prisoner who was mentioned in the previous chapter. Monsieur Defarge enters the shop and also denies that the village
sympathizes with Gaspard. The spy realizes that he is not meeting with much success, so he tries to get a rise out of the
Defarges by telling them that he knows about Doctor Manette. He informs them that Lucie has married Darnay and then
reveals that Darnay is the nephew of Monseigneur and as such is the new Marquis. They feign indifference, so he leaves.
Defarge is in disbelief. He feels a deep anxiety when Madame Defarge adds Charles's name to her knitting.

Chapter 17: One Night

Lucie's father assures her that her relationship with Charles Darnay will not cause divisions between them. He assures her
that by enriching her own life she will enrich his. He mentions his imprisonment for the first time, and he tells about how he
used to imagine her remembering her father. She cries and says that she thought of him throughout her whole childhood.

The marriage is a small affair, with only Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross as guests, and it does not change Lucie's place of
residence. Lucie remains worried about her father, and when she checks on him in the middle of the night she sees that he is
sleeping peacefully.

Chapter 18: Nine Days

Everyone is happy on the wedding day, with the exception of Miss Pross, who still thinks that her brother, Solomon, should
have been the groom. Mr. Lorry flirts with Miss Pross, reflecting that perhaps he made a mistake by being a bachelor.

Charles Darnay reveals his identity to Doctor Manette, who looks quite white afterward, but the marriage goes ahead. The
couple marries and goes on a honeymoon to Wales for nine days, leaving Doctor Manette without his daughter for the first
time since he was rescued from Paris. As soon as Lucie leaves, a change comes over her father, and he reverts to his
shoemaking and does not recognize Miss Pross. Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross decide to not notify his daughter of the change in
her father, and they watch him at night by turns.

Chapter 19: An Opinion

On the tenth morning, Mr. Lorry finds Doctor Manette behaving normally again. Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross decide to
proceed as if nothing had happened, but Mr. Lorry presents the Doctor's own case to him as if it were someone else. The
Doctor realizes that he has been shoemaking by looking at his own blackened hands, and he acknowledges that his
shoemaking equipment should be taken away from him--but without his knowledge. He also explains to Mr. Lorry that "the
patient" (himself) is not able to remember what happened during his relapses, and that continuing his professional activities
will not affect his condition.

When Doctor Manette leaves the house to visit Lucie and her husband, Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross hack the shoemaking
equipment to pieces in the middle of the night. They then burn the pieces in the kitchen fire.

Analysis

A Tale of Two Cities is divided into three books of unequal length. Their structure is defined by geographical movements
between the two cities. The first book is an escape from Paris, and the major arc of the second book is to set up the return to
Paris. The third deals with a more difficult, second escape from Paris. An important factor in the emotional nature of
Darnay's return to Paris at the end of the second book involves the connections that he has made in London. The name of the
second book, "The Golden Thread," refers to Lucie's hold over them all, a pull which Darnay has to resist for the first time in
his decision to return to Paris without her. Lucie's pull is outweighed by the loadstone of Darnay's responsibilities in France.

Allusion and symbolism are rife in the novel. There is a highly theatrical element to the way the Defarges give and receive
symbols. When Defarge says that the weather is bad, all of the men know to get up and leave the wine-shop. This illustrates
not only his power over the small community, but also the premeditated strategy in their plans. Madame Defarge keeps a
register of those who have done wrong and those who are marked to be killed in her knitting, using patterns which are
indecipherable to anyone else. The importance of symbols to the Defarges' interactions reflects a general preoccupation of
the revolutionaries. To mark their difference from the previous regime, the revolutionaries began marking the years after the
revolution as Year One, Year Two, Year Three (etc.) of the Republic.

Dickens reiterates several of his themes in this chapter, namely those of water, time, and the ferocious nature of the mob.
Gaspard is killed over a fountain, as his son was; this will inspire the revolutionaries to create their own sea and reach out for
fountains of blood. The execution of Gaspard has its own place and analogue in historical time - it reflects the execution of
Damiens, who tried to overthrow his own king a few years ago. The Defarges take the road-mender to Versailles to show
him exactly whom he should hate. The very crowd that wildly celebrates the king and queen will rip them apart in the future.
One of the characters who experiences the most growth is the mender of roads. We see him now in the first days of his
revolutionary fervor. Right now he is still not fully involved in the revolutionary plot - he still wears the blue cap of pre-
Revolutionary France, and he blindly follows the Jacques in their plots. Later we will see him change from this quiet,
innocent man to one of the bloodthirsty leaders of the Revolution.

In Chapter 15, Dickens foreshadows the beginnings of revolution with an image of the accused man being dragged along the
road. The language that the road-mender uses to describe the sight of the man is almost supernatural, describing the people
as having long, giant-like shadows. The soldiers that make up the man's escort taunt him for being lame, and his face is
bloodied. The man begins to take on a Christ-like character when he is dragged through the village with a crowd watching.
His reluctance and victimhood strongly resemble Jesus bearing the cross on the way to crucifixion. The man symbolizes the
sacrifice of the lower classes at the hands of French aristocrats.

Madame Defarge is the dominant character of Chapter 16, and she holds the same role in Paris that Lucie does in London -
she is the center of everything, the thread that holds everyone together. As Lucie unites everyone with her threads of hair,
Madame Defarge unites everyone with her woven threads. Yet the women serve as opposing forces. As Lucie binds
everyone through her love, Madame Defarge binds everyone through her hatred of the nobility. Lucie is the nurturer and
protecting woman, while Madame Defarge knits only to serve as a cover for the Revolution.

Dickens uses various literary allusions in elaborating Madame Defarge's story. The ties between Madame Defarge and Lady
Macbeth from Shakespeare's Macbeth are very strong in this chapter, with the "frightfully grand woman" (as Defarge terms
his wife) urging Defarge himself not to lose sight of his murderous goals. She demonstrates her violence by aggressively
tying up her money in a piece of cloth as she describes how her husband should crush his enemies. This pattern echoes the
scene in Macbeth when Lady Macbeth urges her husband to kill King Duncan, taunting him with his own uncertainty (which
he experiences as cowardice).

Madame Defarge's knitting also invokes classical mythology. The patterns that she knits hold significance in terms of the
future of the people around her. Dickens directly and repetitively compares her to the Fates. The Fates are three goddesses of
Greek mythology who control human lives, and they too were often pictured knitting. They included Clotho, who spun the
web of life, Lachesis, who measured the length of it, and Atropos who snipped it short. Because Madame Defarge is
powerful in the revolutionary movement, she holds powers similar to those of the Fates.

In a novel full of conflict and turbulence, Chapter 17 provides a rare bit of restfulness. Even so, Dickens keeps his audience
engaged through foreshadowing about something ominous about to happen to the family that has finally found happiness.
The dominant image in the chapter is of the moon, with the Doctor and his daughter having their conversation outdoors in
the moonlight. The narrator reflects that moonlight, like the passage of human life, is invariably sad. This brings the reader
away from the increased sentimentalism of the chapter and back to the sad reality that there are still unresolved problems in
the novel to threaten the Manettes.

The undefined threat in this chapter is so strong that it affects Lucie. When she goes to check on her father, she is "not free
from unshaped fears." The fears remain nameless and shapeless, but they take form very quickly in the following chapters.
The main plot element of Chapter 17, however, is that Lucie's father does not object to her marriage. This point clarifies the
supposition that Darnay alone is not the threat that hangs over their family.

Lucie's importance as "the golden thread" is further demonstrated by her absence, moreso than in the previous sentimental
scenes with her father. The change in Doctor Manette is made more painful by the earlier description of his rescue as a
resurrection. His reversion to his jailtime behavior is therefore likened to a second death. The link to his prison days is so
strong that he works on the very same woman's shoes that he had left unfinished.

In accordance with the religious imagery surrounding Doctor Manette's resurrection from the dead, he is described in biblical
terms in Chapter 18. "Into his face, the bitter waters of captivity had worn" is a reference to Psalm 126, in which God is
asked to "Turn again our captivity ... as the streams in the South," and Psalm 137, which reads: "By the rivers of Babylon,
there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion." These Psalms are both considered to be written by a singer in
exile, which highlights Doctor Manette's imprisonment as not merely an incarceration but an exile from his family.

In Chapter 19, the violence of the destruction of the shoemaking equipment, although it has a farcical character, foreshadows
the later violence in the novel. That the Doctor's associates do the deed late in the night makes Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry feel
like accomplices in a horrible crime, even though they are trying to help the Doctor. Their guilt pales beside the horrible
brutality of a number of real crimes in this novel, but Dickens makes the comparison nevertheless, calling the bench "the
body."

That this "crime" is upsetting for Miss Pross sheds light on how unprepared she will be to commit a real crime (albeit in self
defense) at the close of the novel. Dickens readies his reader for this role for Miss Pross, describing her at the shoemaking
bench "as if she were assisting a murder-for which, indeed, in her grimness, she was no unsuitable figure." Miss Pross is
developed here again as a very moral character. She will prove, however, that she loves her Ladybird enough to engage in
actions on the moral fringe in order to protect her.
A Tale of Two Cities Summary and Analysis of Book II, Chapters 20-24

Chapter 20: A Plea

When the Darnays return from their honeymoon, the first person to greet them is Sydney Carton. He takes Charles aside and
asks him to forget the fact that he ever said that he didn't like him. Charles assures him that it was enough that Sydney saved
his life at the trial, and he gives Carton the privilege of coming back and forth to the Soho house whenever he likes.

Carton leaves. Darnay speaks generally of the conversation at dinner, remarking on what an odd and dissolute character he
is. Darnay means no harm and is only speaking the truth, but later that night Lucie implores him not to speak of Carton in
that way but to feel some sympathy for him, which Darnay readily agrees to do.

Chapter 21: Echoing Footsteps

Lucie grows older and continues to listen to the footsteps echoing around the house. She has an angelic baby boy who dies as
a child, and she has a girl whom she names Lucie. Carton continues to hold a special and privileged place in the family.
Stryver marries a wealthy widow with three children, offers these children as pupils to Darnay, and is offended when Darnay
refuses.

When Lucie turns six, in 1789, events in France begin to affect the household. Mr. Lorry says that the Paris customers of
Tellson's are so nervous that they are beginning to send their money to London. He asks if little Lucie is safe in her bed, and
then wonders why he is so nervous, because there is no reason that she would not be. Meanwhile, in Paris, the attack on the
Bastille is brewing. Saint Antoine arms itself with weapons and stones and descends on the Bastille, led by Monsieur
Defarge. Madame Defarge leads the women in the attack. Monsieur Defarge forces a turnkey (prison warden) to show him
to One Hundred and Five, North Tower, the cell that Doctor Manette formerly occupied. Defarge knocks on the walls until
he finds the hiding place of a document, which he removes before the Bastille is destroyed.

The mob is waiting for Defarge to execute the governor. When he is beaten to death by the mob, Madame Defarge is close at
hand with her knife to behead and mutilate the body. The mob carries seven prisoners released from the Bastille as heroes.
Seven prison guards are killed and their heads are stuck on pikes.

Chapter 22: The Sea Still Rises

A week after the storming of the Bastille, Madame Defarge is having a conversation with the Vengeance(woman known
only as The Vengeance). Defarge bursts into the store with the news that the mob has found an aristocrat named Foulon, who
told starving peasants that they should eat grass. The Defarges and the Vengeance immediately create a mob to punish
Foulon. He had faked his own death to avoid the peasants’ fury but was later discovered hiding in the country. The women
of the mob urge one another on.

When they see that a bundle of grass has been tied to Foulon, they clap as if they were at a play. The mob strings Foulon up,
but the rope breaks and he does not die until his third hanging. The peasants put his head on a pike and fill his mouth with
grass.  The mob is still anxious for blood, so they murder his son-in-law. They return to their homes in Saint Antoine and,
although they are still starving, they feel satisfied and bonded after the violence of the day.

Chapter 23: Fire Rises

Saint Antoine is a changed place without Monseigneur, as France is a changed place without people of his class. Although he
was source of oppression, he was also a source of pride and a symbol of luxury. Two "Jacques" figures greet each other in
the countryside. One explains that he has been walking for two straight days and asks the road-mender to wake him when he
is done working.

The road-mender is fascinated with him and examines him while he sleeps. He wakes him at the appointed hour, and they
both go into town. Monsieur Gabelle grows nervous because they are all looking into the sky, and he also looks. The chateau
where Monseigneur had lived is on fire. The villagers watch the fire without offering to help put it out, and they follow
Monsieur Gabelle to his house to persecute him for being connected with tax collection. Gabelle locks himself in his house
and resolves that, if attacked, he will jump off his own roof and crush some of the men below. The mob sets fire to other
chateaux belonging to noblemen and hangs functionaries who are less fortunate than Gabelle, but Gabelle escapes.

Chapter 24: Drawn to the Loadstone Rock

Three more years of revolution in France go by. Monseigneur's class is dying out, and the monarchy no longer exists.
Because Frenchmen come immediately to Tellson's upon arriving in London to discuss financial issues, it has become a
center of intelligence about the revolution. Charles Darnay visits Mr. Lorry at Tellson's to try to dissuade him from traveling
to Paris on business. Darnay grows angry when he hears men of Monseigneur's class and Mr. Stryver discussing how they
will punish the peasants when the revolution is over. He overhears another Tellson's clerk asking Mr. Lorry if he has found
the man to whom to give a letter addressed to the Marquis St. Evrémonde.

The address is shown around, and the other French noblemen admit that they don't know him personally but do know that he
supported the revolution and parceled out his land among his peasants. Darnay claims to know the man and promises to
deliver the letter to him. He opens it, and it is a plea for help from Monsieur Gabelle, who has been imprisoned after all.
Darnay feels justified in having renounced his title, but he worries that he did not settle affairs in the manner that he should
have, and he resolves to go to Paris. He assumes that his gesture of handing over his title will make him welcomed by the
revolutionaries. He conveys a verbal message from the recipient of the letter (himself, though Mr. Lorry does not know that)
to Mr. Lorry, saying simply that he will come and is leaving immediately. After writing two letters-one to Lucie and another
to the Doctor-he leaves for Paris in the middle of the night, without informing either of them in person.

Analysis

Nearly every character in the novel battles against some form of imprisonment. In the case of Doctor Manette and Charles
Darnay, this imprisonment is quite literal. But subtler, psychological confines torture other characters as much as any stone
cell. Sydney Carton, for instance, cannot seem to escape his listlessness. Darnay struggles to free himself from the legacy of
his family history. Lorry tries to unshackle his heart from its enslavement to Tellson’s Bank. Finally, although Manette long
ago escaped the Bastille, in this section he battles the tormenting memories of his years there. Prompted by the discovery of
Darnay’s true identity, Manette reverts to pounding out shoes in order to calm his troubled mind. This episode brings the
notion of the fight for freedom from the level of political revolution to the level of personal struggles, suggesting that men
and women toil to free themselves from the forces that oppress them as surely as nations do

Chapter 20 reinforces the idea that Lucie is a moral heroine. She embodies the virtue which is perhaps most associated with
Christianity, mercy. She has the Christ-like ability to forgive those who have sinned, and Carton feels this mercy as a sort of
redemption. Her beauty, which once seemed her primary characteristic, is in reality secondary to and caused by her virtue.

Darnay is also portrayed as a moral hero. His wife's pity for another man, instead of making him jealous, makes him prize
her even more. He responds to her beauty on a moral rather than a carnal level. The narrator reports, "She looked so beautiful
in the purity of her faith in this lost man that her husband could have looked on her as she was for hours." He is attracted to
her goodness, rather than merely her appearance, although her goodness does have a positive effect on her beauty.

The goodness of these two sets them quite apart from other Dickensian main characters. They lack the development and
moral conflict of characters such as Pip in Great Expectations and Nancy in Oliver Twist. The setting in which Dickens
places his characters in A Tale of Two Cities is itself the locus of conflict, rather than the characters themselves. Thus
Dickens forgoes some of the human interest that makes his other novels great. Chapter 20 thus reads somewhat like a moral
fable.

The title of Chapter 21 refers to Lucie's presentiment about the footsteps that echo around the Manette household in Soho.
She worried in a previous chapter that the footsteps were the echoes of people coming into the family's life, and now the
outside world does break spitefully into their happy circle. The echoes have not yet overtaken the family in the way that they
will, however, because Lucie can still hear her own child's steps first and foremost. Little Lucie is a product of the novel in
that she is bilingual, bridging the gap between the two cities.

Unusual for the novel, events in the two cities are brought together in Chapter 21, showing how linked the affairs of Paris
and London are becoming. The two narrative threads of the Manette household and the Defarge household met briefly at the
beginning of the novel, and now they are due to meet again. Events in Paris are becoming so extreme that even London is
beginning to feel the shock waves or, to use Dickens's terminology, the echoes.

Chapter 21 also narrates one of the most recognizable events of the French Revolution, the storming of the Bastille. The
Bastille was the major prison in Paris, the most concrete symbol of the ancient regime. The attack on it was seen as heroic,
especially because it preceded the reign of terror, and it is still celebrated as liberational in modern France. In recounting this
historical event, Dickens focuses on the awesome power of the mob rather than on its intent, heroic or not. He describes the
mob as an uncontrolled ocean producing a tidal wave. Finally, the water from the fountains has been corrupted into a human
sea, the surging crowd that come to cleanse the Bastille. As Saint Antoine awakes, the people do not seem like a community
of humans but rather a natural force, being a "forest of naked arms" and emitting a dull roar.

The title of Chapter 22 refers to the French mob, which Dickens compared in the previous chapter to a sea. It would be
unnatural for a sea to continue rising past high tide except in extreme conditions, and the storming of the Bastille would
seem to be the extent of furore that the mob has been capable of. Dickens suggests the unnatural character of the mob by
saying that its level of engagement is continuing to rise. The brute force of the mob stems from the fact that it empowers
those who have never been empowered before. Even if the lower classes are starving and their life is not meaningful, they
have found new meaning in the fact that they have the ability to kill others.
Foulon provides another example of a resurrection. In addition to the more metaphorical resurrections of Doctor Manette and
Darnay, who were almost sentenced to certain death, and the exhuming of bodies by Resurrection-Men, there are examples
of more literal resurrections - that is, of men who were presumed dead. Both Foulon and the spy Robert Cly attempted mock
funerals to trick their enemies into believing that they were dead, but both were apparently "resurrected," being found alive.

The metaphoric title of Chapter 23 reflects the progression of the Parisian mob into a still more dangerous phase. The French
revolutionaries are shown in strict contrast with the English characters in the other chapters of the novel, who have a
developed moral sense often associated with the influence of religion (in France, the Catholic religion was suspect among
the revolutionaries, with high-ranking church officials being associated with the upper classes).

In this chapter, the road-mender does not "trouble himself to reflect that dust he was and to dust he must return," in an
allusion to the curse of Genesis 3:19, in which God turns Adam and Eve out of Eden and reminds them that "dust thou art
and unto dust thou shalt return." Also familiar would be the funerary oration "ashes to ashes and dust to dust," which was
also common in Dickens's time. The French lower class had more pressing concerns than religion, as they were often at the
point of starving and it was hard to follow the New Testament injunction not to worry about what one eats. The road-
mender's lack of preoccupation also illustrates his state in an unstable revolutionary society where anyone was liable to be
denounced and return to dust at any moment. More broadly, rabid idealism tends to distract people from the realities of life
and death.

Another biblical image in the chapter is that of the chateau on fire. The villagers describe it as a "pillar of fire in the sky,"
which they estimate is forty feet high. (This height matches the height of Gaspard's own gallows, illustrating the motive of
vengeance for setting the house on fire.) The "pillar of fire in the sky" alludes to Exodus 13:21, in which God leads the
Israelites out of Egypt: "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a
pillar of fire, to give them light." The house is lit afire in the night, and it serves as a symbol of deliverance for the French
people. The fire also suggests the end of times, the destruction of the world in the book of Revelations. But for the French
mob, revolutionary principles have temporarily displaced religion.

The title of Chapter 24 presents yet another literary allusion, now to a story in the Arabian Nights called "The Third
Calender's Tale." A loadstone is a type of magnet which, in the story, irresistibly draws a ship towards it. Its force is so
powerful that it draws the nails out of the vessel, shipwrecking it. The title illustrates the power that Paris has over Darnay;
he is drawn back into the city as though unwillingly.

Indirectly, this chapter illustrates the political climate of England at the time of the French Revolution. Although the
revolutionaries had some admirers in England at the outbreak of the revolution, public opinion turned swiftly and heavily
against them over the course of the terror. Mr. Stryver speaks on behalf of many Englishmen when he is disgusted by the
seizure of property and the carnage of the Revolution, and it is obvious by the freedom of their conversation at Tellson's that
Frenchmen of Monseigneur's class found safe haven in England. This conversation reveals Darnay as even more of a free-
thinker in his continued sympathies for the French people, since they run counter not only to his own family, but also to the
opinions of his adopted country. The courage of his opinions will only make the revolutionaries' behavior towards him more
shocking after he returns to France.

A Tale of Two Cities Summary and Analysis of Book III, Chapters 1-7

Chapter 1: In Secret

The disorganization of France makes Darnay's trip long, and he is questioned at every step. When he nears Paris, he is
woken in the middle of the night and told he is to be sent to Paris with an escort, which he is forced to accept and pay for.
This escort is Monsieur Defarge. When they enter the town of Beauvais, people shout "down with the emigrant!" and Darnay
knows he is in trouble. A decree had been passed the day Darnay left England, authorizing the sale of the property of
emigrants and condemning those who return to death.

When he reaches Paris, Darnay is condemned to prison in La Force. Defarge reveals his identity and the fact that he knows
that Darnay is married to Lucie Manette, but he refuses to help. Darnay is thrown into the La Force Prison, where he finds
the other prisoners surprisingly genteel. He paces in his room and begins to understand what drove Doctor Manette to
shoemaking.

Chapter 2: The Grindstone

Mr. Lorry occupies rooms in Tellson's Bank in Paris, preoccupied with the fact that the noblemen will not live to collect their
money. He nervously hears the sounds of conflict on the streets and praises God that no one he loves is in Paris, at which
point Doctor Manette and Lucie rush into his room with the news that Darnay is in prison. Manette is not susceptible to the
violence of the revolutionaries, because they respect the fact that he was a prisoner in the Bastille.

Mr. Lorry asks Lucie to retire to a back room so that he can discuss the situation privately with the Doctor. They look
together out into the courtyard, where a brutal-looking mob is using the grindstone to sharpen their weapons. Mr. Lorry
explains to the doctor that they are murdering the prisoners. The Doctor descends to the courtyard, makes it known that he
was a prisoner in the Bastille, and is hailed as a hero by the crowd. He is carried to La Force on the backs of the crowd, who
are now as anxious to save Darnay for the Doctor's sake as they had been to kill him.

Chapter 3: The Shadow

Mr. Lorry worries that he is endangering Tellson's Bank by housing the wife of an emigrant prisoner, Lucie, in their
lodgings. After shrewdly deciding not to ask Defarge for advice for fear that he might be wrapped up in the revolution, he
finds Lucie, her daughter, the Doctor, and Miss Pross a suitable apartment near his own. Jerry Cruncher, whom Mr. Lorry
brought with him as a bodyguard, now guards their house.

Mr. Lorry returns to his own lodgings, where he is visited by Monsieur Defarge with a message from Doctor Manette, who
says that Darnay is safe, but that neither of them can leave prison yet. Defarge also carries a message for Lucie, and Mr.
Lorry accompanies him to her new apartment. They are joined in the street by Madame Defarge, whom Mr. Lorry recognizes
by her knitting. Lucie is overjoyed to receive her husband's message that he is safe for the time being and that her father has
influence. She kisses Madame Defarge's hand in thanks, but the woman does not respond.

Mr. Lorry explains that Madame Defarge wants to see the whole family so she knows who to protect during uprisings in the
street. Lucie begs her to help her husband if at all possible, but Madame Defarge says that after the poverty and suffering she
has seen, the troubles of one woman mean little to her.

Chapter 4: Calm in Storm

Doctor Manette does not return for four days, during which time 1,100 prisoners are killed. Manette announced himself as
having been a prisoner in the Bastille without trial, a fact which Monsieur Defarge reinforces, popularizing the Doctor
immensely. He almost secured Darnay's immediate release, but the prisoner was arbitrarily returned to his cell. Doctor
Manette gained permission to stay with him in the cell to ensure that he would not be murdered like the other prisoners.

The Doctor is asked to tend to a prisoner who was released but attacked with a pike anyway by mistake. He works hard to
dress the wounds and save both the attacker and the attacked. Instead of reviving his old psychological problems, the
Doctor's activities give him a sense of importance and help him become more confident. He has usee his influence to ensure
that Darnay is not imprisoned alone but with others, and he has seen Darnay weekly to check on his health and convey
messages from him to Lucy.

Try as he might to get Darnay released, the Revolution has moved too fast; the king and queen are tried and beheaded, and
Year One of the Republic has been declared. Charles is to lie in prison for a year and three months.

Chapter 5: The Wood-Sawyer

Lucie is unsure for one year and three months whether her husband has been alive or dead. She establishes a routine in their
new home, and she keeps herself hopeful by setting aside a chair or books for her husband and otherwise behaving as if he
lived there, too. Her father informs her that there is a place that she can stand on the sidewalk during certain hours which is
overlooked by a window in the prison which her husband may sometimes look out. Lucie faithfully walks back and forth on
that sidewalk for two hours each day.

Jacques Four has now become a wood-sawyer and has a shack to cut wood near where Lucie walks. He notices that she is
there every day, and he mocks her for knowing someone in the prison, pretending to guillotine the whole family with his
saw. During December, a crowd of five hundred including Jacques Four and the Vengeance descend on Lucie while she is
walking near the prison. She is frightened, but her father reassures her that they will not harm her. Madame Defarge walks
by and salutes them. Charles is summoned to appear in court the next day.

Chapter 6: Triumph

Charles Darnay is on a list of twenty-three people to be tried the following day. He says goodbye to his friends in prison. The
next morning, he is called to the Tribunal, where it seems that criminals are trying honest men. The Defarges are sitting in
the front row. Darnay is charged with being an emigrant, and the public cries to take off his head. The fact that he renounced
his aristocratic title has no bearing. When he reveals that he is married to Lucie, Doctor Manette's daughter, the crowd calls
out in his favor.

Gabelle, who had been forgotten in prison before the trial, takes the witness stand and confirms Charles's story. Then Dr.
Manette testifies, praising Charles's character and republican ideals. Doctor Manette, who points out that far from being
sympathetic to the English aristocratic government, that very government had tried him for his life for being a friend of
France and America. Darnay is acquitted, and the crowd greets him with rapture. They lead him back to his home, holding
him up in a chair. When Lucie comes to meet her freed husband, the crowd dances the Carmagnole around them. Lucie lays
her head on her father's breast to thank him, just as he had laid his head on her when she had first met him in Paris.

Chapter 7: A Knock at the Door

Darnay has had to pay dearly for his food while he was in prison, so the household began to live very frugally. Even so, Miss
Pross and Jerry Cruncher, who usually went food shopping, had to shop at different stores to keep from raising suspicion or
envy of their relative wealth. Before they go shopping, they staunchly pronounce themselves English citizens loyal to the
King.

Once Miss Pross and Jerry Cruncher have departed, four men pound on the door and re-arrest Charles Darnay without giving
any reason. They say that he has been denounced by Saint Antoine, specifically by Madame and Monsieur Defarge, as well
as one other person.

Analysis

Chapter 1 continues to paint a very unflattering picture of revolutionary France. Thus far, attention has been focused on the
suburb of Saint Antione and the actions of the Defarges' gang.

As Darnay travels through France, however, he recreates the journey to prison that Dr. Manette made long ago. Through this
journey the reader receives a wider view of how the Revolution has affected society as a whole. The bloodthirstiness of the
people has become routine, and it does not even need to be stirred up by a mob. Moreover, Darnay's escorts are
irresponsible, and one of them is an alcoholic. Eventually he is thrown in prison, and soon after into solitary confinement,
just as Dr. Manette was. All this happens without explanation. Thus Dickens is able to show the image of Darnay, in the
same situation as Dr. Manette, pacing and saying, "He made shoes."

The two central themes of this chapter are reversals and death. The incarceration of aristocrats has become so common that
no one in the street even notices Darnay being conducted to jail; it is as normal for an aristocrat to go to prison as it is for a
laborer to go to work. Although Darnay has an understandable fear of the sort of characters he might find in prison, the
refined members of society are jailed by coarse and vulgar men, rather than the other way around. Death is omnipresent in
French society, and Dickens describes the imprisoned gentlemen as ghosts. The French Revolution has killed off the traits
that were admirable in the French people, and the prison is filled with ghosts of beauty, stateliness, pride, and so on. Their
jailors are also associated with death, but of a less attractive type. Their puffy faces recall victims of drowning.

By Chapter 2, the force of the mob is revealed as even more terrifying. Whereas Dickens formerly compared them to the
natural forces of fire and water, they are now depicted in terms of savagery. Their thirst for blood dehumanizes them, and
false mustaches and eyebrows stuck on their faces hide their identities so that they can kill with impunity. The crowd is
"awry with howling" and seems bestial in its rage. The transgressive and hedonistic nature of the mob is illustrated not only
in that the people's faces are smeared in sweat, blood, and wine, but also in that the men wear women's lace, silk, and ribbon
on their clothing. The image of blood on stone is consistent throughout the novel in its association with the violence in
France; the blood spattered on the grindstone connects this scene to the spilled wine on the cobblestones of Saint Antoine, as
well as to the murder of Monseigneur (after which the stone faces of his château seemed covered in blood).

The position of the Manettes and Darnay in revolutionary France is complicated. Despite the fact that they all reside in
England, they are all French, and as such they are not as clearly opposed to the Revolution as most emigrants are. Doctor
Manette and Darnay have the most torn sympathies, with Manette angry at the aristocratic regime that imprisoned him but
horrified at the excesses of the revolutionaries, and with Darnay concerned about the oppression that the peasants underwent
but in fear for his life, being ultimately of the aristocratic class.

A threatening shadow in Chapter 3 is thrown by Madame Defarge, who only becomes more terrible as the novel continues.
Her incitement of her husband to violence in previous chapters has given her the awfulness of Lady Macbeth, and her actions
in Chapter 3 remain ominous. She interrupts her knitting to point a needle at little Lucie "as if it were the finger of Fate." Her
sternness, combined with the fact that the Fates had the power to cut a life short if they wanted to, does not bode well for
little Lucie.

Lucie is set directly into opposition with Madame Defarge for the first time in this chapter, and the contrast is described in
terms of dark and light. Madame Defarge has dark, glistening hair emblematic of her dark nature, whereas Lucie is still the
"golden thread," in her hair color and her sentimental, moral goodness. The darkness of Madame Defarge's nature is
extended as a threat in this chapter when she stands over little Lucie, throwing a shadow over her. Recognizing the threat to
her child, Lucie kneels next to little Lucie to protect her, which throws darkness over both of them. Madame Defarge seems
to win the battle, at least in this chapter, because her darkness overwhelms their light. Lucie tries to appeal to Madame
Defarge's femininity, highlighting the supposed bond between them on this count by calling her "sister-woman." But
Madame Defarge has been dehumanized and dismisses these claims, always arguing that class struggle is more important
than an individual's suffering.

Chapter 4 examines some of the ambiguities of the French Revolution. While Dickens has been extremely critical of the mob
action driving it, this chapter adds some nuance to the depiction of the perpetrators of violence. A moral man like Doctor
Manette sees fit to tend to both sides, and the duality of the revolutionaries is highlighted by the description of those who
officiate the tribunal as both "stained and unstained" with murder. The same men who help Doctor Manette tend the wounds
of a wrongly attacked man immediately launch another attack so savage that the carnage makes the doctor faint. This
contradiction was also evident in an earlier chapter with the division of Darnay's escort as one sober man and one drunken
man.

The theme of resurrection is raised once again in Chapter 4. The Doctor's newfound power is an affirmation of his full
resurrection. The power of resurrection is depicted as something transferable, and Doctor Manette hopes to use his own
resurrection to affect that of his son-in-law.

Now the role reversal of Dr. Manette and the Darnays is complete. This time, Dr. Manette must protect the prisoner and his
family, when Lucie once protected the prisoner. In his power as temporary head of the family, Dr. Manette must protect
Lucie, but he also does it to repay Lucie for her own loving care. In short, he is a new provider of magic: he protects Darnay
and Lucie, and he motivates the mobs to peace. He has done precisely what the weak Darnay wanted to do, but could not.

The defining characteristic of the post-revolutionary society is its backwardness, demonstrated by the fact that criminals jail
virtuous men rather than the other way around, the opposite of the storming of the Bastille. The inversions are evident in
other aspects of the Manettes' experience in Paris. For example, the Doctor's imprisonment, which had previously been a
source of darkness and shame, becomes the primary source of his pride and power. The very conception of resurrection is
turned on its head in this chapter, with the description of the guillotine as "the sign of the regeneration of the human race."
Dickens's ironic tone in describing a killing machine as a source of resurrection is made more biting by the fact that this was
a common belief among revolutionaries, who wore miniatures of it on necklaces in place of a cross.

Dickens disapproves of this use of religious imagery in the secular French Republic. Describing the guillotine he writes:
"The name of the strong man of Old Scripture had descended to the chief functionary who worked it; but, so armed, he was
stronger than his namesake, and blinder." The executioner was known as "Samson" after the strong man in the Bible. The
French Samson's blindness indicates that his work is counterproductive compared with what is intended by God. He also
refers to the guillotine as the "National Razor which shaved close," punning on the part of the story of Samson in which he
takes revenge on the Philistines for blinding him after a betraying woman named Delilah cut his hair.

In Chapter 5, the Carmagnole was a dance specific to revolutionary France. It was an equalizing and wild dance, executed in
a circle with the combinations of dancers constantly changing.

The horror of the French Revolution is not only evident in its violence, but also in the role reversals and transgressions that
the revolutionaries engage in. Dances tended to be organized in pairs, following a rigid pattern. The revolutionaries smash
these patterns, with men dancing with women, women with women, and men with men. Dickens is more repelled by this sort
of savagery than of an originally savage society, calling the dance a "fallen sport." It is repulsive to him because it represents
the breakdown of an order that existed, rather than the absence of order to begin with.

The mender of roads has now transformed into a completely different person, the wood-sawyer. He has fully adopted the
revolutionary fervor and has changed professions to prove it. One he fixed things that brought people together as the road-
mender; now he kills and divides as the wood-sawyer. Lucie's weakness in such a violent world is brought home to her in the
wood-sawyer's metaphor of cutting the family. Although the wood-sawyer has a lot of influence in the mob, there is still one
larger than him - Madame Defarge, who walks by quietly, casting shadows.

The court scene in chapter 6 is one of the many manifestations of Dickens's dread of the power of mobs. Although the trial is
ostensibly run by the president, it is really the reaction of the crowd to the trial that decides the result. When Darnay asks if it
is a crime to hazard his life to save another French citizen, the populace shouts "no" and refuses to be silenced by the
president's bell, continuing to shout until the shouting dies out of its own accord. The danger of this power is in the fickle
nature of the crowd, who call for blood one moment and in the next moment cry in sympathy with the prisoner.

In this upside-down society, triumph is uncomfortably akin to its opposite. The mob descends on Darnay when he is
acquitted in the exact same way that they would have if he had been condemned, with only slightly different results. The
pike-decorated chair that the crowd places Darnay on seems more ominous than celebratory. The knowledge that the same
crowd could just as easily decide to tear him to pieces almost makes Darnay faint, and the triumphal procession back to his
home is so similar to the procession to the guillotine that Darnay has to remind himself which one he is involved in.

The connections between this trial and Darnay's trial in England are clear. As in England, Darnay's trial in France is also of
treason - a class treason, of being a noble when all others are poor and equal. Being a man of two nations has troubled him in
both trials - in England because of his French roots, and in France because of his years in England. In both trials, he was
captured because he went on errands to save the family honor. Fortunately, this trial resembles the English trial in his
triumphant departure on the arms of the wild crowd. In this third mob scene, the crowd that would have killed him now
carries him home.

Dickens repeats "I have saved him," the last line of Chapter 6, as the first line of Chapter 7. To the readers of his serialized
novel, it would have been a foreboding last line. The cliffhanger at the end of this chapter is the mystery of who the third
person to denounce Darnay is.
Miss Pross's pledge of allegiance to the King ("my maxim is confound their politics, frustrate their knavish tricks, on him our
hopes we fix, God save the King!") before she exits the shop is drawn directly from "God Save the King" or "God Save the
Queen" (depending on the gender of the current monarch), a British patriotic anthem.

Before the Defarges enter, Lucie thinks that she hears footsteps on the stairs. This again ties the Defarges' malevolent
intervention into her life with her previous fears of the echoing footsteps in her London home. Her earlier fancy that the
footsteps that echo outside her house portended people coming to interfere in her life now comes true.

A Tale of Two Cities Summary and Analysis of Book III, Chapters 8-15

Chapter 8: A Hand at Cards

Miss Pross and Jerry Cruncher continue shopping, unaware that Darnay has been arrested again. They coincidentally enter
the Defarges' shop looking to purchase wine. Miss Pross sees a man in the shop and screams, because she recognizes him as
her brother, Solomon Pross, who is now an officer of the French Republic. Jerry Cruncher is equally shocked because he
recognizes the man as John Barsad, the English spy. He is trying to think of this name aloud, when Sydney Carton passes by
and supplies the name for him.

Carton asks to speak to Barsad alone and reveals that he is a turnkey in the Conciergerie( A celebrated prison, attached to the
Palais de Justice in Paris). This is where Carton recognized his face. He followed him back to the wine-shop and now asks
him to accompany him to Tellson's Bank for a talk. There he meets Mr. Lorry, who also recognizes him as having been a
witness at Darnay's trial. Carton tries to use what he knows about Barsad (the fact that he is currently employed by the
Republican government under a false name but was formerly employed by the English government-which would lead the
French government to believe he is a spy) to help free Darnay. He threatens to denounce Barsad, adding that he recognizes
the man with whom Barsad was talking as Roger Cly. Barsad tries to claim that Cly is dead and had a funeral back in
London, but Jerry Cruncher interjects, saying that he looked in that coffin, and there was no body in it. Despite the fact that
he grows defensive when asked why he knows this, Cruncher sticks by his assertion, and Barsad gives up and agrees to help
Carton. Carton asks to have a final word alone with Barsad.

Chapter 9: The Game Made

Mr. Lorry asks Mr. Cruncher how he knows that Roger Cly was not in his grave. Cruncher hints at his profession and
defends himself, saying that he has to make a profit somehow. Barsad leaves and Carton explains that all he could get out of
him was a promise to see him before he died. He surprises Mr. Lorry with his warmth and sympathy by asking him not to
worry. Mr. Lorry's duties are done in Paris, and he has permission to leave the city. Carton wistfully asks Mr. Lorry if he felt
his life was wasted, which it clearly was not, and envies the fact that the seventy-eight-year-old would have someone to
mourn him if he died.

Carton leaves the house and goes to look at La Force Prison. The wood-sawyer speaks to him, recommending that he see
people being guillotined if he has never seen it before. Carton resists the desire to hit him, and instead finds his way to a
chemist's shop where he orders some drugs. He recalls a prayer that he learned when he was younger, and he stops to help a
child across the muddy street. All night he walks the streets, and without having slept he attends the trial in the morning.

When Darnay is brought in, Lucie gives him a loving look which warms both her husband's and Carton's hearts. The jury,
which includes Jacques Three, is bloodthirsty. The tribunal names the three who denounced him and they include Monsieur
and Madame Defarge and, surprisingly, Doctor Manette. He protests that this is impossible, but Monsieur Defarge produces
the document from Doctor Manette's cell in the Bastille.

Chapter 10: The Substance of the Shadow

Dr. Manette's document, written in his cell in the Bastille and hidden in its chimney in 1767, explains why he was
imprisoned. When he was a young and successful doctor, he was accosted in the street by what he perceived to be a pair of
twins. They asked him to enter the carriage and showed him that they were armed. They refused to give him details about the
patient.

In the narrative of the document, Manette enters the carriage and they drive him to a solitary house, where he hears the cries
of a woman. She is a beautiful young woman, whose surname Dr. Manette never learns, tied up on a bed, and she is raving
with brain fever. She repeats the phrase "my husband, my father, and my brother!" and counts to twelve obsessively. The
other patient in the house is a young peasant, her brother, who is dying of a knife wound. He explains that the noblemen had
tried to exercise their feudal "right" to have sex with their serfs, but his sister was a virtuous girl and would not let them . The
lord then tied her husband to a cart like a horse and drove him to death. He died in his wife's (the first patient's) arms,
sobbing once every stroke of the clock at noon, explaining her fixation on the number twelve. He then took the girl to rape
her. The boy took his other sister to a safe place and then attacked the noblemen, who gave him the fatal stab wound. As he
dies, the boy curses the nobleman and his family.
The doctor is disturbed by this story and even more worried when he sees that the girl has recently become pregnant. The
noblemen ask him to keep everything he has seen and heard a secret, but they grow alarmed when he refuses to accept their
payment for his medical services. The girl dies, and the noblemen seem unconcerned. The doctor is returned to his lodgings.
Knowing full well that any letter he writes will be ineffective because of noble influence on the court, he finishes a letter to
the Minister, and the wife of the Marquis St. Evremonde calls on him, clarifying the mystery of the nobleman's last name.
She is the wife of the man who raped the peasant and wants to do penance by finding her living sister and doing well by her,
but she doesn't know where to find her. Neither does Dr. Manette, so the Marquess leaves with her son, Charles Darnay,
musing that he will eventually have to pay for the sins of the family if she cannot expiate them herself. The same night, a
man demands to see Dr. Manette, captures him, and the two brothers burn the protesting letter that he had written in front of
his face. He is thrown in the Bastille on their authority, and Dr. Manette denounces them and their family members.

The crowd and jury's reaction to this testimony is immediate. Charles Darnay is sentenced to death within twenty-four hours.

Chapter 11: Dusk

Lucie embraces her husband for what she thinks is the last time after he is condemned. Dr. Manette tries to kneel to both of
them to apologize, but he is stopped by Darnay, who apologizes again for what his family did to the Doctor. Darnay is taken
away and Lucie faints. Carton carries her to the carriage and orders that she not be revived so that she may suffer minimally.
He kisses her before he leaves, whispering the words, "A life you love." Doctor Manette goes out to try to use his influence
to save Darnay again, but everyone doubts he will be successful. Carton agrees with the rest that there is no hope.

Chapter 12: Darkness

Carton walks to the Defarges' wine-shop and asks for a drink in a poor accent. This accent is faked, because Carton was a
student in France and can speak like a Frenchman, but it allows him to eavesdrop on the Defarges. They are discussing the
Darnay case, and Madame Defarge says that the Revolution should stop at nothing but extermination, while her husband
seems more moderate. Carton eavesdrops on a conversation between Defarge, Madame Defarge, The Vengeance,
and Jacques Three, in which Madame Defarge plots to exterminate the Evrémonde line—including Lucie and Lucie's
daughter. She says that she and the wood-sawyer will testify against Lucie for sympathizing with a prisoner. Jacques Three
promises a conviction. Monsieur Defarge, however, hesitates, and suggests that poor Dr. Manette has suffered enough.

The bloodthirsty juries of the Revolution need only the slightest suspicion to convict someone. Jacques Three's promise
indicates that there is no justice, and that the trials are shams. Monsieur Defarge's pity for Manette makes Madame Defarge's
utter mercilessness stand out even more starkly.Madame Defarge responds by revealing her history with the
Evrémondes: she is the missing sister of the peasant family whom the Evrémonde brothers abused and killed. She vows to
carry out her brother's dying curse. She barks at Defarge that he can tell wind and fire where to stop, "but don't tell
me." Jacques Three and The Vengeance are thrilled. Carton also learns that Madame Defarge was the sister whisked away
to safety away from the Evermonde brothers by the brother who Dr. Manette saw die of a stab wound, so she has a strong
personal vendetta against Darnay.

Carton rejoins Mr. Lorry and Dr. Manette, who is showing signs of his old affliction and is asking for his shoemaking tools.
Carton asks Mr. Lorry to blindly follow his directions, which Mr. Lorry agrees to do. Carton finds a certificate allowing him
to leave the city in Doctor Manette's jacket and exclaims "Thank God!" He gives it to Mr. Lorry, and explains to him
Madame Defarge's intention to denounce the whole family using the testimony of the wood-sawyer, who will swear they
were signaling to the prisoners. He urges Mr. Lorry to ready Lucie and her daughter to leave the city the next day at two p.m.
and to leave as soon as Carton appears to get in the carriage. Carton leaves but lingers in the courtyard, saying a goodbye to
Lucie's window.

Chapter 13: Fifty-Two

Fifty men and women of all ages and walks of life wait to die at the Conciergerie, and Charles Darnay tries to resign himself
to death. He writes a letter to Lucie apologizing for keeping his French identity secret from her and explaining that he did not
know of his family's connection to Doctor Manette's imprisonment until the document was read out. He also writes letters to
Doctor Manette and Mr. Lorry, but not to Carton.

Let into the prison by John Barsad, Carton visits Darnay an hour before his execution. He convinces Darnay to swap clothes
with him and drugs him with the substance that he had purchased at the chemist’s shop. John Barsad enters the cell to drag
Darnay to safety, and Carton remains in the cell to die in his place. A gaoler takes him to a waiting room, where various
other prisoners mistake him for Darnay and greet him. A young woman accused of plotting(A poor seamstress, also falsely
sentenced to death) recognizes that it is not Darnay but keeps his secret and asks to hold his "brave hand" on the way to the
guillotine. She asks, “Are you dying for him?” He replies, “And his wife and child.”

A coach holding Doctor Manette, Lucie, little Lucie, Mr. Lorry and an unconscious Charles Darnay disguised as Sydney
Carton (and holding his papers) pass safely out of Paris. They are stopped and fear that they are caught, but it is merely a
man inquiring the number guillotined that day. When they respond that it was fifty-two, he responds positively, saying that
he loves the guillotine.

Chapter 14: The Knitting Done

The Vengeance, Madame Defarge, and Jacques Three hold a secret meeting in the wood-sawyer's shed. Defarge criticizes
her husband for having pity on the Doctor, whereas she wishes to guillotine the whole family including the child. She wishes
to have the wood-sawyer denounce the family by saying that all of them have stood outside the La Force prison and signaled
without her husband's knowledge so that he could not undermine their plans. Madame Defarge sets out to visit Lucie, whose
husband she assumes has recently been guillotined; Lucie will undoubtedly be in a state of mind to condemn the Republic,
providing Madame Defarge with further evidence.

She arrives at the Manettes' apartment armed with a pistol and a dagger. Mr. Cruncher and Miss Pross are still occupying the
apartment and have intended to leave that afternoon. They are both greatly excited and distressed by the day's events, and
Mr. Cruncher vows to allow his wife to pray and not to work as a resurrection-man again. Mr. Cruncher leaves to ready the
horses, so only Miss Pross remains to confront Madame Defarge. They argue and engage in a scuffle in which Miss Pross
accidentally kills Madame Defarge with her own gun and is permanently deafened by the noise it makes. She runs out of the
apartment and escapes Paris with Jerry Cruncher.

Chapter 15: The Footsteps Die Out Forever

The tumbrils continue to rumble along the streets of Paris, and because time never reverses itself, the changes wrought by the
Revolution cannot be undone. Carton rides in one of the tumbrils, ignoring everyone but the girl whose hand he holds. The
Vengeance looks for Madame Defarge at the guillotine in vain. Carton holds the girl's hand to the end, and she thanks him
for his support. The seamstress reflects that the new Republic may make life easier for poor people like herself and her
surviving cousin. She kisses Carton and goes calmly to her death. Carton then goes to his.

Carton goes to the guillotine with a peaceful, philosophical face. If he could have spoken prophetically he would have
foreseen the future of the people whom he knows. He would have seen Barsad, Cly, Defarge, the Vengeance, the Jury, and
the Judge all dying on the guillotine which they helped raise. He would see a peaceful life for Lucie and Charles Darnay
back in England, with each generation of her family, including a son named after him, blessing his name and visiting his
grave. He dies with the conclusion that "It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest
that I go to than I have ever known."

Analysis

Chapter 8 is the first in which the threads of the story are drawn together towards a possible conclusion. The fashion in
nineteenth-century novels was to introduce a large number of characters in different walks of life and, in the case of A Tale
of Two Cities, in different countries, then to introduce a crisis, and finally to interconnect all of the characters to create a
solution. One of the reasons that this novel is considered a masterpiece is that no chapter, no detail is wasted. Even a
character like Solomon Pross, who was introduced long ago as a comical alternative to Darnay as a groom for Lucie, now
becomes crucial to the resolution of the novel.

Chapter 8 also reinforces the importance of the individuality of faces. Carton repeats again and again, with great satisfaction,
that Barsad has a quite remarkable face, a fact which allowed him to recognize him at the Conciergerie. This individuality is
only broken down by the extraordinary resemblance of Carton to Darnay, but the uniqueness of this resemblance is what
renders believable the idea that they are interchangeable. Other than this pair, and the small exception of the family
expressions shared by Lucie and her father, the faces in the novel are exceptional. This runs counter to the ideal of equality
of the French revolution, and Dickens seems to undermine the conformity of dressing the same to dance the Carmagnole by
making Barsad's features recognizable even though he wears revolutionary garb.

Cly and Barsad have returned to the plot, and they have become very vital to it. Here the evil spies have held their own form
of a resurrection, resulting from a false death and a false rebirth. In this manner, both Cly and Barsad can adapt themselves
to any situation, and side with whatever group is in power. Because they are so desperate to do anything for a little money,
their hiding in darkness is more dangerous than the revolutionaries' power.

Fortunately, Carton acts as a deus ex machina (a god-like intervention), arriving on the scene and instantly working to save
Darnay's life. As we can see, he is a changed man. He no longer hides from the world in liquor; instead, he uses it to find all
sorts of information about the world. He no longer tolerates being spoken at; he loudly and forcefully orders Barsad around.
Finally, he no longer speaks as a wastrel, but as a man with a purpose. He uses the last vestiges of his old life to provide
information for his purpose through likening his questioning to the rake's game of cards.

Dickens has used the trope of replacement of religion with revolutionary principles in other chapters, but in Chapter 9 in
particular he sets the misuse of ideology against the proper use of it. The tribunal is, in effect, a free-for-all, and the shouting
of the crowd's opinion is not silenced by officials. When Doctor Manette claims that it is impossible that he would denounce
his own son-in-law, the president of the tribunal is scandalized, arguing that "if the Republic should demand of you the
sacrifice of your child herself, you would have no duty but to sacrifice her." This demand echoes God's demand of Abraham
in Genesis 22 to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham is willing, but he is spared from killing his own son at the last minute by an
angel. The president of the Tribunal, when he demands this sort of impossible sacrifice, claims that revolutionary ideals are
as important as, if not more important than, religious faith.

The other use of religion in Chapter 9 is embodied by Carton, a dissolute man who is raised up by his ability to assist Lucie.
To him, Lucie is almost some sort of deity; when he arrives in the courthouse he notes, "Mr. Lorry was there and Doctor
Manette was there. She was there sitting beside her father." She is so important in his consciousness that he does not even
need to name her, only using a pronoun as one might think of a divinity.

The prayer which he repeats to himself as he wanders the streets ("I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.") is from
the Gospel of John 11:25-26, and it is the beginning of the Burial Service in the Book of Common Prayer, a traditional
Christian prayer book. This passage comes directly before Jesus resurrects the dead Lazarus. Carton is simultaneously
preparing for his own death by saying a burial prayer over himself and alluding to his own power to resurrect Darnay.

The title of Chapter 10 refers to the shadow that the Manettes felt the Defarges casting over their family. The document that
Defarge stole from the Bastille is the substance of the threat, which he is able to maintain against the family. This is the crisis
of the novel, where the worst card, Manette's own denunciation, is played. After this point, the resolution plays itself out, and
the characters face only minor new challenges.

Chapter 10 also touches on the nerves that caused the French Revolution more thoroughly than any other part of the novel.
Cruelty to the peasant class was illustrated by Monseigneur's behavior in previous chapters, but nowhere is the brute anger
that caused the revolution literalized more than in the rape of a peasant girl by a cruel aristocrat who thought that it was his
right. Every interaction of one of the St. Evremonde brothers with the peasant siblings embodies their belief in the nonhuman
nature of the lower classes. For instance, they call the boy a "crazed young common dog" for having the presumption to
attack a nobleman with a sword. (In eighteenth-century France, sword-fights were a highly aristocratic affair with rules of
behavior on either side.) The Evremondes consider it shameful to their family to have fought with a commoner. As the girl
lies dying, her rapist comments on the "strength there is in these common bodies," with a detachment like he would display
watching a strong animal die.

It is curious that Dickens includes this strong justification for the rage of the peasant class after he has roundly condemned
the uncontrolled force of the mob. He portrays France as a consistently unworkable society; the abuses of the ancient regime
were too brutal to allow a hierarchical society to continue, yet the excesses of the mob worked only in terms of revenge
rather than in terms of reconstituting a sustainable society.

In Chapter 11, what Lucie thinks are her final words to her husband reinforce her pious and virtuous nature. She is still
described as a golden angel, "with her hands touching one another in the attitude of prayer and with the radiant look on her
face." She says to him: "we shall meet again, where the weary are at rest!" This sentiment is drawn directly from a passage in
Job, where he curses the day of his birth and calls for his own death: "There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the
weary be at rest" (Job 3:17). This association of Darnay and Lucie's troubles with Job's experience hints that the conflict is
the result of circumstances out of their control and that, like Job, they may ultimately be rewarded for their patience and
resignation.

Chapter 11 also makes heavy use of foreshadowing the resolution of the novel. After Darnay leaves the scene, Carton
immediately becomes the forceful protagonist, carrying Lucie to her carriage and setting her up in her home. Little Lucie,
with the insight of a child, says that she is sure that Carton can do something to help her mother. Carton is the last to lament
that nothing can be done for Darnay, suggesting that he thinks quite the opposite.

In Chapter 12, Dickens provides Madame Defarge, his villain, with ample justification for her angry actions, though he
subtly criticizes their performative nature. As Carton eavesdrops on her in the shop, she bares her secret to her friends, and
her disclosure causes her readers "to derive a horrible enjoyment from the deadly nature of her wrath." The wrongs
committed against the French lower classes, as demonstrated by the actions of the St. Evremonde family, were very real, and
the impetus to class struggle has been justified. It is the escalation of the terror to a performance, with all its unreal
inhumanity and extended suffering, that alarms Dickens.

The important part of the aristocrat Foulon's death in Book II, Chapter 22, is not the fact that he is a human being who is
dying, but the ritualistic stuffing of grass in his mouth. Madame Defarge claps for this death as she would clap for a play. In
the same way, her audience appreciates her pain not as a human emotion but as an abstract dramatic phenomenon. The
performative nature of the French Revolution was recorded by many onlookers, who noted that women like Madame
Defarge would attend executions at the guillotine and chat with their friends and knit as if they were at a show.

Although critics often complain that the characters do not undergo significant development in the novel, Carton shows a
transformation which is completed in Chapter 13. At the beginning of the novel he was a dissolute man, interested only in
alcohol. His love for Lucie, although unrequited, has had the power to lift him closer to his potential. At first he dislikes
Darnay because he sees a man of identical features who has been virtuous and has made of his life what Carton could have
made of his, but did not. This bitterness wears off as Carton becomes a better and better man through his association with the
Manettes, resulting in a character so good that it may be mistaken for Darnay's. The successful interchange of the two men in
this chapter symbolizes the completion of Carton's moral development, and this is the second time that he resurrects Darnay
back to life. In this Carton becomes a Christ figure, taking the sins of the Evremondes upon himself out of love for Lucie.

Chapter 14 is dominated by the fall of Madame Defarge, the tragic villain. Dickens's attitude toward Madame Defarge
continues to exemplify his stance on the French Revolution. Her rage is justified, but it has always exceeded its proper
bounds. Dickens describes Madame Defarge as she crosses the streets towards the Manettes' house as a tigress circling in on
her prey. Moreover, "If she ever had virtue in her, it had quite gone out of her." Here Dickens echoes the biblical verse in
which a crowd all move to touch Jesus and he says, "Somebody hath touched me for I perceive that virtue is gone out of
me." Madame Defarge's virtue of mercy and the ability to pity others have been forever stunted by the cold hand of
experience, the injustices that she suffered under aristocratic French rule.

The title of the final chapter refers back to Lucie's presentiment that the footsteps which echoed through her home in London
are the signals of people coming to intrude in her family life. This came true with the interference of the events of the French
Revolution in her home. This title signifies not only that the family has escaped from Paris, but also from any other trials,
and it suggests that they will live in uninterrupted happiness from now on.

The thematic emphasis of this chapter is on the irrevocable passage of time. Dickens describes Time as a "powerful
enchanter" who never undoes the work he has done. The personification of time momentarily brings the reader out of the
personal details of the characters in the story and back to the distant, fable-like tone of the first chapter of the novel.
However, in his death, Carton gains the ability to transcend time. He is able to look into the future and see what happens to
his loved ones. Carton will achieve a resurrection of sorts through the birth of Lucie and Darnay's son and grandson.
Although it will be the far-reaching future, even those alive then will refer to themselves in terms of the past - they pass on
the story of Carton's sacrifice. In this way, Carton lives up to his nickname of Memory, becoming a tangible memory
through his reborn persona.

Key Facts about A Tale of Two Cities

 Full Title: A Tale of Two Cities

 When Written: 1859

 Where Written: Rochester and London

 When Published: 1859

 Literary Period: Victorian era

 Genre: Historical novel

 Setting: London and Paris

 Climax: Sydney Carton's rescue of Charles Darnay from prison

 Antagonist: French revolutionaries; Madame Defarge

 Point of View: Third person omniscient

Extra Credit for A Tale of Two Cities

Serial fiction: Like many of Dickens's novels, A Tale of Two Cities was first published in installments in his magazine All
the Year Round. Many Victorian novels were first published in serial parts and then later collected into books.

American favorite: Since its publication, A Tale of Two Cities has always been Dickens's most popular work in America.

THEMES

REVOLUTION

Much of the action of A Tale of Two Cities takes place in Paris during the French Revolution, which began in 1789. In A
Tale of Two Cities, Dickens shows how the tyranny of the French aristocracy—high taxes, unjust laws, and a complete
disregard for the well-being of the poor—fed a rage among the commoners that eventually erupted in revolution. Dickens
depicts this process most clearly through his portrayal of the decadent Marquis St. Evrémonde and the Marquis' cruel
treatment of the commoners who live in the region under his control.

However, while the French commoners' reasons for revolting were entirely understandable, and the French Revolution was
widely praised for its stated ideals of "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity," Dickens takes a more pessimistic view. By showing
how the revolutionaries use oppression and violence to further their own selfish and bloodthirsty ends, in A Tale of Two
Cities Dickens suggests that whoever is in power, nobles or commoners, will fall prey to the temptation to exercise their full
power. In other words, Dickens shows that while tyranny will inevitably lead to revolution, revolution will lead just as
inevitably to tyranny. The only way to break this cycle is through the application of justice and mercy.

Opening lines- The contradictions listed in the opening of the novel portray 1775 as an age of profound transition, full of
promise and threat. The comparison to Dickens's Victorian times establishes the novel's use of the past to comment on the
present.

In France, the government spends wildly and hands out harsh sentences to anyone connected with a crime, no matter how
minor. In England, burglars infest the cities—even the Mayor of London gets robbed—and not even frequent hangings can
stop the wave of crime.The narrator extends the potential similarities between revolutionary France and England. Because of
their injustices, both governments are sowing the seeds of discontent and political radicalism.

The narrator tells an allegory of the Woodman and the Farmer—figures of the coming revolution who are silently at work.
But the royalty in both England and France believe in their divine right to rule and don't notice the gathering storm. The
Woodman symbolizes the tumbrils (the carts that take the victims of the Revolution to the guillotine), as he chops down the
wood to make the carts. The trees are cut down for the sake of people who will also be cut down. The tumbrils are then
delivered to the Farmer (Death), who harvests the people for the guillotine. The tool of a woodman is an axe, which
symbolizes the act of cutting. The tool of Death is traditionally a scythe, as he harvests them from the earth to be presented
to the grave. Though both a woodman and a farmer are usually shown to be people whose deeds improve people’s lives, in
the paradox (as shown in the first paragraph of the novel) they are the means of destruction. The people will find themselves,
as the peasant woman tells the Monseigneur, under “little heaps of grass.”

Lucie’s own and her father's real history—her father suffered imprisonment at the hand of a tyrannical government because
he helped the wounded who happened to be revolutionaries.

Outside the wine shop - This scene is an extended metaphor for how people transform into a frenzied mob. It foreshadows
the blood to be spilled in the Revolution. The writing on the wall alludes to the Biblical story (in Daniel) of Belshazzar's
feast where a disembodied hand prophesied the fall of his empire.The pople return after their initial jubilation. Hunger and
want are the conditions that fuel the revolutionary fire.

The people named Jacques- The code name "Jacques" does double service: because it is a common name, it both hides
identity and also implies that this revolution is of the people. Lucie and Lorry's presence in Defarge's wine shop indicates
that Defarge is Manette's former servant. Defarge sends the mender of roads outside and consults with the
Jacques. Jacques Three, hungry for blood, agrees with Defarge that the Marquis's castle and the entire Evrémonde race
should be exterminated. Just as the Marquis would exterminate the people, those people would exterminate him. In other
words, the revolutionaries are just as blood-minded as the corrupt and brutal aristocracy they seek to overthrow. While at
work in the ruined countryside of France, the mender of roads encounters a shaggy but powerful man. Addressing each
other as "Jacques," they confirm that something will happen "tonight." "Jacques" keeps cropping up everywhere, suggesting
how the revolutionary cause is taken up again and again by new people. That night Marquis’s castle is set on fire.

Dr. Mannet’s trauma and everything related to it is part of tyranny and revolution.- Dr. Manette's desire to keep his tools
close at hand indicates that his emotional trauma still lies close to the surface. Dr. Manette's statement, "I can't say,"
indicates that he doesn't yet totally believe in the possibility that he could escape his traumatic past. Four months pass. Mr.
Lorry visits Dr. Manette and Lucie at their home. Lucie has decorated the house beautifully, but Mr. Lorry notices that
Manette's shoe-making workbench is still in the house.The beautiful house symbolizes the Manettes' return to life, but the
presence of the workbench indicates that Manette is not yet completely free of his past. Mr. Lorry then asks if Dr. Manette
ever uses his workbench or speaks about his imprisonment. Miss Pross responds that Dr. Manette does not think about his
traumatic years of imprisonment. Dr. Manette's silence about his imprisonment and insistence on keeping his shoe-making
workbench show that he has not resolved his traumatic past: he's still hiding from it. Mr. Lorry very discreetly describes Dr.
Manette's situation, never using Manette's name. He asks what might have caused the relapse and how he might help to
prevent another one. Dr. Manette represses his traumas, which remain hidden until they violently erupt. This is a metaphor
for the French Revolution itself—the nobles suppressed the commoners until a revolt erupted. Dr. Manette now knows the
truth about Charles's past, but doesn't entirely remember his own.
Tellson’s bank - Tellson's Bank has branches in both London and Paris. The Paris branch is now located in the wing of a
mansion that once belonged to a powerful member of the nobility. For this reason, the bank looks out onto a courtyard in
which orange trees grow and the walls inside are decorated with plaster figures, such as the cupid over the counter that seems
to be aiming his bow at the people doing business there. This and other features of the bank would not be acceptable in the
English branch, which, like Mr. Jarvis Lorry himself, is expected to be staid and proper. In short, what is acceptable in
France would be considered unprofessional in England. In France, people still leave their money with the bank, but in
England such surroundings would shake people's confidence. This highlights another difference, one that is more relevant to
the themes of the novel. England is safe and can afford to be concerned with its image; France is in such a tenuous state that
no one knows whether anyone will ever come to reclaim the money and valuables that have been entrusted to Tellson's there.
When the decorative cupid takes aim at customers at the counter, he is a symbol of a much more real danger that may target
them at any time. In fact, across the courtyard from the orange trees is a giant grindstone where, at night, the patriots sharpen
stolen weapons to be used against just such people as might do business at Tellson's Bank. Tellson's Paris location is a sort
of microcosm of the France of the novel: The remnants of the ancien régime are present but exist directly alongside the
trappings of the Reign of Terror, which are taking over. In the light of day, the bank conducts business, but at night, its
employees huddle inside in fear of what is going on in their courtyard. The bank is a symbol of England and France. Like
the tradition-encrusted bank, each of these countries has problems with the institutions they've inherited, such as the
monarchy. When Mr. Lorry arrives at the Paris branch of Tellson's Bank. It sits next to the former house of a grand French
noble that has been converted into an armory for the revolutionaries. In the courtyard there's a large grindstone.The house's
transformation symbolizes the Revolution: formerly representing the excesses of the nobility, now the house represents the
revenge that excess inspired.

The excitement of the English to see a trial- The spectators stare at Darnay, and one onlooker excitedly predicts that the
accused will be convicted and then brutally drawn-and-quartered. The sadistic appetites of this English crowd are similar to
those of the French mob in Book 1, chapter 5. The title of the chapter, "A Sight," indicates that these people come to the trial
for the fun of it, hoping not for justice but for the spectacle of violence.

The French revolution- The Attorney and the behaviour of the court foreshadows revolutionThe prosecuting attorney
foreshadows the later prosecutors in France who will bend the truth to seek an execution. Ironically, Charles is accused of
spying while John Barsad and Roger Cly (who are later revealed to be actual English spies) are presented as
"unimpeachable" witnesses.The storming of bastille. Though both London and Paris teetered on the edge of revolt at the
beginning of the novel, only France has fallen into revolution. Many French aristocrats have become emigrants, fleeing
France for London where they gather at Tellson's Bank for news. After Lorry and Manets arrive at Paris some of the scenes
are described. Noises outside draw them to the window. Half-naked men covered in blood are turning the grindstone to
sharpen swords. Frenzied, blood-smeared women pour wine into the men's mouths. The mob runs howling into the streets
with their weapons.The revolutionaries are described as uncivilized savages, engaged in some terrible ritual. Note the wine-
blood connection and the intoxication of violence. Mr. Lorry whispers to Dr. Manette that the mob has gone to kill the
prisoners at La Force. Horrified, Manette runs out to the mob. Manette and the remaining revolutionaries rush to La Force as
the mob cries out, "Help for the Bastille prisoner's kindred in La Force!"It is not enough for the revolutionaries to imprison
their enemies. They must kill them. The Revolution gains in force. The King and Queen of France are beheaded. As the
revolutionaries grow stronger, their courts zealously prosecute people, guilty or not. Suspicion reigns. Civil freedoms
disappear.After the Republic was declared in France in 1792, the "Reign of Terror" began: a period of spying, fear, and
escalating numbers of executions. The guillotine, a tool to make it easier to execute people by beheading, has become a
sacrilegious idol in place of Christ. This signals that compassion, in France, is dead. Gabelle was imprisoned and
forgotten.Lucie goes on a walk to a place from where she is able to see Charles ,the mender of roads is a wood-sawyer now
he has been transformed into a man drunk on the violence of the Revolution. His sawing represents the potential executions
of Charles, Lucie, and their daughter.

Charles favouring the revolution- Mr. Lorry, Lucie, and Dr. Manette are each called to testify: they had all met Charles
aboard ship on their way back from Paris five years earlier. Lucie explains how Charles helped her care for her
father. Another irony: as will be revealed later, Charles's "suspicious" activities are actually his humanitarian efforts to help
his impoverished tenants in France. He is putting himself in danger to help others. His comment about George Washington
(who was leading the American Revolution at the time) indicates that he has revolutionary sympathies. At his luxurious
castle, the Marquis Evrémonde waits for the arrival of his nephew, Charles Evrémonde (a.k.a. Charles Darnay) from
London. Charles explains he has been questing for a "sacred object," but that he's run into trouble. The object of Charles's
sacred quest is Lucie. Charles' "trouble" in winning her love is his aristocratic background. Notice also the contrast between
Lucie and the aristocracy: she has the power to restore life, while the French nobility rule through the power of taking life
away. Charles responds that the Evrémondes have lost their family honor by injuring anyone who stood between them and
pleasure. He adds that when his mother died, she commanded him to have mercy on the people. He renounces his family
name and property, which he says is cursed, and explains that he will work for a living in England. The Marquis scoffs at
his nephew's "new philosophy," tells him to accept his "natural destiny," and goes to bed. The "new philosophy" of the
Enlightenment, which inspired both the American and French Revolutions, held that all people are born equal, that no one
has a natural right to rule. Yet rather than facing his past, Charles tries to run from it by renouncing his family and living and
working in England. Gabelle falls into trouble because of Charles’s support for revolution and his escapade. He feels
responsuible for Gabelle’s state and this finally leads him to trouble. The ensuing fate of Charles.

The presence of spies like John Barsad and Robert Cly- Outside of Tellson's Bank, Jerry Cruncher sees an approaching
funeral procession. An angry crowd harasses the drivers of the hearse with shouts of "Spies!" Cruncher learns the hearse
carries the body of Roger Cly, a convicted spy against the English.The English crowd threatening the spies foreshadows the
French mob that, in later chapters, will actually lynch its enemies in public. The mobs' anger at the spy Roger Cly escalates
into a general zest for mayhem, foreshadowing the French revolutionaries who lose sight of their ideals in their thirst for
blood. Almost everyone in the wine shop is alerted to Barsad’s identity when Mrs. Defarge adorns her head with red rose.
John Barsad the spy has already been spied upon. Suspicion and surveillance are in full swing.

Lucie’s imagination of footsteps- The storm and footsteps symbolize the oncoming French Revolution. Carton's comment is
prophetic: in the end, he welcomes the Revolution into his life and sacrifices himself to the Revolution to save Lucie.

Marquis and Monseigneur and the glaring economic divide- From their luxurious villa to running down the child and
conversation with Charles and other poor people. In the year 1789, distressing "echoes" arrive from France. Mr.
Lorry confides in Charles that the Paris office of Tellson's Bank has been flooded with anxious aristocrats trying to save
their property.Charles sacrificed his property to try to escape his family's past. Aristocrats who hung on to their wealth have
now lost it. The manner of the people staring at the noblemen that drive by. The broken wine barrel incident. Lorry tries to
save Tellson's Bank as it is invested in old money and aims to preserve it. This makes Mr. Lorry's political and moral
positions in the book ambiguous. The cruelty of the Evermonde family.

The boy’s death - The boy's death is a metaphor for the brutality of tyranny. The man throwing the coin back shows how
tyranny inspires revolution, creating a situation where both sides want to destroy the other. For his actions against the
commoners, the Marquis gets his name knitted into Defarge's register of death.

The stowaway- The stowaway represents how the Marquis is bringing his own troubles home to roost. The trouble is
spreading from the cities through the country.

The woman who petitions for a grave marker- The Marquis dismissively asks the women if she expects him to be able to
restore the dead man to life or to feed everyone?  The Marquis fails to realize that he does have the power to feed the people.
But it would require sympathizing with them or even sacrificing some of his prosperity and power. The Marquis's lack of
pity contrasts with Lucie's compassion. Unlike the Marquis, she has the power to restore someone to life.

The plight of the people who had associations with aristocracy - Dr. Manette must have a hunch that Charles is an
Evrémonde. By stopping Charles from revealing the truth, he continues to try to repress his pain. But he is not entirely
successful, as his return to shoemaking shows. The plight of Gabelle, The plight of the entire Mannette family. The reaction
when Barsad reveals the association of Lucy’s family - Because Charles and Lucie bring together opposite sides of the
French political divide—nobility and daughter of a revolutionary hero—their marriage provokes anger on both sides.

The peculiar mode of working of the revolutionaries- In presenting a petition to save the stowaway, the commoners are
working within the established political structure: accepting the nobles as rulers and making an appeal to their mercy. But the
nobles squander their chance to show mercy, and hang the murderer as a warning. The effect is the opposite: the dead man's
shadow represents the commoner's desire for revenge and revolution. By showing no mercy the nobles give up any chance of
receiving any mercy.  The murder of Marquese - As the morning dawns, the expressions on the castle's stone faces seem to
have changed to shock. Bells ring and villagers gather to share urgent news: the Marquis has been found dead with a knife
in his chest and a note signed "Jacques."The stone faces represent the old institution of the nobility, shocked at the
unthinkable: a challenge to their power. Yet the murder also shows that despite their ideals, the revolutionaries are as
bloodthirsty and revenge-driven as the nobles.After1789 ,Defarge's wine shop, now the center of a revolutionary maelstrom.
The streets are thronged with dingy, angry people, armed with guns, knives, or any weapon they can get their hands on. The
dirty angry revolutionaries show that the Revolution will be more about revenge than Enlightenment ideals. Defarge leads
this army to the Bastille. The taking of the Bastille was one of the major early events of the French Revolution. It's
anniversary is still celebrated as the French Independence Day. Note Madame Defarge's bloodthirstiness. Manette's initials
on the wall recall Charles's story about the Tower of London. The execution of Foulon. The story of the murdered aristocrat
alludes to the famous story of Queen Marie Antoinette who, when told that the starving people had no bread, replied "Let
them eat cake." The statement exemplifies cruel snobbery, but the response is out of proportion to the offense. Another
eccentric thing about the revolutionaries is that seem peaceful after a day of violence even if none of what they did had any
actual effect in bettering their conditions. While at work in the ruined countryside of France, the mender of
roads encounters a shaggy but powerful man. Addressing each other as "Jacques," they confirm that something will happen
"tonight.""Jacques" keeps cropping up everywhere, suggesting how the revolutionary cause is taken up again and again by
new people.In the dark courtyard of the castle of Marquis Evrémonde, four torch-bearing figures appear. Soon, fire rages
through the castle—its stone faces look tormented and are lost in flame. The inferno becomes a pillar of fire surging high
into the sky.The stone faces symbolize the ancient French nobility, which gets decimated by the Revolution. The burning
castle is a symbol of the failing aristocracy and the commoners' revenge. When asked for help to put out the fire the
commoners ignores them, here a reversal of suffering is seen. Later, the villagers surround the house of Monsieur Gabelle,
the government "functionary" in charge of the area. Though Gabelle is not an aristocrat himself, he works for the
government. His association with the aristocrats is enough for the revolutionaries to distrust and want to harm him. Though
Charles was acquitted by the French tribunal he was later taken into custody on the basis of some new witnesses. This shows
that the French Tribunal is a sham and reflects no ideals. It has become a court of pure political passion as the law doesn’t
even apply to him.

The mob that sways either way -Several days later, Monsieur and Madame Defarge take the mender of roads to Versailles
to see a procession of the King and Queen. The mender of roads, overwhelmed with excitement, shouts "Long live the
King!" Defarge thanks the man for helping to keep the aristocrats unaware of the people's rage.The mender of roads
exemplifies the fickle mob, who crave spectacle above all else. One minute he's working for the Revolution, the next he's
overcome with joy at seeing the king. The Defarges exploit people like him. The trial of Charles is another great example as
he is seen as a criminal and hailed as hero the next minute.

The Defarges – her knitting, her relationship with the raped girl and the murdered brother. Her resolution to eliminate the
entire Mannette family either by hook or by crook. She takes the leadership in beheading and mutilating the bodies of the
victims of the mob. Her comparison of herself and her revenge as an unstoppable force more powerful than the forces of
nature. The husband’s reluctance to add many more names to the knitted list (as in the case of john Barsad, even after the
unveiling of the fact that he is a spy working for the French and English. His reluctance in killing the Mannette
family).Defarge admits to his wife that he's tired and doubts the Revolution will come during their lives. Madame Defarge
counters that the Revolution is like an earthquake: it builds slowly, but when it comes it releases catastrophic damage. She
says she is content to wait, and will act when necessary. For all his revolutionary zeal, Monsieur Defarge also has some
sympathetic human attributes. Madame Defarge, on the other hand, is tireless and merciless. Her comment suggests just
what the Revolution will be like when it comes: not a controlled political action with rational goals defined by political
ideals, but a vengeful riot. Madam Defarge tricks Lorry into revealing Lucie’s apartment by saying that she needs to know
her to offer safety and security to them. The irony is that safety and security are the two words that the power hungery use
the most.

The cruel woman named Vengence – Not much is said about her. She is rough and shows no mercy. No one in the wine shop
dares to speak to her. Note the way names have been used -literary device is Aptronym.

SECRACY AND SURVEILANCE

Everybody in A Tale of Two Cities seems to have secrets: Dr. Manette's forgotten history detailed in his secret
letter; Charles's secret past as an Evrémonde; Mr. Lorry's tight-lipped attitude about the "business" of Tellson's Bank; Jerry
Cruncher's secret profession; and Monsieur and Madame Defarge's underground activities in organizing the Revolution. In
part, all this secrecy results from political instability. In the clash between the French aristocracy and revolutionaries, both
sides employ spies to find out their enemies' secrets and deal out harsh punishments to anyone suspected of being an enemy.
In such an atmosphere, everyone suspects everyone else, and everyone feels that they must keep secrets in order to survive.

Through the secrets kept by different characters, A Tale of Two Cities also explores a more general question about the human
condition: what can we really know about other people, including those we're closest to? Even Lucie cannot fathom the
depths of Dr. Manette's tortured mind, while Sydney Carton remains a mystery to everybody. Ultimately, through Lucie's
example, the novel shows that, in fact, you can't ever know everything about other people. Instead, it suggests that love and
faith are the only things that can bridge the gap between two individuals.

Everyone who is in the cart at the beginning is suspicious and remain in secret to each other as the times are dangerous and
replete with robbers. Jerry Crunchers original profession is a secret to everyone. The fact that Lucie’s father was alive.When
talking about Lucie’s father Mr. Lorry uses the cover of "business" to assist in political activities (like freeing Dr. Manette).
But he also uses "business" rhetoric to hide his feelings and protect others' emotions, even when explaining a father's history
to his daughter. The code name Jacques is used to address fiery revolutionaries. The wine shop is a guarded place and
everyone their shares mutual secrets about revolution and looks out for unfamilier faces. The way Dr. Mannette likes to keep
himself busy and secretiv in the wine shop. Charles is seen as a criminal or spy his acts like carrying a list or having
connections with important French people while being a commoner in England is surveyed upon by spies who report him as
a spy. The talent that Carton shows in Court is beyond measures but he prefers to stay hidden. The way Charles keeps his
family background a secret is a prime example for secrecy and surveillance. The part where Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry keeps
a watch over Mannette who starts to revert back to his old habits after Lucie left for Honeymoon. Mr. Lorry discusses the
case of Mannette as if it was someone else’s. The destruction and removal of Mannette’s shoe making tools secretly. The
crude plans of Madame Defarge and her plot to kill noblemen and get her revenge is made secret by cunning moves and her
knitting. The mender of roads meet with Jacques and discuss plans in secrecy. Jacques is a secret brotherhood of assassins
and extremists. Lorry’s attempt to save bank in France and its money make his character secretive. Charles pretends to have
knowledge of the man addressed in the letter and makes moves to set his affairs in order, all this is done in complete secrecy.
Defarge conducts Charles to the prison of La Force with a note for the jailor saying "In secret." The jail is full to bursting
with aristocrats who welcome Charles with incredible politeness and sympathize with his fate. Charles is jailed in a solitary
cell in a tower. He realizes he has been virtually left for dead. Charles paces off the dimensions of the room again and again:
"five paces by four and a half." Defarge helped free Dr. Manette from his secret imprisonment, but now Defarge secretly
jails Manette's son-in-law. Later Mr. Lorry is stopped by Monsieur Defarge, who brings news that Charles is safe, a note for
Lucie from Dr. Manette, and instructions for Lorry to let Defarge in to see Lucie, He also tells Lorry that, in order to be
able to protect Lucie, Madame Defarge must see and remember Lucie's face but Madame Defarge simply knits her name to
the list of people to be murdered to fulfil her revenge. After the Republic was declared in France in 1792, the "Reign of
Terror" began: a period of spying, fear, and escalating numbers of executions. Lucie walks every day to see Charles in the
prison. The way madam Defarge keeps her rage an revenge a secret - For Lucie, her kiss is a gesture of love toward her
husband. For Madame Defarge, it's a crime of commiserating with an enemy of the state. But Defarge is not yet ready to
make her play against Dr. Manette. After saving Charles for safety's sake, they keep no outside servants, using
only Jerry and Miss Pross. Miss Pross vehemently and regularly voices her distaste for the French. John Barsad or Solomon
Pross was considered as an unthinking English patriot, Miss Pross has never questioned her brother's integrity, but when
they were out on errands she finds out that he's a traitorous opportunist in an ugly political world. Carton keeping his eye on
Lucie- Dickens's novels are often filled with extreme coincidences, such as Carton and Barsad's sudden appearances.
Though one can guess that Carton came to Paris out of concern for Lucie. Carton plays the dangerous game of counter
intelligence to save Charles by intimidating John Barsad of his doings. Jerry's secret job as a "resurrection man" saves the
day! But note that it takes being caught in a lie to get Barsad to help Charles. Carton putting his secret plans oof saving
Charles into motion. The reason for Mannett’s imprisonment is read through the letter. Carton wants to make sure that it is
known that there is someone who looks just like Darnay walking free on the streets of Paris and he does this because he is
pretty sure that he is being observed. Carton eavesdrops on a conversation between Defarge, Madame Defarge, The
Vengeance, and Jacques Three, in which Madame Defarge plots to exterminate the Evrémonde line—including Lucie and
Lucie's daughter. Carton becomes Charles by literally sacrificing his identity. Then Carton dictates a letter for Charles to
write, in which he asks "someone" to remember him and is grateful to have the chance to prove himself. Lucie kissed her
hand to the prison as a gesture of loyalty and compassion. But the revolutionaries see it as an act of treason. At the shop of
the wood-sawyer, Madame Defarge holds a secret conference with Jacques Three and The Vengeance. Madame says that
she no longer trusts Monsieur Defarge, and that they must exterminate the Evrémondes themselves. Jacques Three swears
that his jury will condemn Lucie, and fantasizes about the blond hair and blue eyes of Lucie's beheaded child at
the guillotine. The wood-sawyer and Madame Defarge promise to testify against Lucie.

Fate and History

Madame Defarge with her knitting and Lucie Manette weaving her "golden thread" both resemble the Fates, goddesses
from Greek mythology who literally controlled the "threads" of human lives. As the presence of these two Fate figures
suggests, A Tale of Two Cities is deeply concerned with human destiny. In particular, the novel explores how the fates of
individuals are shaped by their personal histories and the broader forces of political history. For instance,
both Charles and Dr. Manette try to shape and change history. Charles seeks to escape from his family's cruel aristocratic
history and make his own way in London, but is inevitably drawn "like a magnet" back to France where he must face his
family's past. Later in the novel, Dr. Manette seeks to use his influence within the Revolution to try to save Charles's life
from the revolutionaries, but Dr. Manette's own forgotten past resurfaces in the form of an old letter that dooms Charles.
Through these failures of characters to change the flow of history or to escape their own pasts, A Tale of Two Cities suggests
that the force of history can be broken not by earthly appeals to justice or political influence, but only through Christian self-
sacrifice, such as Carton's self-sacrifice that saves Charles at the end of the novel.

The narrator tells an allegory of the Woodman and the Farmer—figures of the coming revolution who are silently at work.
But the royalty in both England and France believe in their divine right to rule and don't notice the gathering storm.The
Woodman stands for Death and the Farmer for Fate. Both, the narrator implies, will harvest the awful products of the
monarchy's political mistakes. The port city of Dover was the main port for passage between England and France. The road
from London to Dover, battered by storm and fraught with suspicion and highwaymen, represents the worsening political
conditions in both countries. The historical importance of Tellson’s Bankucie learns her own and her father's real history—
her father suffered imprisonment at the hand of a tyrannical government. Lucie's history makes her a figure who connects the
"two cities" of Paris and London, and in A Tale of Two Cities, characters cannot escape their histories. Mannette being
traumatized by his history. The wine shop incident - This scene is an extended metaphor for how people transform into a
frenzied mob. It foreshadows the blood to be spilled in the Revolution. The writing on the wall alludes to the Biblical story
(in Daniel) of Belshazzar's feast where a disembodied hand prophesied the fall of his empire. The theme of fate is often
shown through the use of foreshadowing. The historical connotation of the name Jacques. Lucie’s Golden hair reminds
Mannette of his wife - These are the "golden threads" with which Lucie weaves a better fate for her family. Cradling
Manette, Lucie is like a mother and Manette her child—a metaphor for Manette's new life ahead.  Dr. Manette's statement,
"I can't say," indicates that he doesn't yet totally believe in the possibility that he could escape his traumatic past. Charles’s
trial at England foreshadows his trial at France. Carton’s resemblance with Charles entwines their destiny. Carton’s
behaviour and his complacence to life in general foreshadows his fate. Four months have past. The beautiful house
symbolizes the Manettes' return to life, but the presence of the workbench indicates that Manette is not yet completely free of
his past. Charles's story foreshadows what will be discovered in Dr. Manette's old cell: his carved initials and a letter telling
his story. Dr. Manette almost faints because he can't face his past and senses the letter's danger, whether consciously or not.
Sydney Carton also visits. Sitting out on the veranda as a storm approaches.The storm and footsteps symbolize the
oncoming French Revolution. Carton's comment about welcoming the ‘‘new’’ is prophetic: in the end, he welcomes the
Revolution into his life and sacrifices himself to the Revolution to save Lucie. Actions of nobleman both institutional and
tyrannical and their repricusssions. Carton’s love towards Lucie leads him to his fate.Unlike Charles, Lucie has a deep
sympathy and compassion for Carton's pitiful soul. Even though she hardly understands his behavior, Lucie has faith. Her
prediction about Carton that he will do good foreshadows the incredible sacrifice that Carton will make for the Manette
family. Revenge leads Madam Defarge to her fate, she represents Fate trough her knitting, She happens to be the surviving
sister of the raped girl and the stabbed boy this is also the play of fate, with her end she has been separated from knitting and
the grip of fate has been broken. Act of fate in John Barsad’s life . Charles revealing that he is an Evermonde foreshadows
and seals his fate. The exchange of the seven prisoners with seven guards suggests that power may have switched sides, but
that nothing has really changed. Madame Defarge's beheading of the guard foreshadows the guillotine. In the case of Gabelle
a point in history is shown where the revolutionaries succumb to bloodlust and kills rather than listening reason. Journey of
Charles -Charles arrives in France and finds things very different from when he left. At each village and checkpoint, he is
subjected to the sneering of revolutionaries dedicated to what the narrator calls the new republic of "Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity, or Death." Themes of imprisonment and fate merge as Charles is gradually locked into his journey to Paris. The
narrator's addition of the words "or death" to the motto of the Revolution shows its ideals have been perverted. As he gets
closer to Paris, Charles goes from free man to escorted suspect to prisoner, though he has done nothing. Defarge refuses to
help Charles, but he shows some sympathy. The revolutionaries invoke the guillotine as if it's a saint: bloodthirsty violence
has replaced religious compassion. This crucial meeting between the two key female characters reveals a lot about each
other their characters seem to decide their fate.  Charles's sentence is, in fact, a travesty of justice—the law shouldn't even
apply to him. However, they apply it to him and this shows that he is somehow fated to die. Lucie hears footsteps outside her
apartment when jerry and Miss Pross are out to get errands, the footsteps are those of the guards who have come again to
arrest Charles. Theses footsteps remind us of the echoes Lucy used to hear showing the play of fate. This also shows that
historically in revolutionary France, laws can change quickly. When Mannette intervenes they give the explanation that the
revolutionaries should be willing to sacrifice the lives of others, even family members, without question also there is no
justice the entire tribunal is a sham. Manette's political power can't stand up to the pull of fate and history or to the
Revolution's all-consuming desire for blood. Mannette is again forced to take part as a witness in Charles’s trial. After failing
to save Charles, Manette reverts to his own fate as a traumatized prisoner. His letter which should be lost is produced and
read this shows the strong presence of fate. The curse of the peasant boy seals the fate of the Evrémonde family.

SACRIFICE

A Tale of Two Cities is full of examples of sacrifice, on both a personal and national level. Dr. Manette sacrifices his
freedom in order to preserve his integrity. Charles sacrifices his family wealth and heritage in order to live a life free of guilt
for his family's awful behavior. The French people are willing to sacrifice their own lives to free themselves from tyranny. In
each case, Dickens suggests that, while painful in the short term, sacrifice leads to future strength and happiness. Dr. Manette
is reunited with his daughter and gains a position of power in the French Revolution because of his earlier incarceration in
the Bastille. Charles wins the love of Lucie. And France, Dickens suggests at the end of the novel, will emerge from its
terrible and bloody revolution to a future of peace and prosperity.

Yet none of these sacrifices can match the most important sacrifice in the novel—Sydney Carton's decision to sacrifice his
life in order to save the lives of Lucie, Charles, and their family. The other characters' actions fit into the secular definition of
"sacrifice," in which a person gives something up for noble reasons. Carton's sacrifice fits the Christian definition of the
word. In Christianity, God sacrifices his son Jesus in order to redeem mankind from sin. Carton's sacrifice breaks the grip of
fate and history that holds Charles, Lucie, Dr. Manette, and even, as the novel suggests, the revolutionaries.
In the court of England the sacrifice that Charles did is misunderstood as treacherous. Carton’s way of foregrounding Stryver
by sacrificing his skills. After leaving the tavern where he dined with Charles, Carton joins Stryver in his apartment. To stay
awake, he wraps a wet towel around his head and works through a pile of legal documents. Stryver watches. Carton loves
Lucie but Sacrifices even that when Striver talks about his intentions for Lucie. Carton says it must be a great crowd to make
such a sound, and says that he will welcome these people into his life - this dialog foreshadows his sacrifice. The woman
who petitions for a grave marker is the representative of the French commoners sacrifice for the tyranny of the state.
Charles’s dialog to nephew is testament to his renouncement of the world. Mannette is ready to concede for the relationship
between Lucie and Charles for Lucie’s happiness. Mr.Lorry nearly sacrifices his friendship with Striver When he turns down
his proposal. Striver later sacrifices his intentions to save his ego. Lucie encouraging Carton to live a better life and his
promise to Lucie foreshadows his sacrifice. The man who clung to Evermonde’s carriage is sacrificed as an example. The
aspect of Mannette giving up his tools to reduce the impact of his trauma. The tools are sacrificed by Miss pross and Lorry.
Lucie’s continuing faith in Carton even in front of her husband and her belief in his ability to do tremendous good
foreshadows his ultimate sacrifice. In the years after 1789 France starts to sacrifice its noblemen to become a welfare state.
The storming of the bastille where seven prison guards and governor was killed is an example. Even people the plight of
people like the Gablle. Charles’s journey to Paris is a sacrifice for Gabelle. DR. Mannette is somehow successful in stoping
charles’s murdur in prison. Mannette was given the post of physician in the prisons and his new power comes from his
sacrifice for his integrity. The soldier’s dialog about sacrificing one’s family for the revolution is relevant. The peasent boy’s
sacrifice. Carton’s final sacrifice.

RESSURECTION

Closely connected to the theme of sacrifice is the promise of resurrection. Christianity teaches that Christ was resurrected
into eternal life for making the ultimate sacrifice (his death) for mankind. Near the end of A Tale of Two
Cities, Carton remembers a Christian prayer: "I am the resurrection and the life." As he goes to the guillotine to sacrifice
himself, Carton has a vision of his own resurrection, both in heaven and on earth through Lucie and Charles's child, named
Sydney Carton, whose life fulfills the original Carton's lost potential. Yet Carton's is not the only resurrection in the novel.
After having been imprisoned for years, Dr. Manette is "recalled to life" by Lucie's love. Jerry Cruncher, meanwhile,
works as a "resurrection man" stealing body parts from buried corpses, but by the end of the novel he gives it up in favour of
praying for a holier resurrection of his own.

The note that Lorry gets in the carriage. Lorry’s dream. Lorry telling Lucie about the resurrection of her father.  Mr. Lorry
tells the astonished Lucie that he and she are going to go to Paris so that she can "restore [her father] to life." Lucie
approaches, with tears in her eyes. The shoemaker asks who she is. Noticing her blonde hair, he removes a necklace he
wears and reveals a scrap of paper containing some golden threads of hair—stray hairs from his wife, which he has kept all
these years as a spiritual escape from his imprisonment. Overcome by emotion, Manette struggles to recognize his daughter.
Lucie rocks Manette's head on her chest like a child. She promises him that his agony has ended, and gives thanks to God.
Dr. Mannete’s reply to his recall to life. Jerry cruncher telling his wife to not to pray. Jerry’s son notices his father’s muddy
shoes and rusty fingers. After leaving Stryver, Carton stumbles home through the grey dawn, imagining for a moment a city
of hope, full of love and grace. But it passes and he cries into his pillow, resigned to his miserable life. our months pass. Mr.
Lorry visits Dr. Manette and Lucie at their home. Lucie has decorated the house beautifully, but Mr. Lorry notices that
Manette's shoe-making workbench is still in the house. Marquis’s meeting with the woman and his thought about his
financial power to resurrect them materially. Charles talks about his love for Lucie and his intention to start a new life. Both
Stryver’s and Carton’s take on begininng a new life by marrying. Stryver’s change of opinion about Lucie. Lucie imploring
Carton to start a new life and Carton’s reply. Jerry watching his Father in action. Jerry’s behaviour when he finds that Robert
Cly’s body is missing. Young Jerry’s plans to take up his profession. For the first time, Dr. Manette talks to Lucie about his
imprisonment in the Bastille. He tells her that while there, he passed the time by imagining how his unborn daughter would
grow up. Would she know nothing about him, or think about her lost father and weave his memory into the family of her
own? Charles’s drunk behaviour foreshadowing his resurrected mentality. Gabelle writes a letter to Charles asking him to
come and save him. Mr. Mannette and Lucy trying to save Charles. The French tribunal masquerades as an institution of
liberation and justice and thwarts its ideology on resurrection through justice. Mannette becomes the physician of the
prison’s and his newfound power is synonymous to resurrection and it comes from suffering. Lucie weaves her golden
thread, keeps a normal household and tries to look at Charles from his prison. The jury votes to acquit Charles. When she
sees Charles, Lucie faints with joy. Carton arguing with Barsad about Cly. After a while, Barsad leaves and Carton explains
to Mr. Lorry that if Charles is convicted, Barsad will smuggle Carton into Charles's cell. Refusing to explain anything more,
Carton asks that Lucie be told nothing about the plan. He then asks if Mr. Lorry is satisfied with his long life. Mr. Lorry
replies that, nearing the end, he feels closer again to his life's beginning. Carton says he knows the feeling. Mr. Lorry gains a
new respect for Carton. Carton visits a pharmacy and buys a mysterious packet of drugs that the chemist warns are very
potent. All night, Carton wanders the streets of Paris. As he walks, he remembers a prayer the priest spoke at his father's
funeral: "I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and
whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die." Charles’s take on his second judgement and his dialog on meeting in
heaven after death. Lucie's daughter begs Carton to help. Carton embraces her and, before he leaves, kisses the unconscious
Lucie and whispers, "A life you love." Carton who is going to be resurrected from his old life gives her the life she loves (A
life you love.) Carton’s act of saving Charles. Madam Defarge trying to attain her revenge by killing Lucy and attain a
resurrection in her purpose. At the apartment, Jerry Cruncher and Miss Pross get ready to leave in their own carriage. Jerry
swears that he will give up grave robbing, and states that his opinions about praying have changed. He adds that he hopes
Mrs. Cruncher is praying right then. The young woman is scheduled to be beheaded by the guillotine just before Carton. She
thanks Carton for helping her stay composed, and says he must have been sent to her from Heaven. Carton tells her to focus
only on him and to have no fear. When her time comes, they kiss, and she calmly goes to the guillotine. Carton is next. He
says "I am the resurrection and the life." Carton ascends the platform, his face looking serene and prophetic, and the
guillotine crashes down on his head. The narrator describes Carton's final thoughts. He recognizes that Barsad, The
Vengeance, and all the "new oppressors" will die by the guillotine they now celebrate. Yet he is also sure that Paris will rise
up from its ashes, struggling to be free. He sees a vision of Lucie with a new son, named after him, who will live a successful
and prosperous life. He also sees Dr. Manette restored to health, and Mr. Lorry leaving all his considerable wealth to the
Manette's and then passing tranquilly away. And Carton knows he is blessed and treasured by all these people. The novel
ends with Carton's final thoughts, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I
go to than I have ever known."

IMPRISSONMENT

In France, the government spends wildly and hands out harsh sentences to anyone connected with a crime, no matter how
minor. In England, burglars infest the cities—even the Mayor of London gets robbed—and not even frequent hangings can
stop the wave of crime. Half asleep in the mail coach, Mr. Lorry dreams of wandering through the inner vaults of Tellson's
Bank and finding everything safe. He also dreams that he "was on his way to dig someone out of a grave." In his dream, he
sees a cadaverous man who has been buried alive for 18 years. Mr. Lorry asks the man if he cares to live, then also asks over
and over if the man will "come and see her?" Sometimes the man cries out that seeing "her" would kill him, at other times
that he must see her immediately. Mannette’s disappearance. Lucie learning that her father is alive. Lucie and Lorry
witnessing the effects of imprisonment trauma from the wine shop. Charles’s trail at England and Jerry’s excitement. The
recuring fits of Dr. Mannett’s trauma. Mr. Lorry notices that Manette's shoe-making workbench is still in the house.The
hidden document in the prison. The power of French aristocracy to kill or imprison anyone. Charles trying to reveal his real
name. The fate of the man who hung under the carriages. Barsad revealing Darnay’s identity. For the first time, Dr. Manette
talks to Lucie about his imprisonment in the Bastille. He tells her that while there, he passed the time by imagining how his
unborn daughter would grow up. Would she know nothing about him, or think about her lost father and weave his memory
into the family of her own? Late that night, Lucie sneaks downstairs to check on her sleeping father. Dr. Manette's face is
deeply worn from his trials, but he is peacefully asleep. People in the house spying on Mannette to see if he is distressed. Mr.
Lorry discreetly describing Mannette’s situation. Storming of Bastille , finding of the document and the freeing of seven
prisoners, killing of seven guards. The letter from Gabelle. He was arrested, brought to Paris, and charged with treason for
helping an emigrant, Charles Evrémonde. Gabelle writes that the peasants neither know nor care that he in fact was trying to
help them, working on Charles's orders. He begs Charles to come save his life. Charles’s arrival and the change in France.
Charles being taken as a prisoner. The Defarges desire to see Lucie. After four days, Dr. Manette returns. He tells Lorry that
1100 defenseless prisoners have been murdered, convicted by a self-appointed Tribunal. Dr. Manette has been invigorated
by his newfound authority. He believes his suffering has become strength and power, capable of breaking Charles out of
prison. Having earned the respect of the revolutionaries, he has been made the inspecting physician of a number of prisons.
Lucie tris to keep a normal household and walks near Charles’s prison so she could see him evryday. Moments later, Dr.
Manette appears. He tells Lucie that Charles's trial will be held tomorrow, and promises her that all will work out well. Lucie
kisses her hand in farewell to Charles as she departs, just as Madame Defarge comes around the corner. Manette and
Madame Defarge salute each other. A rowdy, bloodthirsty crowd gathers for the trial of "Charles Evrémonde, called
Darnay." Defarge and Madame Defarge sit in the front row. Madame Defarge is knitting away. Charles is sentenced to death
as an emigrant, despite the fact that the law was passed after his imprisonment. The crowd screams to cut off his head. The
next day, Manette remains confident and proud at having saved Charles, but Lucie continues to fear for her husband's safety.
Thy are even reluctant to keep French servants. Gabelle was forgotten in prison. Carton’s efforts to get Charles out. Charles
is seen as serving an existentialist imprisonment. Dr. Manette soon sent a letter to the authorities detailing the crimes of the
Evrémonde brothers. But the Marquis intercepted and burned Manette's letter. He then sent Manette in secret to the Bastille.
Manette ends his letter from prison with a curse on the Evrémondes. Carton hurries home. Soon, Dr. Manette returns too,
begging for his shoemaker's bench. Shocked, Carton and Mr. Lorry realize that Dr. Manette has lost his mind. Carton
instructs Mr. Lorry to gather everyone's passports, including Carton's, and leave the next day before Madame Defarge's
accusations make it impossible for them to leave France. Then Carton says farewell, blesses Lucie, and leaves. n the prison,
52 people, including Charles, await execution that day. Charles writes a final letter to Lucie, in which he says that he did not
know about her father's history and that he believes Dr. Manette was unaware of his damning letter. Charles writes much the
same to Dr. Manette. He also writes to Mr. Lorry, but never thinks to write to Carton. Suddenly John Barsad opens the cell
door and lets in Carton. Carton tells Charles to start changing clothes with him. Then Carton dictates a letter for Charles to
write, in which he asks "someone" to remember him and is grateful to have the chance to prove himself. The guards taking
Carton. Three carts rumble through the Paris streets carrying the condemned prisoners to the guillotine. Some onlookers,
used to the spectacle, are bored. Others gather to see Charles Evrémonde and insult him. Meeting with the Young Woman
his self-sacrificial love breaks his existentialist terror that imprisoned him.
SYMBOLS

WINE

Defarge's wine shop lies at the center of revolutionary Paris, and throughout the novel wine symbolizes the Revolution's
intoxicating power. Drunk on power, the revolutionaries change from freedom fighters into wild savages dancing in the
streets and murdering at will. The deep red color of wine suggests that wine also symbolizes blood. When the Revolution
gets out of control, blood is everywhere; everyone seems soaked in its color. This symbolizes the moral stains on the hands
of revolutionaries. The transformation of wine to blood traditionally alludes to the Christian Eucharist (in which wine
symbolizes the blood of Christ), but Dickens twists this symbolism: he uses wine-to-blood to symbolize brutality rather than
purification, implying that the French Revolution has become unholy. The wine Shop incident.

Book 1, Chapter 5- Tyranny and Revolution Theme Icon Fate and History Theme Icon Outside a wine shop in the poor
Parisian suburb of Saint Antoine, a cask of wine accidentally falls... (full context)

Book 2, Chapter 22- Tyranny and Revolution Theme Icon Secrecy and Surveillance Theme Icon Fate and History Theme
Icon Madame Defarge, now the leader of the female revolutionaries, sits in the wine shop with her second-in-command,
a stocky woman whose violent acts have earned her the name... (full context)

Book 3, Chapter 2- Tyranny and Revolution Theme Icon ...men covered in blood are turning the grindstone to sharpen
swords. Frenzied, blood-smeared women pour wine into the men's mouths. The mob runs howling into the streets with their
weapons. (full context)

Knitting and the Golden Thread Symbol Analysis

 Classical mythology, three sister gods called the Fates controlled the threads of human lives. A Tale of Two Cities adapts the
classical Fates in two ways. As she knits the names of her enemies, Madame Defarge is effectively condemning people to a
deadly fate. On the other hand, as Lucie weaves her "golden thread" through people's lives, she binds them into a better
destiny: a tightly-knit community of family and close friends. It is referring to Lucie because she weaves herself through
people’s lives and brings them into a chance at having a better future (her father, and Carton). The Marquis is a symbol of
corrupt France. “It appeared, under the circumstances, rather agreeable to him to see the common people dispersed before his
horses, and often barely escaping from being run down” (101). He obviously enjoys the torment and fear of the peasants and
has no sympathy for them at all, which is symbolic of the whole French aristocracy’s feelings. They viewed the peasants “as
if they had been mere rats come out of their holes” (102). In each case, Dickens suggests that human destinies are either
predetermined by the force of history or they are tied into a larger pattern than we as individuals realize.

Book 2, Chapter 4- can still become gloomy, but this occurs only occasionally because Lucie serves as a "golden thread"
linking him to his life before and after his imprisonment. Stryver, Dr. Manette, and Lucie... (full context)

Book 2, Chapter 7-...will "exterminate [the commoners] from the earth." He drives away while Madame Defarge looks on,
knitting. (full context)

Book 2, Chapter 15-...castle and the entire Evrémonde race should be exterminated. Another Jacques points to Madame
Defarge's knitting, which lists in its stitching the names of everyone the revolutionaries mean to kill.

Book 2, Chapter 16- ...been sent to spy on them. Madame Defarge promises to add his name to her knitting.
Defarge admits to his wife that he's tired and doubts the Revolution will come during...

Book 2, Chapter 21-Years pass. Lucie weaves her "golden thread" of positive influence through the family. She often sits by
the parlor window and ponders...

Book 3, Chapter 3-...way to the apartment, Mr. Lorry and Defarge are joined by Madame Defarge, who is knitting, and The
Vengeance. Defarge tells Lorry that, in order to be able to protect Lucie,....She gratefully kisses one of Madame Defarge's
hands, but Madame Defarge coldly withdraws to her knitting. Lucie pleads for Madame Defarge to help Charles, to use her
influence as a "sister-woman."...

Book 3, Chapter 6-...Evrémonde, called Darnay." Defarge and Madame Defarge sit in the front row. Madame Defarge is
knitting away. Charles is sentenced to death as an emigrant, despite the fact that the law... (full context)

Book 3, Chapter 15- Tyranny and Revolution Theme Icon Fate and History Theme Icon ...the crowd. She has been saving a
front-row seat for Madame Defarge and holding her knitting. She bitterly regrets that her friend will miss the festivities. (full
context)
Guillotine

The guillotine, a machine designed to behead its victims, is one of the enduring symbols of the French Revolution. In Tale
of Two Cities, the guillotine symbolizes how revolutionary chaos gets institutionalized. With the guillotine, killing becomes
emotionless and automatic, and human life becomes cheap. The guillotine as a symbol expresses exactly what Dickens
meant by adding the two final words ("or Death") to the end of the French national motto: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or
Death."

Book 3, Chapter 1- ...quietly asks him why he ever returned to France in this, the age of "La Guillotine." Charles asks
Defarge to help him. Defarge refuses. (full context)

Book 3, Chapter 4 -The guillotine becomes an institution, and guillotines can now be found in the streets all over Paris....
(full context)

Book 3, Chapter 14- ..and fantasizes about the blond hair and blue eyes of Lucie's beheaded child at the guillotine. The
wood-sawyer and Madame Defarge promise to testify against Lucie. (full context)

Book 3, Chapter 15- The young woman is scheduled to be beheaded by the guillotine just before Carton. She thanks Carton
for helping her stay composed, and says he must... (full context)...He recognizes that Barsad, The Vengeance, and all the
"new oppressors" will die by the guillotine they now celebrate. Yet he is also sure that Paris will rise up from its... (full
context)

Shoes and Footsteps

At her London home, Lucie hears the echoes of all the footsteps coming into their lives. These footsteps symbolize fate. Dr.
Manette makes shoes in his madness. Notably, he always makes shoes in response to traumatic memories of tyranny, as
when he learns Charles's real name is Evrémonde. For this reason, shoes come to symbolize the inescapable past.

Book 1, Chapter 5

Secrecy and Surveillance Theme Icon Imprisonment Theme Icon ...and they see a white-haired man in the corner
stooped over a bench and making shoes. (full context)

Book 2, Chapter 6-...at their home. Lucie has decorated the house beautifully, but Mr. Lorry notices that Manette's shoe-
making workbench is still in the house. (full context)...a storm approaches, Lucie tells him that she sometimes imagines that
the echoes of the footsteps from the pedestrians below belong to people who will soon come into their lives. Carton... (full
context)

Book 2, Chapter 10.- of his wedding, not before. That night, Lucie returns and finds her father again making shoes. (full
context)

Book 2, Chapter 18- ...notices that Dr. Manette seems absent-minded. By that evening, Manette is lost and incoherent,
making shoes again in his room. Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross keep an anxious watch over him,... (full context)

Book 2, Chapter 21- ...influence through the family. She often sits by the parlor window and ponders the echoing footsteps
rising from the street below. She gives birth to a daughter, Lucie, who particularly likes.

Echoing Footsteps

From the beginning of the novel, the echoes of approaching footsteps represent threat. This begins in Chapter 2 as Jerry
Cruncher approaches the mail coach, and the sound of his horse's approach terrify the people in the coach. In London, the
Manettes' home is in a recessed corner. Its inhabitants do not see people passing on the street but hear the echoes of their
footsteps. Even the tapping of raindrops on the pavement sound like footsteps. In such sounds, Lucie Manette imagines the
echoes of her family's footsteps and of people she has yet to meet. A storm can sound like a crowd approaching. As the
revolution begins in France, the narrator links the bloody footsteps of revolutionaries to those echoes.

England

England, although it has its own dangers—violence, injustice, and difficulty—is politically far more stable than France, and
for the Manette family and Charles Darnay, it is a safe haven. It symbolizes stability and safety.

France

France symbolizes utter chaos, loss of humanity, and violence. The French Revolution and the frustration and despair of
hunger and mistreatment have turned the entire society upside down. Everyone is a suspect, everyone is a possible enemy,
and generally decent people become cold-blooded murderers in the name of liberty.

Injustice
The fact that people who did so little to deserve it were punished so severely is just one example of the injustice portrayed
in A Tale of Two Cities. Dr. Manette's imprisonment, which tore him down emotionally, was unjust, as he was imprisoned
for trying to protect a family from harm and trying to report a crime. Being imprisoned for trying to do something honorable
is an excellent example of injustice; in France, it was a common occurrence.

Another example of this type of injustice is the imprisonment and denunciation of Charles Darnay, as well as that of his wife
and child. Darnay renounces his heritage because of the cruelty his family inflicted on people. He is determined to embody
his mother's love of compassion and humanitarian actions, and still, the revolutionaries want to guillotine him for being part
of an aristocratic family that had previously done wrong. It is unjust to blame an entire family for one person's crime. It is
especially unjust to blame Darnay's wife and his six-year-old child for the actions of the Marquis and his brother.

Love

Dickens explores many powerful love relationships in the book: romantic love, love between parent and child, love from
afar, love between friends, and love for mankind. He also examines differences between people in how they love as well as
how love can be twisted and even overridden by circumstance or an individual's foibles.

The love between parent and child is represented throughout A Tale of Two Cities by the love between Lucie and her father
and, in the second half of the book, between Lucie and her daughter. The love between husband and wife is examined as the
narrator depicts the relationships between Lucie and Charles and between the Defarges. Finally, love between friends is
investigated in many relationships, most notably the ones between the Manettes on the one hand, and Mr. Lorry and Sydney
Carton on the other.

Vengeance

Before the revolution, the aristocracy often treated the common people with disdain, taking what they could from them and
ignoring their needs. Any sign of disrespect against the aristocracy was cruelly punished. When the tables turned and the
revolution got underway, the common people, fueled by generations of starvation and mistreatment, went even further.

Dickens examines the topic of vengeance from the perspectives of not only classes, but also of individuals. For some,
like Madame Defarge and many other revolutionaries, vengeance is the primary driver of their actions. For others, such
as Charles Darnay, the Manettes, and Sydney Carton, vengeance is another form of violence and should be relinquished.

Violence

In a novel that takes place during the French Revolution, there is bound to be rampant bloodshed, and Dickens portrays it
graphically—including state-sanctioned torture and killing, mob violence, and the brutal Reign of Terror. Even in relatively
stable England, though, capital punishment was frequent and public. Apart from the violence inflicted by court rulings, crime
was rampant and often violent. Travelers lived in fear of highwaymen, and people were afraid to walk the streets at night.
In A Tale of Two Cities, these fears are made clear in the actions and reactions of people in England.

As the novel progresses, the revolution takes hold, and violence becomes increasingly brutal and pervasive. Dickens leaves
readers wondering whether the ends can possibly justify such means.

CHARACATERIZATION

  Dickens repeatedly contrasts characters in stark terms: if one seems virtuous, then the other will be cruel and pitiable.
Dickens then goes on to show that the virtuous and cruel characters are not as different as they seem. Like these pairs of
characters, the cities of London and Paris prove to be surprisingly similar in Dickens’s novel. By establishing a pattern of
false dichotomies, or contrasting pairs, Dickens warns that London may have to confront the same problems that tormented
revolutionary France.

Readers often remember A Tale of Two Cities for its comic-book juxtapositions of good and bad characters, upright citizens
and unrepentant sinners. Noble Darnay and vulgar Carton appear to be inverse reflections of each other, their physical
similarities underscoring their obvious spiritual differences. Darnay marries, starts a family, and travels to France to help a
friend; Carton drinks heavily and curses his wasted life. The two most prominent women in the novel—Lucie and Madame
Defarge—live by conflicting moral codes. Golden-haired, pure-hearted Lucie exclaims that she has to kneel to her
“honoured father,” whereas the dark, cold Madame invests all her energy in cataloguing the men she wants to kill. Dickens
also contrasts the Madame with the saintly Miss Pross, who would never leave behind her motherly duties to begin a reign of
terror. These pairs of polar opposites appear throughout the novel.

Despite their unforgettable differences, Dickens’s dichotomous characters have many beliefs and attributes in common. For
example, Carton and Darnay share a deep love for Lucie and a sense of discomfort in regard to the past. (Carton regrets his
drinking, and Darnay regrets his family ties.) Madame Defarge’s history—revealed long after we meet her—includes a great
deal of personal tragedy, and Dickens makes clear that the Madame acts on the same feelings of love and loyalty that
motivate Lucie throughout the novel. Miss Pross and Madame Defarge share a superhuman commitment to their goals, to the
extent that neither surrenders in a climactic gunfight over Lucie. Again and again, Dickens emphasizes the similarities
between his saintly and villainous characters.

Like these falsely dichotomous characters, the cities of Paris and London share several unexpected problems, traditions, and
open wounds. At first, the cities seem wildly different. Paris is witness to brutal class conflicts, whereas British citizens are
not whispering about bloody revolution. The novel’s opening scenes encourage us to see London as Paris’s superior
neighbor: Lucie, the beautiful Londoner, rescues her father from a dingy Parisian prison and declares that the best possible
medicine is to “bring him home.” Dickens associates London with the Darnays—a law-abiding, happily married couple with
children—whereas he repeatedly links Paris to the Defarges—a nefarious husband and wife who distrust each other. But as
the story unfolds, the differences between the cities begin to break down. London, Dickens reminds us, has recently had a
wave of crime and capital punishment, and the anarchic British chimney-sweep—accusing passersby of treason for “the
pleasure of wreaking vengeance”—closely resembles the deranged Parisian peasants who trample one another to drink from
a broken cask of wine. London is not the tranquil and emphatically un-Parisian capital that it once seemed to be.

By establishing a pattern of odd, unpredictable doubles, Dickens reinforces his idea that London may fall victim to the crises
of the French Revolution. Dickens, the son of a poor man, resented the harsh treatment of Britain’s impoverished citizens,
and he used his novels to plead for economic justice. In A Tale of Two Cities, he shows that the world is full of misleading
opposites: Heroes and villains alike must struggle with prejudices, doubts, and troubled pasts. The injustices that drove
French peasants to wage war against the aristocracy could cause the same problems in England. Dickens leaves us with the
haunting image of Lucie, knitting in her comfortable London home, but straining to hear distant, French footsteps in the
streets.

Sydney Carton

Characters Sydney Carton

Sydney Carton proves the most dynamic character in A Tale of Two Cities. He first appears as a lazy, alcoholic attorney who
cannot muster even the smallest amount of interest in his own life. He describes his existence as a supreme waste of life and
takes every opportunity to declare that he cares for nothing and no one. But the reader senses, even in the initial chapters of
the novel, that Carton in fact feels something that he perhaps cannot articulate. In his conversation with the recently
acquitted Charles Darnay, Carton’s comments about Lucie Manette, while bitter and sardonic, betray his interest in, and
budding feelings for, the gentle girl. Eventually, Carton reaches a point where he can admit his feelings to Lucie herself.
Before Lucie weds Darnay, Carton professes his love to her, though he still persists in seeing himself as essentially
worthless. This scene marks a vital transition for Carton and lays the foundation for the supreme sacrifice that he makes at
the novel’s end.

Carton’s death has provided much material for scholars and critics of Dickens’s novel. Some readers consider it the
inevitable conclusion to a work obsessed with the themes of redemption and resurrection. According to this interpretation,
Carton becomes a Christ-like figure, a selfless martyr whose death enables the happiness of his beloved and ensures his own
immortality. Other readers, however, question the ultimate significance of Carton’s final act. They argue that since Carton
initially places little value on his existence, the sacrifice of his life proves relatively easy. However, Dickens’s frequent use
in his text of other resurrection imagery—his motifs of wine and blood, for example—suggests that he did intend for
Carton’s death to be redemptive, whether or not it ultimately appears so to the reader. As Carton goes to the guillotine, the
narrator tells us that he envisions a beautiful, idyllic Paris “rising from the abyss” and sees “the evil of this time and of the
previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.” Just as the
apocalyptic violence of the revolution precedes a new society’s birth, perhaps it is only in the sacrifice of his life that Carton
can establish his life’s great worth.

Madame Defarge

Characters Madame Defarge

Possessing a remorseless bloodlust, Madame Defarge embodies the chaos of the French Revolution. The initial chapters of
the novel find her sitting quietly and knitting in the wine shop. However, her apparent passivity belies her relentless thirst for
vengeance. With her stitches, she secretly knits a register of the names of the revolution’s intended victims. As the revolution
breaks into full force, Madame Defarge reveals her true viciousness. She turns on Lucie in particular, and, as violence
sweeps Paris, she invades Lucie’s physical and psychological space. She effects this invasion first by committing the faces of
Lucie and her family to memory, in order to add them to her mental “register” of those slated to die in the revolution. Later,
she bursts into the young woman’s apartment in an attempt to catch Lucie mourning Darnay’s imminent execution.

Dickens notes that Madame Defarge’s hatefulness does not reflect any inherent flaw, but rather results from the oppression
and personal tragedy that she has suffered at the hands of the aristocracy, specifically the Evrémondes, to whom Darnay is
related by blood, and Lucie by marriage. However, the author refrains from justifying Madame Defarge’s policy of
retributive justice. For just as the aristocracy’s oppression has made an oppressor of Madame Defarge herself, so will her
oppression, in turn, make oppressors of her victims. Madame Defarge’s death by a bullet from her own gun—she dies in a
scuffle with Miss Pross—symbolizes Dickens’s belief that the sort of vengeful attitude embodied by Madame Defarge
ultimately proves a self-damning one.

Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette

Characters Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette

Novelist E. M. Forster famously criticized Dickens’s characters as “flat,” lamenting that they seem to lack the depth and
complexity that make literary characters realistic and believable. Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette certainly fit this
description. A man of honor, respect, and courage, Darnay conforms to the archetype of the hero but never exhibits the kind
of inner struggle that Carton and Doctor Manette undergo. His opposition to the Marquis’ snobbish and cruel aristocratic
values is admirable, but, ultimately, his virtue proves too uniform, and he fails to exert any compelling force on the
imagination.

Along similar lines, Lucie likely seems to modern readers as uninteresting and two-dimensional as Darnay. In every detail of
her being, she embodies compassion, love, and virtue; the indelible image of her cradling her father’s head delicately on her
breast encapsulates her role as the “golden thread” that holds her family together. She manifests her purity of devotion to
Darnay in her unquestioning willingness to wait at a street corner for two hours each day, on the off chance that he will catch
sight of her from his prison window. In a letter to Dickens, a contemporary criticized such simplistic characterizations:

The tenacity of your imagination, the vehe-mence and fixity with which you impress your thought into the detail you wish to
grasp, limit your knowledge, arrest you in a single feature, prevent you from reaching all the parts of the soul, and from
sounding its depths.

While Darnay and Lucie may not act as windows into the gritty essence of humanity, in combination with other characters
they contribute to a more detailed picture of human nature. First, they provide the light that counters the vengeful Madame
Defarge’s darkness, revealing the moral aspects of the human soul so noticeably absent from Madame Defarge. Second,
throughout the novel they manifest a virtuousness that Carton strives to attain and that inspires his very real and believable
struggles to become a better person.

Monsieur Ernest Defarge

Characters Monsieur Ernest Defarge

Monsieur Ernest Defarge is a morally ambiguous Revolutionary character who often functions as a foil to his more
bloodthirsty wife, Madame Defarge. Like Madame and many of the other French revolutionaries, Ernest Defarge has good
reasons to despise the aristocracy. He is present when the Marquis responds coldly to the death of a young child and shows
his spirit by throwing the coins the Marquis has tossed him back into the carriage. Readers also learn that Ernest Defarge
once worked for Dr. Manette and saw the way that the Doctor was unjustly imprisoned by the Evremonde brothers. He also
knows the story of his wife’s family, and the horrible things they suffered at the hands of the aristocracy. With this context in
mind, it is unsurprising and probably justified that Ernest Defarge becomes involved in Revolutionary activities, including
violence.

Nonetheless, Ernest seems to retain his humanity and his loyalty to Dr. Manette. As Madame Defarge explains when she
plots to attack and kill Lucie and her daughter, “I cannot trust my husband in this matter. Not only do I feel, since last night,
that I dare not confide to him the details of my projects, but I also feel that if I delay, there is danger of his giving warning”.
While Ernest Defarge shares his wife’s hatred of the aristocracy, and her desire to create a different social order, he cannot
bring himself to support the killing of innocent women and children as an act of revenge. He contrasts with his wife by
suggesting that not all Revolutionaries were totally bloodthirsty. However, while he refuses to participate in his wife’s plan,
Ernest also does nothing to stop it. He fades from the novel without any mention of how his storyline concludes. Because he
cannot fully commit to either participating in violence or working against it, his story ends ambiguously.

Characters

Doctor Manette

Characters Doctor Manette

Dickens uses Doctor Manette to illustrate one of the dominant motifs of the novel: the essential mystery that surrounds every
human being. As Jarvis Lorry makes his way toward France to recover Manette, the narrator reflects that “every human
creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.” For much of the novel, the cause of Manette’s
incarceration remains a mystery both to the other characters and to the reader. Even when the story concerning the evil
Marquis Evrémonde comes to light, the conditions of Manette’s imprisonment remain hidden. Though the reader never
learns exactly how Manette suffered, his relapses into trembling sessions of shoemaking evidence the depth of his misery.
Like Carton, Manette undergoes a drastic change over the course of the novel. He is transformed from an insensate prisoner
who mindlessly cobbles shoes into a man of distinction. The contemporary reader tends to understand human individuals not
as fixed entities but rather as impressionable and reactive beings, affected and influenced by their surroundings and by the
people with whom they interact. In Dickens’s age, however, this notion was rather revolutionary. Manette’s transformation
testifies to the tremendous impact of relationships and experience on life. The strength that he displays while dedicating
himself to rescuing Darnay seems to confirm the lesson that Carton learns by the end of the novel—that not only does one’s
treatment of others play an important role in others’ personal development, but also that the very worth of one’s life is
determined by its impact on the lives of others.

Jarvis Lorry

Characters Jarvis Lorry

Over the course of the novel, Jarvis Lorry develops from a purely pragmatic, business-like figure into an intensely loyal and
devoted protector who becomes an extension of the Manette-Darnay family. When he first reunites with Lucie, Jarvis claims
that “I had no feelings and that all relationships I hold with my fellow-creatures are mere business relations.” Lorry is
certainly a devoted and diligent employee: when he decides to make a dangerous journey to Paris on behalf of the bank, he
calmly explains “if I were not prepared to submit to a few inconveniences for the sake of Tellson’s, after all these years, who
ought to be?” However, in contrast to his claims to be strictly concerned with business, Lorry shows great tenderness and
loyalty to Lucie and her father. When Dr. Manette relapses after Lucie’s marriage, Lorry is very gentle and tactful in
explaining what happened by pretending this is the case of a hypothetical patient. Indeed, in Carton’s final vision, he
describes the end of Lorry’s life as “the good old man, so long their friend, in ten years’ time enriching them with all he has,
and passing tranquilly to his reward.” Jarvis Lorry exemplifies someone who lives according to principles and integrity in
both his professional and personal life.

The first installment of A Tale of Two Cities appeared in 1859 in the inaugural issue of Dickens's weekly magazine, All the
Year Round. Despite Dickens's popularity, the novel was not a hit with critics. Although they noted that Dickens had
successfully used the French revolutionary era to mirror the characters' personal tribulations, they found the story flat and
lacking his typically humorous voice. They also found many of the characters forgettable.

The French Revolution

In the late 18th century, France experienced a violent revolution that ended the Ancien Régime (Old Regime), a monarchy
that was a remnant of the centuries-old feudal system. Before the revolution, people in France were not citizens. Each
belonged to one of three estates:

 the nobility

 the clergy

 everyone else

The third estate—everyone else—was no longer simply a mass of peasants who owed their continued existence to their
relationships with noblemen or a monastery, it included members of the burgeoning middle-class, or bourgeoisie, who were
well-educated people of independent means who wanted to play a part in their own governance. Even the aristocracy
resented the monarch's assumption of his divine right to rule without challenge or limitation.

The revolution took place in two parts: an aristocratic revolt (which lasted from 1787 to 1789) and the popular revolt of
1789. The aristocratic revolt was the result of financial reforms intended to pay off the country's deficit by taxing the
wealthy. Meanwhile, the populace was dissatisfied with its lot, and Louis XVI, the king, had to placate them by calling the
assembly.

A disagreement about how votes would be weighed caused the third estate to announce that it would form an assembly
without including the other two estates. The king responded by creating the National Constituent Assembly, but he
simultaneously raised an army to dissolve it, leading to fears that the aristocracy and the king were ganging up on the
populace to take down the third estate.

A harvest failure and dwindling food supplies further alarmed the peasants, sparking the Great Fear of 1789, the beginning
of the peasants' revolt. They stormed the Bastille, a Parisian fortress prison, forcing the king to announce his support for the
people's governance. Peasants outside the cities revolted against the nobles who controlled them, and the National Assembly
dismantled the feudal system altogether. The king didn't support the new reforms or the constitution drawn up by the
Assembly, but the people continued to argue for liberty and self-governance.

The Assembly tried to create a power-sharing regime. The king attempted to flee, but he didn't get far. The aristocracy,
however, escaped to other countries. France went to war with Austria, and Austria's ally Prussia attacked Paris. The
revolutionaries suspected—rightfully—that the monarchy had turned on them, and King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie
Antoinette, were tried for treason and executed in 1793. The Assembly declared the monarchy invalid and formed the new
Republic. The resulting Reign of Terror saw thousands of people guillotined for plotting against the Republic.

London and Paris in the Late 18th Century

London, depending on one's class, was either a hub of industry and finance that provided endless opportunities for shopping,
leisure, and entertainment; or an overcrowded tangle of waste and disease. The central area of the city, which contained
mostly old wooden structures, had been largely destroyed in the Great Fire of September 1666. The rebuilt areas featured
stone buildings and (in keeping with Enlightenment concepts) more green areas—both of which would help to avoid another
such catastrophe. Whoever could afford it lived in the newer, safer areas, while the poor crowded into the surviving wooden
structures. So when London's population exploded in the 18th century, the poorest people lived in dilapidated, terraced
houses huddled over dark, narrow streets. Sewage ran along the streets and into the Thames, as did industrial waste. The
river smelled foul and posed a health threat to anyone living or working near it. With the burgeoning population and high
level of poverty, crime was rampant.

Pprerevolutionary Paris was characterized by an active intellectual and artistic life that fueled the Enlightenment. It was
Europe's largest city, and its population, prosperity, and literacy rates were increasing. Nevertheless, the poorest lived much
as they did in London, and the growth in population was accompanied by a rise in crime that worried the middle class.
Growing secularism worried the Church. During the Reign of Terror, Paris was a place of violence and fear. The aristocracy
fled for their lives, and those who remained were guillotined. Intellectual and artistic life declined. As the country underwent
a series of new governments, crime remained rampant, and epidemics swept through the poorer areas of the city.

France and England in the Mid-19th Century

Seventy years after the French Revolution, when Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities, France was still in turmoil and had
experienced two more revolutions: in 1830 and 1848. Paris, as the center of the country's government, was the hub of this
instability. The Second Empire, under Napoleon III, experienced economic growth, but the emperor would not introduce
liberal reforms until after 1859.

England, by comparison, was more politically stable than France. Relations between the two countries had been poor, with a
long history of Anglo-French wars dating to the Norman invasion of England in 1066. But after France's defeat in the
Napoleonic Wars (which ended in 1815), the two countries became allies and remained so, despite concern in Britain about
the possible spread of French radicalism.

In Book 1, Chapter 2 of A Tale of Two Cities, what is illustrated by the scene that occurs when Jerry Cruncher catches up to
the mail coach?

This scene illustrates the high level of concern over crime in England in 1775. Mr. Jarvis Lorry is traveling to Dover by mail
coach, and Jerry Cruncher is sent after him with a message from Tellson's Bank. The narrator has made clear that everyone
on the coach suspects everyone else of criminal intent. The coach is stopped at the top of a hill for the horses to rest when
Jerry catches up with it. As his galloping hoofbeats are heard, the coachman and guard become worried; the guard alerts the
passengers, cocks his blunderbuss, and gets ready to fire if necessary. (Later in the chapter, the narrator shows readers that he
has two more guns on the coach.) Everyone is silent, listening to the horse's approach and to their pounding hearts. They all
fear that a highwayman may be approaching, as highwaymen were known to prey on travelers and to attack mail coaches.
The guard challenges the newcomer. Even after Jerry asks for Mr. Jarvis (Lorry) and is identified as safe, no one trusts him.
What's more, Mr. Lorry has also become suspect by association and is "assisted [in leaving the coach] from behind more
swiftly than politely by the other two passengers"—that is, they push him out. The others get back into the coach and shut
the doors and windows. The guard remains on alert as Jerry and Mr. Lorry conduct their business. Afterward, Mr. Lorry gets
back into the coach, but this time no one helps him. In fact, the other passengers, who have already "secreted their watches
and purses in their boots" are now pretending they're asleep. This unusual and unnerving encounter has given them all the
impression that, despite his mild manners and decent appearance, Mr. Lorry may be a criminal, and they do not want to set
him off with a comment or even a glance. This scene makes clear that, unless they know one another, people in England in
1775 simply could not trust one another. A threat lurked beneath the surface of every encounter with a stranger, no matter
how innocent it seemed.

In Book 1, Chapter 4 of A Tale of Two Cities, why does Jarvis Lorry keep repeating to Lucie Manette that his purpose for
accompanying her to Paris is business?

Mr. Jarvis Lorry keeps referring to business because he is trying to remain emotionally neutral in this situation. He says, "I
have no feelings; I am a mere machine." However, the fact that he knows the prisoner, Lucie Manette's father, well enough
to be the person contacted when her father comes out of prison tells the reader that there is no way that he can remain
completely neutral. His body language, rubbing Lucie's hands to comfort her when she grabs his arms, as well as the
expressions on his face and his indirect way of telling her about her father in order not to get her upset show that he does
have feelings. Mr. Lorry is personally connected to this family, and going to rescue Lucie's father isn't just business for him;
it is a very emotional experience not only for Lucie, but for Mr. Lorry as well.

What is the significance of the name "Jacques" in A Tale of Two Cities?

In A Tale of Two Cities, the name "Jacques" is the name used by male members of the third estate who are participating in
the Defarges' plot to revolt against the monarchy and the aristocracy in France. All of Monsieur Defarge's friends are named
Jacques, and he says his own name is Jacques. The men use the name to refer to each other in public for two main reasons.
First, it serves as a code word that allows them to recognize each other as fellow revolutionaries. Second, they use it to make
sure that if someone overhears their conversations, that person will be less likely to guess the real identities of people
involved in the plot to overthrow the government. This is illustrated by the response Defarge gives to the spy John Barsad in
Book 2, Chapter 16. Barsad is trying to catch Madame Defarge and Monsieur Defarge in the act of plotting against the king,
so when Madame Defarge points her husband out to Barsad, Barsad greets him with "Good day, Jacques!" He has to say it
twice, and Monsieur Defarge feigns confusion, finally replying, "You deceive yourself, monsieur." He tells Barsad his name
is Ernest Defarge, which, in turn, confuses Barsad, who expected the code name to work.

In Book 1, Chapter 5 of A Tale of Two Cities, why does Monsieur Defarge allow the Jacques to wait outside Dr. Manette's
door?

Monsieur Defarge allows the men to wait outside Dr. Manette's door because they are waiting for him to regain his sanity
and join their revolution. He is a hero for having tried to report the Marquis for his crimes, and the fact that he survived 18
years in the Bastille is admirable. They want to get a look at this man, who has managed to come out of the Bastille alive,
just as if he had risen from the dead. Seeing such a man is a great boost to the revolutionaries' morale, and Defarge realizes
that. Of course, because Dr. Manette is still making shoes, he isn't really mentally capable of helping the cause, but Defarge
also knows they will need a doctor once the fighting begins and hopes Dr. Manette will later join them in that capacity.

In Book 1, Chapter 6 of A Tale of Two Cities, why does Dickens emphasize the faintness of Dr. Manette's voice?

Dr. Manette's voice is faint because for 18 years, he had no one to talk with in his cell. To spend that much time alone is not
healthy for any human being, and it leads to depression and an inability to communicate. When Monsieur Defarge says to
Dr. Manette, "Good day!" it takes the doctor a while to even register that someone has spoken to him. When he finally
answers, "Good day!" it is in, as the narrator says, "a very faint voice ... as if it were at a distance." When Monsieur Defarge
asks Dr. Manette if he is still working and the doctor replies in the affirmative, the narrator says that "it was the faintness of
solitude and disuse." Dr. Manette's voice is a reflection of the hopelessness that set in throughout his time in jail, and the
narrator says that his tone is that of a person who is "lying down to die." Solitary confinement has broken Dr. Manette's
ability to cope with being in the world. Not only is his voice faint, but it takes him a long time to both understand and
respond to questions. The doctor has been brought back to life, but he doesn't know how to handle it. This is why, earlier in
the novel, Mr. Jarvis Lorry kept hearing the prisoner in his daydreams say he wasn't certain he wanted to be "recalled to
life."

In Book 1, Chapter 6 of A Tale of Two Cities, how and why does Lucie Manette's personality change?

At the beginning of the chapter, Lucie Manette can barely make it up the staircase to the garret, let alone look at her white-
haired father sitting there in his ragged clothing, oblivious to the world, making shoes. She tells Mr. Jarvis Lorry that she is
afraid of her father. Once everyone is in the room with Dr. Manette, Lucie keeps her hands over her face, looking through
her fingers, like a small child trying to work up the courage to see something terrible. She is curious but can't face the idea
that this helpless man, who can barely speak, is her father. But as Monsieur Defarge asks Dr. Manette questions, and as Dr.
Manette looks at Mr. Lorry with a glimmer of recognition that fades almost immediately, Lucie begins to find her strength.
Witnessing the injustice he has suffered makes her strong, and makes her forget her fear. First she moves to stand next to
him, and then sits down next to him, with her hand on his arm. When he pulls a piece of cloth from his neck to compare two
gold hairs from his wife he has kept all these years to Lucie's hair, he realizes that she can't be his wife and wants to know
who she is. Not only does she decide that she should wait to tell him exactly who she is, though she hints enough at her
identity for him to begin crying, but she tells the rest of the people gathered in the room to leave them be and prepare a cart
to get them to the ferry. Lucie tells her father that she is taking him to England "to be at peace and at rest" and makes sure
that no on upsets him any more than he is already upset. Lucie is clearly in charge now that she knows what her father has
endured, and being a caretaker makes her strong.

In Book 2, Chapter 1 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does Jerry Cruncher's behavior illustrate the theme of injustice?

Jerry Cruncher yells at and physically abuses his wife for praying for their family. He accuses her of taking work and
therefore money away from him by praying and throws a muddy boot at her when he sees her "flopping." He even tells their
son, young Jerry, to alert him if she prays again so that he can stop her. Jerry then accuses her of taking food away from him
by saying grace over the meal. No matter what his wife says, Jerry is convinced that her religious leanings are making his
life miserable. No matter what the content of her prayers might be, it is terribly unjust of him to abuse her, and it is also
unjust to put the responsibility of keeping or losing his job on his wife's shoulders. It is clear that Jerry is stressed because of
his poverty, but his wife is suffering both the injustice of poverty and the injustice of her husband's abusive behavior toward
her.

In the first part of Book 2, Chapter 1 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does Dickens combine the setting of Tellson's Bank and
character description?

Dickens uses not only details of the ugliness, dinginess, and old-fashioned, outdated business practices of Tellson's Bank, but
also the interactions people have with the bank's employees and the building itself to describe the setting. He almost turns
Tellson's Bank into another character: an old, stodgy, painfully slow and ineffective business that is proud to be that way and
whose employees endeavor to keep it that way. Everything a client could store at Tellson's takes on an odor or an appearance
that mimics the place where it is stored, and even the room where private documents are kept serves as a witness to death
outside the building. An employee who begins at Tellson's at a young age is kept in the back until he is old, "in a dark place,
like a cheese, until he had the full Tellson flavour and blue-mould upon him." In addition, because the death sentence is used
for just about every financial crime a person could commit, the narrator goes so far as to say that it is Tellson's itself that has
caused the deaths of hundreds of people. Dickens also uses second person to make the reader experience the setting on a
more intimate level: "If your business necessitated your seeing 'the House,' you were put into a species of Condemned Hold
at the back, where you meditated on a misspent life." This allows readers to better imagine their possible interactions with
such a bank to serve as a description of all the ways in which Tellson's slows down business transactions, "the triumphant
perfection of inconvenience."

At the end of Book 2, Chapter 3 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does Jerry Cruncher introduce the theme of resurrection?

Jerry Cruncher says at the end of the chapter that if the verdict had been "Recalled to Life" instead of "Acquitted," he would
have at least understood it better this time than he did last time he heard it, when Mr. Jarvis Lorry gave him that exact written
message to take back to the bank at the beginning of the novel. Jerry brings up the theme of resurrection, being "recalled to
life," because he hears at the start of the trial that if the prisoner is declared guilty, he will be to be drawn and quartered. The
person who tells him about this punishment gives a gleefully graphic description of what it entails, so Jerry knows that by
being acquitted, the prisoner has been brought back from the brink of a horrible death. The theme of resurrection in the novel
revolves around saving someone from death, even if, as it does for Sydney Carton, it costs one's own life.

In Book 2, Chapter 4 of A Tale of Two Cities, why does Sydney Carton speak so disagreeably to Charles Darnay and ask
him if he thinks Carton likes him?

Sydney Carton is unpleasant to Charles Darnay because he sees how Lucie Manette pitied Darnay in the courtroom and how
grateful she was to have not caused him harm. Carton would have preferred it if Lucie looked at him (Carton) like that, but
he knows that, although he looks just like Darnay physically, he is dressed poorly, drinks too much, and wastes his life
carousing. He dislikes Darnay mostly because of jealousy; after all, he takes him to a tavern to make sure that Darnay eats
and regains his strength, so he can't really hate Darnay. But Carton resents him because Darnay makes him think of all he
has not done and the man he has not become. It is rather unfair of Carton to pin all of this on a man he has never met,
especially a man who has been unjustly accused of treason and has nearly lost his life over the matter. The truth is he wants
to hear Darnay say that he doesn't like Carton because Carton can't see how anyone could like him as he is. When Darnay
leaves the tavern, Carton looks at himself in a mirror and says to himself, "Come on, and have it out in plain words. You hate
the fellow." This is really how he feels about himself.

In Book 2, Chapter 5 of A Tale of Two Cities, why is Sydney Carton referred to as a "jackal" to Mr. Stryver's "lion"?

Sydney Carton is referred to as "idlest and most unpromising of men" but he is also called "Stryver's greatest ally." Carton is
not interested in being a successful barrister himself, but he is devoted to helping Mr. Stryver win his cases. As an example,
he is the person who tossed Mr. Stryver a note in the Old Bailey, telling him to point out that Carton and Charles Darnay
looked almost exactly alike, so John Barsad was lying that he could be absolutely certain Darnay was the right man. Darnay
did not, in fact, have a face like no other man. Mr. Stryver, as the "lion," is the person who finds cases and takes down his
opponents, but Carton is the one who does the grunt work and provides the details that allow Stryver to do such a thorough
job. Carton sacrifices the glory of the hunt for the easy acquisition of the benefits, giving all the glory to Stryver. In addition,
as the "lion," Stryver is the one who acquires provisions, notably alcohol, which Carton, the "jackal," is happy to finish off.
Much of their working relationship involves drinking together until all hours of the night, which doesn't seem to stop Stryver
from being as successful as he is, but stops Carton from having any ambition to improve his lot in life. Stryver needs Carton
to keep him going and clean up after him, but Carton also needs Stryver to support his drinking habit and give his live
meaning.

In Book 2, Chapter 5 of A Tale of Two Cities, why does Sydney Carton deny that Lucie Manette is pretty?

Sydney Carton and Mr. Stryver are talking about Carton's failures in school when they were fellow students, and Carton asks
to change the subject because it is depressing. Stryver lifts his glass in a toast to "the pretty witness" in order to change the
subject, and Carton argues with him as to whether Lucie Manette is pretty or not. Carton insists that she isn't, calling her a
"golden-haired doll." Stryver accuses Carton of lying; he says that he noticed at the trial that Carton "sympathised with the
golden-haired doll, and [was] quick to see what happened to the gold-haired doll." Carton still insists that Lucie isn't pretty,
and with that, decides he is going home. But even the sunrise is sad, says the narrator, because it rises on a very sad Sydney
Carton. Carton is not willing to admit to anyone that he wants Lucie to love him. He can't even admit that she is pretty
because it is too painful for him to contemplate his failures in life and how they contribute to Lucie's being out of his reach.

In Book 2, Chapter 6 of A Tale of Two Cities, how do Miss Pross and Mr. Jarvis Lorry disagree regarding Dr. Manette's
silence on the matter of his persecutors?

Mr. Jarvis Lorry feels it is unhealthy for Dr. Manette to suppress his trauma. He thinks it would be better for the doctor if he
shared it with someone. That someone shouldn't be himself (Lorry), although they have known each other so long and are
now close friends. The ideal person would be Lucie Manette. But Miss Pross explains to him that Dr. Manette is too fragile.
She believes the doctor may slip back into insanity if he talks about his prison stay, about the shoemaking, or about the
person who put him in prison. She tells Mr. Lorry that Dr. Manette "is afraid of the whole subject," and if the doctor doesn't
know how he managed to become well again, he may not know how to come back to sanity next time. Miss Pross feels that
it is safer for Dr. Manette if Lucie simply stands near him or walks with him until he stops feeling lost, rather than forcing
him to talk about it. She says, "Touch that string, and he instantly changes for the worse." By "that string," she means the
story of his time in prison and what led up to it. Her way of dealing with the doctor's past is to "leave it alone, whether like
or don't like," so as to keep him safe from his memories of France.

In Book 2, Chapter 6 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does Dickens use weather to foreshadow events in France in later
chapters of the novel?

Dickens uses a thunderstorm to foreshadow the crowds that will bear down on Charles Darnay as he tries to get to Paris, as
well as the crowds that will gather around the guillotine to watch the executions of prisoners. Lucie Manette remarks that
hearing echoes of the rain and of the people rushing to avoid it outside make her imagine all of the footsteps of people that
will come through her life and her father's life. However, Sydney Carton astutely says that "a great crowd is bearing down"
on all of them, just as the rain comes down in a torrent, the lightning strikes, and the thunder booms. Because Carton expects
the worst in his life all of the time, he says he accepts this crowd, no questions asked. He will do the same later in the novel
when he takes Darnay's place at the guillotine. In England, they are safe, though, because the footsteps are just the rain and
the passersby running for shelter from it.

In Book 2, Chapter 7 of A Tale of Two Cities, what do the Marquis's actions in his carriage indicate about his opinion of the
common people?

When the Marquis is in his carriage, his driver recklessly speeds down the road without concern for the people on the street.
The fact that the Marquis never tells his driver to slow down shows that he doesn't care about the lives of commoners. He
enjoys seeing "the common people dispersed before his horses, and often barely escaping from being run down." When his
driver hits and kills a child, it is clear that the Marquis's reputation for violence is well known because the people just stand
there, quiet and afraid, waiting for him to react. The Marquis sees the wailing of the child's father as disturbing noise, and is
more worried about his horses being hurt than about the fact that he just killed a child. He throws a coin at the father as if to
pay for the child, as if a person were an object that can be bought and sold, and easily replaced. In the Marquis's mind, and
under the feudal system still in effect in France at that time, peasants are the property of their liege lords, to be whipped into
shape and used and disposed of according to whim. When someone throws a coin he has tossed back into his carriage, the
Marquis sums up his view of the poor commoners: "I would ride over any of you very willingly and exterminate you from
the earth."

In Book 2, Chapter 9 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does the Marquis's reaction to Charles Darnay's giving up his inheritance
further reveal the Marquis's personality?

When Charles Darnay visits his uncle, the Marquis, he tells him that he is giving up his inheritance and the title Marquis.
Darnay says that he is going to live in England permanently because he can't abide the cruelty and violence for which his
family is famous among the peasants. Darnay wants nothing to do with his inheritance because it comes from such a
ruthlessly horrible family. The Marquis doesn't really take Darnay seriously, as if being kind to peasants broke some kind of
social rule. He actually tells Darnay that he hopes people detest their family: "Detestation of the high is the involuntary
homage of the low." The Marquis believes that peasants should be whipped and treated like hated dogs, in order to keep
them from rising up and demanding anything. The Marquis laughs at Darnay's plan to leave his inheritance behind, because
Darnay will have to live without money. Darnay replies that he will make enough to live on as a tutor. As Darnay is being
led to his room that night, the Marquis hopes that Darnay will be burned in his bed. All of these comments by the Marquis
show that he not only views peasants as scum, but also has no attachment to family. The Marquis is a man full of hate for
everyone but himself.

In Book 2, Chapter 9 of A Tale of Two Cities, what is indicated by the note from the Marquis's murderer?

The person who murders the Marquis leaves a note signed "from Jacques." This indicates that he is part of the group of
revolutionaries who will end up storming the Bastille and sending thousands of people to the guillotine. The murderer is a
man, because the name Jacques is only used by male revolutionaries in order to make sure that they can identify each other
without giving away their real names. The murderer wants anyone who finds the Marquis to know that part of the reason for
killing him was his terrible treatment of the peasants living on his land. The words "Drive him fast to his tomb" speak to the
crime the Marquis committed by allowing his driver to speed so recklessly through the crowded Paris streets that he ran over
and killed a child. Thus, the note indicates that the Marquis's murder is partly due to the conflict between socioeconomic
groups, but is also an act of revenge for the killing of a child.

In Book 2, Chapter 10 of A Tale of Two Cities, why is Dr. Manette uncomfortable about talking with Charles Darnay about
his love for Lucie Manette?

Charles Darnay wants to talk with Dr. Manette about how much he loves Lucie Manette and to ask for her hand in marriage.
At the beginning of the conversation, it looks as if the doctor is not going to say yes; he seems deeply uncomfortable and
won't look Darnay in the eye. When Darnay mentions that Dr. Manette has known love before, at least one of the reasons for
his discomfort becomes clear: He cries out as if he is in pain and begs Darnay not to talk about his past love. When Dr.
Manette was imprisoned, he was young, married, and about to become a father. It is too painful for him to contemplate the
idea of marriage for Lucie because it reminds him of the love that he lost. But Dr. Manette knows that Darnay is sincere, and
he doesn't want his past to deprive her of true love. Still, all through the conversation, his eyes show how he is really feeling.
His words are positive, but his facial expression is one of "a struggle with that occasional look which had a tendency in it to
dark doubt and dread." Then, Dr. Manette says that if anything comes out that turns him against Darnay that isn't Darnay's
fault, for Lucie's sake, he would forgive it. He says she is "more to me than suffering, more to me than wrong." When Dr.
Manette recoils at the idea of hearing who Darnay really is, readers suspect there is a more important reason for his acting
strangely about the proposal. It appears that Dr. Manette already suspects who Darnay is, and his identity is a painful topic
for the doctor.

In Book 2, Chapter 13 of A Tale of Two Cities, how have frequent visits with Lucie Manette changed Sydney Carton?

Sydney Carton reveals to Lucie Manette that although his life has been wasted on drink and laziness, and although he knows
she can't love him because he would bring her down with him, she has changed something in him that he did not think could
be changed. Carton has had glimpses of what he could possibly be and what he could do with his life to improve it. While he
sees this vision as "a dream, that ends in nothing, and leaves the sleeper where he lay down," he says, "I wish you to know
that you inspired it." Lucie wants to try to change him, even if she can only be his friend, but Carton says it's too late for him
to be anything but what he is. He does, however, want her to know that he is a man who would "give his life, to keep a life
you love beside you." Carton has spent his career building up that of someone else, and now he will spend what is left of his
life building up and keeping safe Lucie's family, including Charles Darnay. This, alone, is a change, because it is done out of
love. Carton has never been able to care for anyone, but now he cares for Lucie.

In A Tale of Two Cities, Book 2, Chapter 14, what clues does Dickens give the reader that Jerry Cruncher is a body
snatcher?

The first clue that Dickens drops is the excitement that funerals create for Jerry Cruncher. It seems that he's not the only one,
though, who gets excited at the idea of burying a spy, as there is a crowd that gathers around the hearse and follows it. The
crowd then causes trouble with passersby, accusing them of being spies, breaking things, and shouting. The crowd
eventually disperses, but Jerry stays to "confer and condole with the undertakers." This is a second clue Dickens uses to let
the reader know that Jerry is scoping out the location of the grave and finding out how old the dead man is. This detail is
important because the body will be used for medical purposes. Jerry tells himself, "he was a young'un and a straight made
'un," referring to Roger Cly, the supposedly dead man. The third clue that Dickens drops is Jerry's visit to his "medical
advisor—a distinguished surgeon." Jerry Cruncher is poor, so he can't afford medical care from an eminent surgeon. The
astute reader can see that Jerry is making arrangements to deliver a body to the doctor.

In Book 2, Chapter 14 of A Tale of Two Cities, what clues does Dickens give that Roger Cly might have faked his death?

The first clue that Dickens drops regarding Roger Cly's status is the fact that there is only one mourner at the funeral, and
when the crowd mobs the funeral coach, that mourner leaves the coach extremely quickly, throwing off his mourning clothes
and running away, "after shedding his cloak, hat, long hatband, white pocket-handkerchief, and other symbolical tears."
Dickens uses the phrase "symbolical tears" to insinuate that there aren't any real tears involved, and that these mourning
clothes are meant to fool the crowd. The second clue is the way that Jerry Cruncher treats his wife the morning after he
supposedly goes to raid Roger Cly's grave to get his body. Jerry had accused his wife earlier of praying to make him fail at
his job, and the fact that he tells her that she ruined his business, the "dreadful business, " as she calls it, clues the reader in
that there wasn't a body to be stolen. If there was no body, then Roger Cly faked his death.
In Book 2, Chapter 15 of A Tale of Two Cities, why is the mender of roads encouraged to view the king and queen as they
parade by?

The mender of roads, who is called "Jacques" by everyone in the room but is not in the inner circle of Jacques, wants to see
the king and queen parade by. Monsieur Defarge and the other Jacques encourage him to do so, though the other Jacques are
confused at first as to why this would be a good idea. Monsieur Defarge explains with a parable: "Judiciously show a dog his
natural prey, if you wish him to bring it down one day." Later, after the king and queen have gone by and the mender of
roads has cheered for them, Monsieur Defarge decides that he is "the one." The king and queen will not suspect that he hates
them or has it in for them. This, Defarge explains, is important in plotting their deaths. When Madame Defarge speaks with
the mender of roads, she asks him if he would pick the finest of dolls to dismantle for his own benefit, and if he would pick
the finest feathered bird if he wanted feathers. Of course, he says yes, and she tells him, "You have seen both birds and dolls
to-day." The fine-feathered bird he has seen is the king, and the doll is the queen; his task will be to keep them clueless about
the plot until they can be taken down.

In Book 2, Chapter 16 of A Tale of Two Cities, what is the significance of Madame Defarge's headdress rose?

The narrator describes how, as soon as Madame Defarge puts a rose on her headdress, people leave the shop. This just
happens to coincide with the moment that John Barsad enters the shop. Then, two men come into the wine shop intending to
order a drink, but when they see the rose on Madame Defarge's headdress, they pretend to be looking for a friend who isn't
there and they leave quickly. The narrator also says, "It was remarkable; but, the taste of Saint Antoine seemed to be
decidedly opposed to a rose on the head-dress of Madame Defarge." It is not, however, the taste of the neighborhood but the
fact that the rose is serving to keep people out of the shop while there is a spy in there asking questions. John Barsad is a spy,
and the Defarges recognize him as they have already been warned about him, complete with a description of how he looks.
As soon as Madame Defarge takes the rose out of her headdress, which she does when Barsad leaves, people come into the
shop. Dickens uses the reactions of characters in the novel to show that the rose is a code. The narrator's indirect reference to
the rose reinforces the idea that the code is secret.

In Book 2, Chapters 15 and 16 of A Tale of Two Cities, what purposes does knitting serve?

The first purpose that knitting serves, the reader is told, is to register the names of people who will later be punished for
working against the revolution. Madame Defarge has a code she uses to knit these names into her knitted fabric, and she is
the only one who can read it. But she doesn't just knit their names. She adds extra stitches while talking about people or to
them. She is probably also registering the crimes each person has committed and knits in an extra one for John Barsad just
for being sneaky about trying to get information out of her. It should be noted that Madame Defarge never unravels her
knitting, so once a person is in the register, there is no hope for that person. Moreover, before the new government is
established, the revolutionaries largely dispense with trials, so being knitted into the register becomes a death sentence. In
addition, knitting is one way that women keep their hands busy so that they can forget they are starving. In both these ways,
the knitting serves as a symbol of the revolution itself—both the reasons for it and the results.

Characterize the relationship between the Defarges in Book 1, Chapter 5, and Book 2, Chapters 15 and 16 of A Tale of Two
Cities.

The Defarges first appear in Book 1, Chapter 5. Gaspard has written "blood" on a wall with wine, and Monsieur Defarge
smears mud over it and scolds Gaspard. Readers are told Defarge looks "good-humoured ... but implacable ... a man of a
strong resolution and a set purpose." He's about 30 years old and powerfully built ("bull-necked"); he gives the impression of
a practical, hard-working man. Defarge's wife is about the same age. She's "stout," wears a lot of jewelry, dresses warmly,
and mostly sits in her chair knitting. Nevertheless, she seems to rule the roost; she merely lifts an eyebrow, and her husband
sends three Jacques out of the shop then continues to watch her for cues. Still, when Jarvis Lorry asks to see Dr. Manette,
Defarge doesn't check for her permission; he shows the visitors to the doctor's room. Apparently, he doesn't defer to his wife
in all things. Readers next encounter the Defarges in Book 2, Chapter 15. Defarge brings home the mender of roads,
introducing him as Jacques, thus making clear he's part of their revolutionary group; at the same time, he issues a coded
order ("It is bad weather, gentlemen!") that inspires three Jacques in the shop to leave and gather in the garret that once
housed Dr. Manette. Defarge also tells his wife to get the mender of roads some wine, which she does without comment,
then resumes knitting. In Book 2, Chapter 16, readers are privy to a private chat between the Defarges. He shares the
intelligence he has received about Barsad and their well-ordered partnership thwarts the spy. The likable and competent
husband assembles, organizes, and leads the revolutionaries. Madame Defarge, who is fueled by a personal vendetta, plays a
subtler role. She records the condemned in her knitting, quietly passes cues, and keeps people at a distance through the fear
her bitter silence inspires. However, she may doubt her husband's long-term commitment to vengeance; she comments, "You
are faint of heart to-night, my dear!" and gives him a pep talk. Defarge admires his wife immensely, calling her "strong" and
"frightfully grand."
In Book 2, Chapter 18 of A Tale of Two Cities, why can't Dr. Manette communicate or recognize anyone anymore?

Dr. Manette has retreated into his room after Lucie and Charles Darnay go off on their honeymoon. He has been holding
himself together in order to be present for their wedding and to say goodbye to them as they left, but his conversation with
Darnay has shattered his stability. The narrator does not give readers any details about that conversation, but it is likely that
Darnay has told him he is actually the current Marquis St. Evrémonde—or would be if he hadn't renounced his title. What
readers do not yet know is why this should be so disturbing to the doctor. Later they will learn that it relates to an incident
the Marquis mentioned to Darnay in which a peasant was stabbed for intervening on his daughter's behalf. Whatever the
exact reason, once Lucie and Darnay leave, Dr. Manette becomes the person he was in his solitary cell in prison, unable to
communicate, except for a few words, and completely, obsessively focused on making shoes. When Dr. Manette was in
prison, he was alone for 18 years, which stripped him of his ability to recognize other people as anything but figments of his
imagination. Brought back to the reasons for his imprisonment by Darnay's admission, Dr. Manette can't recognize Mr.
Jarvis Lorry or Miss Pross, nor can he respond to requests. He is nearly mute, and acts as if the people in the room with him
are just noises. The trauma of being in solitary confinement for so long comes right back when the doctor is triggered by the
conversation with Darnay.

In Book 2, Chapter 19 of A Tale of Two Cities, why does Mr. Jarvis Lorry concoct a "suffering friend" story, and why does
Dr. Manette go along with it?

Mr. Jarvis Lorry wants to find out why Dr. Manette slipped into insanity for nine days, and yet he doesn't want to trigger Dr.
Manette again by talking directly about what happened. He wisely concocts an "I have a suffering friend" story and asks the
doctor's advice on how best to help this friend because he knows that Dr. Manette is at his best when administering care to
others. This "friend" has a daughter, just like Dr. Manette, and has suffered a great shock, just like Dr. Manette. When Lorry
asks how he can help prevent another relapse, the doctor replies that "the relapse you have described, my dear friend, was
not quite unforeseen by its subject," showing that he understands that he himself is the "friend" and finding that he can
discuss his situation using this device. The doctor says, "He tried to prepare himself in vain; perhaps the effort to prepare
himself made him less able to bear it." Saying this to Lorry allows him to relieve himself of the burden of holding his story
in, without relapsing again. He is also able to give permission to Lorry to remove the shoemaking tools and destroy them
when he is not there without specifying what they are or that they are his. (Lorry uses the example of a "little forge.") The
doctor wants to do what is best for Lucie, so he gives his permission even though he is worried about letting go of his
emotional crutch.

In Book 2, Chapter 19 of A Tale of Two Cities, why is Dr. Manette so uncomfortable about the thought of getting rid of his
shoemaking equipment?

Dr. Manette is visibly uncomfortable about the possibility of his shoemaking equipment being taken away though in the
actual conversation he has with Mr. Jarvis Lorry, they speak of the "little forge" that Lorry's "friend" used when he was in
the middle of his relapse. Before explaining to Lorry why it is so hard to give advice in this situation, he is silent, nervously
tapping one foot on the floor as if he is agitated. He says, referring to the forge, "no doubt it relieved his pain so much, by
substituting the perplexity of the fingers for the perplexity of the brain, and by substituting ... the ingenuity of the hands, for
the ingenuity of the mental torture; that he has never been able to bear the thought of putting it quite out of his reach." When
something provides relief in a situation as dire as being imprisoned in solitary confinement for 18 years, it is extremely
difficult to let that thing go. Dr. Manette is also worried that an unexpected need for the tools would render him as fearful as
a "lost child." He calls the equipment "an old companion" because it was his only companion in prison. Lorry pleads with the
doctor, though, to give his permission to get rid of the equipment for the sake of the "friend's daughter," and Dr. Manette
finally agrees, "in her name," as long as the job is done when "the friend" is not present. Lorry's reference to "a friend" has
allowed the doctor to take a small step back and view the situation as a professional medical man rather than the patient,
even if only for a moment.

In Book 2, Chapter 20 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does Lucie Manette approach her husband regarding his treatment of
Sydney Carton without betraying Carton's confidence?

When Sydney Carton admitted to Lucie Manette in Book 2, Chapter 13 that she was his inspiration and the "last dream of
my soul," he made her promise not to reveal any of their conversation to anyone, and she agreed to keep his confidence. In
asking Charles Darnay to change how he views Carton and to treat him well, she tells Darnay that he is not to ask her why
she is asking this of him. In this way, she can express what she believes is true of Carton—that he "has a heart he very
seldom reveals, and that there are deep wounds in it"—without revealing anything of their conversation. She says, "I am sure
that he is capable of good things, gentle things, even magnanimous things." Darnay agrees to show him "more consideration
and respect" both for Lucie and for the friendship he has developed with Carton, whom he now sees in a different light.
Lucie serves as the "golden thread" between the two men: each of them views the other differently because of Lucie and
their love for her.
In Book 2, Chapter 21 of A Tale of Two Cities, what is happening in France that upsets Mr. Jarvis Lorry?

Mr. Jarvis Lorry arrives late for the evening meal he usually shares with the Manettes, but knows that they will have set food
aside for him. He has had a terrible day. There has been a "run of confidence" on Tellson's Bank because customers in Paris
are in a state of complete panic. Lorry says that these customers are all rushing to move their money to England, as it appears
that soon it will not be safe in France. It is likely that many of these customers are aristocrats who may have to flee France to
stay alive. They hope to move their fortunes to England, where they can later retrieve them. Meanwhile, the Defarges are
leading the charge on the Bastille, the prison where Dr. Manette was held. This is the beginning of a bloodbath in France, so
customers of Tellson's are right to panic. These are the footsteps that Sydney Carton said in an earlier chapter would "bear
down" on them. The run on the bank is just the beginning, and Lorry likely knows it. He decides he just wants to sit with his
loved ones and be glad that they are all safe in England.

In Book 2, Chapter 21 of A Tale of Two Cities, what are the characteristics of the two groups of seven?

When the crowd stormed the Bastille, they found only seven prisoners in the Bastille, not the hundred or more initially
rumored at the time. Dickens took care to be accurate in his recounting of that event. In the chapter, the crowd lifts up the
seven released prisoners and parades them through the streets. Having seen the condition of Dr. Manette after his release
from the Bastille, it is not surprising that these seven men are stunned, "all scared, all lost, all wondering and amazed, as if
the Last Day were come, and those who rejoiced around them were lost spirits." This observation isn't far from the truth, as
the crowd around them, the narrator tells readers, is full of "faces hardened in the furnaces of suffering until the touch of pity
could make no mark on them." The common people have been so abused for so long that they are out for blood and revenge,
so much so that they have lost their humanity. The hardening of their hearts is expressed in the murder and decapitation of
seven men, one of them the governor of the prison. This is also factual: The crowd matched the number of heads to that of
the released prisoners. The dead men's heads are placed on pikes and paraded through the streets along with the released
prisoners, to "bear witness" to the people's revenge on their oppressors. Madame Defarge is the one to behead the governor.
As his dead body falls at her feet, she steps on his body to steady it, and cuts off his head with her knife. This mutilation is
reminiscent of the deaths and mutilation of peasants by aristocrats, which became so common that the peasants and other
commoners became almost inured to the gore displayed on a regular basis.

In Book 2, Chapter 22 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does Dickens use the voices of women speaking of Foulon to explain
the revolutionaries' extreme violence?

Dickens uses the voice of The Vengeance, a woman whose husband is a starving grocer, to raise the cry against Foulon, a
government official who once suggested the starving people could eat grass. Foulon faked his death, but has been found
alive, and is being brought to the city hall to be tried. The Vengeance's voice is described as "terrific shrieks," and the voices
of the women she rouses are equally wild as they have all suffered under the regime and blame heartless officials like
Foulon. The women cry, "Villain Foulon taken, my sister! Old Foulon taken, my mother, Miscreant Foulon taken, my
daughter!" The women are "beating their breasts, tearing their hair, and screaming, Foulon alive!" The women speak of their
elderly and their sick left naked and starving, and babies who have died because their mothers, also starving, can't produce
milk. Their suffering has been so intense—and Foulon's comment so like a death sentence—that they feel bound by honor to
avenge the deaths of their loved ones by killing this man. They find him at the city hall, bound and with grass tied to his
back, which they find very appropriate. Impatient, though, they drag him out to hang him on a lamp. The rope breaks twice
before he is finally hung. When he's dead, they behead him and place his head, the mouth stuffed with grass, on a pike. The
women have given Foulon what he gave them—a mouth full of grass and death. In this example, Dickens shows both the
extremes to which the French people went during the revolution and what drove them to those extremes.

In Book 2, Chapter 23 of A Tale of Two Cities, what has changed about the mender of roads?

When readers first met the mender of roads, he was one of the workers living in the village on the Marquis's lands. He alerts
the Marquis that someone had been clinging to the bars beneath the Marquis's carriage. Later, it is likely that was the person
who kills the Marquis, but the mender of roads warned his liege lord as a good vassal should. The next time readers meet
him, he brings a message to Monsieur Defarge and is called Jacques, showing that he has joined the revolutionaries. But he's
not committed; his reaction to seeing the king and queen in a procession indicates that he is still awed by royalty. Now,
however, he is fully committed to the revolutionary cause. He meets a fellow Jacques on the road—apparently by design
since the man never mentions the chateau, but the mender of roads gives him accurate directions on how to get there. The
mender of roads the guards the Jacques as he naps and then wakes him and confirms the directions. When he gets home, the
mender of roads gathers around the fountain with the other villagers and their cows, and whispers to the others what is
happening. That night, when the chateau is in flames and the alarm bell ringing, like the other villagers, he stolidly does
nothing at all: "The mender of roads, and two hundred and fifty particular friends, stood with folded arms at the fountain,
looking at the pillar of fire in the sky. 'It must be forty feet high,' said they, grimly; and never moved." He has changed a
great deal from the obedient and helpful vassal readers met in Book 1.

What role does dramatic irony play in Book 2, Chapter 24 of A Tale of Two Cities?

Dramatic irony occurs when the reader knows something a character or characters do not. Authors frequently use dramatic
irony to heighten suspense. That is what occurs in this chapter. Charles Darnay receives a letter from his dead uncle's former
servant Gabelle. Gabelle has been working for Darnay since he inherited his uncle's estates. During that time, at Darnay's
request, Gabelle has been paying off the estate's debts and paying the taxes owed to the government, but he has not been
collecting rents from the peasants. As far as possible, he has left the the produce of the land to live from. Thus, Darnay
knows he has not mistreated the people who live on his estates. He also renounced his title because he disagreed with the
practices of the nobility with regard to the common people. He himself has lived as a member of the middle class, earning
his own keep and supporting his family through his work. Far from expecting to be a target for the revolutionaries, he
expects to be able to arrive in France, explain himself, and become a valued adviser. However, readers know that the
revolutionaries are beyond the reach of logic. They care more about a man's superficial ties of parentage and job affiliations
than they do about his guilt or innocence. They have suffered unjustly for so long at the hands of the aristocracy that they are
repaying that treatment in kind without concern for who may or may not deserve repayment. While Darnay thinks, for
instance, that he can save Gabelle by explaining his own motives, readers know that his motives mean less than nothing to
the revolutionaries; they just want his blood. This juxtaposition heightens the suspense because readers know that Darnay
will be in danger from the moment he sets foot in his home country.

In Book 3, Chapter 1 of A Tale of Two Cities, why are emigrants automatically considered traitors in France, and how does
this affect the plot of the novel?

Emigrants are considered traitors because they have left France to avoid being lawfully prosecuted for their crimes against
the people—that is, their oppression and inhumane treatment of them. Their property is confiscated if they have left it
behind. However, if they managed to retain some of their wealth by sending it abroad in advance, this was seen as a further
crime. This new ruling affects the plot by ensuring that Charles Darnay is immediately followed when he arrives in France,
is stopped several times, and is finally taken under escort to Paris. He is "mercifully" spared being hung from the nearest
lamp but is transported directly to the guardhouse to be charged and then to La Force, a prison. He not only discovers that
emigrants have no rights, but he will not be able to help Gabelle or communicate with anyone outside the prison. Darnay's
arrest under this new law has also brought him into contact with Monsieur Defarge, who is now in a position to tell his wife
that the main object of her personal revenge is now imprisoned in Paris. However, he is also in a position to help the family
of Dr. Manette, to whom he also feels a great loyalty and who has also suffered at the hands of the Marquis; despite that
suffering, he has welcomed Darnay into his family. This is a potential source of mental conflict for Defarge.

In Book 3, Chapter 1 of A Tale of Two Cities, how successful is Charles Darnay's attempt to convince Monsieur Defarge to
help him?

Charles Darnay's exchange with Monsieur Defarge is inscrutable—to both Darnay himself and to the reader. Darnay realizes
he shares a connection with Defarge through Dr. Manette and attempts to use any sympathy that wins him to get Defarge to
answer a few questions and get a message to Mr. Jarvis Lorry. Defarge denies his requests for information and help, saying,
"My duty is to my country and the People. I am the sworn servant of both, against you. I will do nothing for you." But
Defarge is not alone; two other patriots are accompanying them. What could he say in front of them? When Defarge says,
"Other people have been similarly buried in worse prisons, before now," Darnay replies, "But never by me, Citizen Defarge."
Defarge's only answer is to look at him and remain silent. Darnay interprets Defarge's long silence as rejection without the
slightest "softening"—"or so Darnay thought," says the narrator. The narrator's comment hints that there may yet be hope
that Defarge will help Darnay.

How does Dickens contrast France and England in Book 3, Chapter 2 of A Tale of Two Cities?

Tellson's Bank has branches in both London and Paris. The Paris branch is now located in the wing of a mansion that once
belonged to a powerful member of the nobility. For this reason, the bank looks out onto a courtyard in which orange trees
grow and the walls inside are decorated with plaster figures, such as the cupid over the counter that seems to be aiming his
bow at the people doing business there. This and other features of the bank would not be acceptable in the English branch,
which, like Mr. Jarvis Lorry himself, is expected to be staid and proper. In short, what is acceptable in France would be
considered unprofessional in England. In France, people still leave their money with the bank, but in England such
surroundings would shake people's confidence. This highlights another difference, one that is more relevant to the themes of
the novel. England is safe and can afford to be concerned with its image; France is in such a tenuous state that no one knows
whether anyone will ever come to reclaim the money and valuables that have been entrusted to Tellson's there. When the
decorative cupid takes aim at customers at the counter, he is a symbol of a much more real danger that may target them at
any time. In fact, across the courtyard from the orange trees is a giant grindstone where, at night, the patriots sharpen stolen
weapons to be used against just such people as might do business at Tellson's Bank. Tellson's Paris location is a sort of
microcosm of the France of the novel: The remnants of the ancien régime are present but exist directly alongside the
trappings of the Reign of Terror, which are taking over. In the light of day, the bank conducts business, but at night, its
employees huddle inside in fear of what is going on in their courtyard.

In Book 3, Chapter 3 of A Tale of Two Cities, how have the attitudes of Monsieur and Madame Defarge changed toward
Lucie Manette?

When Lucie Manette first met the Defarges, she had come to the wine shop to meet and rescue the father she had never
known. She had relatively little to do with Madame Defarge, but was deeply grateful to Monsieur Defarge for caring for her
father. Monsieur Defarge used his connections to help Lucie, Mr. Jarvis Lorry, and Dr. Manette get out of Paris and back to
England. Since then, however, the Defarges have heard that Lucie has married Charles Darnay. This dominates Madame
Defarge's attitude because she is set on vengeance on the Marquis's entire family. It appears in this chapter that Monsieur
Defarge is more committed to his wife than to his conscience. At the request of Dr. Manette, Monsieur Defarge brings a very
short note to Lucie from Charles Darnay. However, Monsieur Defarge's voice is "curiously reserved and mechanical," which
bothers Mr. Lorry a great deal. Madame Defarge is also there, to get a look at Lucie and her daughter—supposedly so that
she will know what they look like and can protect them, but Mr. Lorry suspects that this is not the case. Madame Defarge
and The Vengeance are both extremely cold to Lucie and cast such a dark shadow with their presence that it terrifies Lucie
and she shields her daughter in her arms. Madame Defarge speaks of Dr. Manette's "influence" with a "lowering smile." She
knows his influence can only go so far because she has registered Darnay in her knitting, and no one escapes the register
once Madame Defarge has recorded their name. In fact, as she leaves, she seems to be adding more names to the register,
most likely little Lucie's and perhaps, as a member of Darnay's household, Miss Pross's.

In Book 3, Chapter 4 of A Tale of Two Cities, why couldn't Dr. Manette use his influence to get Charles Darnay out of
prison right away?

Dr. Manette has become the doctor for the prisons, tending to revolutionaries and prisoners alike, but he still does not have
the power to get Charles Darnay released. His influence is strong enough to be able to visit Darnay, but there appear to be
stronger forces at work. The country is in the grip of the Reign of Terror. The monarchy has fallen, the king and queen have
been guillotined. The "law of the Suspected" is in force, which means that anyone, innocent or guilty, can be executed on the
basis of suspicion alone, with no evidence necessary. But this would not explain why Dr. Manette cannot exert his influence
as a hero of the revolution. On the very first night the doctor made his presence known, he approached the revolutionaries'
Tribunal and asked that his son-in-law be released. There was a moment when Darnay "seemed on the point of being at once
released, [but] the tide in his favour met with some unexplained check (not intelligible to the Doctor), which led to a few
words of secret conference." Because Darnay was once knitted into Madame Defarge's register and Defarge himself is a
member of the tribunal, perhaps that explains the "unexplained check."

In Book 3, Chapter 5 of A Tale of Two Cities, what events foreshadow trouble ahead for the Manettes?

Three events bode ill for Charles Darnay and his family: an exchange with a woodcutter, a meeting, and some passing carts.
For most of the 15 months she has waited for his release, Lucie Manette has stood where her husband can glimpse her from
the prison, often taking her daughter with her. Usually, she sees and speaks with a wood-sawyer whose shop is nearby. In
one of their early conversations, the wood-sawyer jokes about his saw being a guillotine and, as he is cutting pieces from his
chunks of wood, pretends he is beheading them, saying he is decapitating an entire family—father, mother, and child. The
wood-sawyer is the former mender of roads, so he knew (and hated) the Marquis and is closely associated with the Defarges.
Therefore, he knows Madame Defarge has placed Darnay and his family on her register. It's likely he knows Lucie is there to
support her husband, who's in prison. So it is not hard to imagine that this is the very family he is thinking of as he pretends
to chop off heads. Also, even when Lucie has forgotten about the woodcutter, she often looks up to find him watching her.
Perhaps he is there to spy on her for the Defarges; after all, he has worked for them in the past. One day when the wood-
sawyer is not at his shop, Lucie gets caught up in a mob of revelers and is deeply disturbed. Her father calms her, saying
Darnay will be freed the next day. Then Madame Defarge herself happens by just as Lucie is waving to Darnay in the prison
window. They are alerted to her presence by "a footstep in the snow"—like the echoing footsteps the Manettes used to hear
outside their Soho house. Madame Defarge does nothing more than greet them, but she casts "a shadow over the white
road"—and over the hope Lucie had been feeling. Moments later, three tumbrils pass, carrying the condemned to the
guillotine. Readers know Madame Defarge would like nothing better than to see Darnay, Lucie, and little Lucie make that
same journey.

In Book 3, Chapter 6 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does Dickens warn readers that Charles Darnay might not be safe despite
his acquittal?

Although this chapter seems to be about Charles Darnay's acquittal and triumphant return to his family—it is even called
"Triumph"—there are a number of indications that his freedom may not last: By the time Darnay is called before the
Tribunal, 15 of the 20 people with him have already been condemned to death, and before he leaves the building, the other
five have been condemned as well. The jury is clearly as bloodthirsty as the rest of the "citizens," which shows just how
precarious any prisoner's continued existence really is. During Darnay's trial the Defarges are present but seem emotionally
remote. They don't even look at him. Instead, they "seemed to be waiting for something with a dogged determination, and
they looked at the Jury, but at nothing else." Madame Defarge, as usual, is knitting, which is ominous in itself because she
may, even now, be adding to her register of the condemned. She also carries an extra bit of knitting under one arm, which
might be the section of the register condemning Darnay, Lucie Manette, and their daughter. At this point, it is still not clear
what she has against Darnay, but it is certainly a great enough crime that her husband is supporting her despite his
misgivings about Darnay's guilt and about Lucie's culpability. Despite their joy over his acquittal, the mob is fickle. As the
narrator says, "tears were shed as freely as blood at another time." As he's carried through the streets, Darnay sometimes gets
the feeling he's in a tumbril being taken to the guillotine. This seems to foreshadow coming events. Finally, Dr. Manette's
certainty that he has "saved" his son-in-law just seems too good to be true, especially with Lucie trembling inexplicably and
uncontrollably against his chest.

In Book 3, Chapter 7 of A Tale of Two Cities, how has Dr. Manette's situation changed?

As the chapter begins, Dr. Manette is absolutely certain that he has saved Charles Darnay from a death sentence. By the end,
however, he again feels helpless. When Lucie Manette hears someone on the stairs, the doctor accuses her of being too
fearful and insists that there is no one there. But Lucie is correct: Four men have come to take Darnay back to prison. Dr.
Manette is incredulous and asks, "Do you know me?" as if to say he is untouchable. But no one in France is untouchable, and
while the doctor's life is unlikely to be in danger, Darnay's life, just as Lucie feared, is at stake again. The doctor probably
did not expect the Defarges to denounce Darnay; after all, Defarge was once his servant and friend. He also doesn't know
Madame Defarge suffered personally from the Marquis's crimes, so he had no reason to suspect they would bring new
charges against Charles. Under the new law, however, their accusation is as good as a death sentence, and the doctor's
reputation as a victim of the old regime will not help. Under the current government, law trumps reputation. In any case,
there is a third person who has denounced Darnay, and the men who come to take him are surprised that Dr. Manette is
asking who that person is. They refuse to say more, but their surprise is a clue that it is actually the doctor himself who has
unknowingly denounced his own son-in-law. Thus, his reputation, whatever its influence, is now more likely to convict
Darnay than help him.

How does Dickens ensure readers will dislike Solomon Pross when they finally meet him in Book 3, Chapter 8 of A Tale of
Two Cities?

From time to time, the narrator has mentioned Solomon Pross, Miss Pross's degenerate brother, who stole from her and
disappeared. Up to now, readers have viewed him largely through the eyes of Mr. Jarvis Lorry, who very much admires Miss
Pross and her obstinate refusal to think ill of her brother. Now he has been resurrected, and readers have the opportunity to
judge him for themselves. Solomon Pross turns out to be the secret identity of another despised character in the novel: the
lying spy John Barsad. Sydney Carton reminds readers that Barsad is the person who tried to frame Charles Darnay back at
the Old Bailey. He also explains that Barsad is currently a spy for the prisons because he has seen him going in and out to
share information. In addition, he has seen Barsad with Roger Cly, who is supposed to be dead, and it turns out Barsad was
in on the fake funeral that cost Jerry a night's work. (By the end of the novel, Jerry has become a far more likable character
than he was at the start. He functions as a protector for the Manettes and is friendly and civil with Miss Pross.) Barsad,
readers learn, is not just a spy, but that lowest of the low, a counterspy. He appears to be working for the French government,
but is actually spying on them for the British government. When Carton uses his knowledge to force Barsad into helping
him, the reader is cheering him along. In a novel about how the people of France exacted a horrible vengeance for their
oppression, this little bit of revenge on a nasty scoundrel is a welcome relief.

In Book 3, Chapter 9 of A Tale of Two Cities, what does Sydney Carton seem to be preparing for?

There are many clues in this chapter that Sydney Carton feels his life is ending. First, he's emotional enough to drop his hard
veneer and show Mr. Lorry his true self, which up to now only Lucie has seen. The two men speak of Mr. Jarvis Lorry's
accomplishments and the love and respect he has earned. The unspoken comparison is that Carton has not earned love and
respect. Perhaps he hopes to rectify that before dying. They talk of Lorry's childhood, which feels closer now that he's older;
when Carton says he knows the feeling, Lorry protests that Carton is young. Carton responds, "I am not old, but my young
way was never the way to age." In other words, Carton never expected to grow old. His dissolute ways were likely to lead
him to an early grave. However, now he seems to have some other end in mind. Carton then buys several substances at a
pharmacy and is warned not to mix them. It is possible they are poisonous if combined. When speaking with Mr. Lorry,
Carton didn't want Lucie Manette to get the impression that he might be taking Darnay "the means of anticipating the
sentence"—that is, committing suicide before being taken to the guillotine. The narrator has mentioned several cases of
prisoners killing themselves, so this is not impossible. However, the poison could also be meant for Carton himself. (Since
he plans to replace Darnay if Darnay is convicted, perhaps he intends to cheat the guillotine.) Finally, Carton can't sleep and
wanders the streets all night. Perhaps he's trying to get as much out of his last few hours of life as possible. The Biblical
passage "I am the resurrection and the life," which was read at his father's funeral, forms a mantra as he walks. He hears it
"in the echoes of his feet" and repeats it to himself. He examines his life and judges it purposeless. Things remind him of
death. A boat "with a sail the ... colour of dead leaf" passes and "dies away." Carton prays for forgiveness, then goes to the
Tribunal.

In Book 3, Chapter 10 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does the reading of the verdict reinforce the loss of humanity occurring
at this point in the revolution?

At Charles Darnay's trial the day before, the Defarges did not reveal the document Dr. Manette had written so long ago
denouncing the Evrémondes and all their descendants. They were, as the narrator said, "biding their time" to denounce
Darnay and take revenge on his entire family. In the end, Monsieur Defarge's connection with Dr. Manette does not make a
difference in sympathy for Darnay, because Madame Defarge does not have the same loyalty to the doctor that her husband
has, and Madame Defarge is the more unyielding of the two. Although her husband has seemed on occasion to show some
sympathy for Darnay, his first loyalty is to his wife. After all he knows her family's history. She is likely damaged
psychologically. She is vengeful, but in Defarge's eyes probably needs protection. He acquiesces because he not only loves
and admires her, but also wants to heal her if at all possible. For her part, Madame Defarge is gleeful regarding the doctor's
supposed influence. She says to The Vengeance, "Save him now, my Doctor, save him!" In a way, she embodies the
oppressed French populace who are now taking revenge on anyone they can connect with their former oppressors. The
narrator says, "One of the frenzied aspirations of the populace was ... for sacrifices and self-immolations on the people's
altar." This completely crazed thirst for blood and delight in the misfortune of others in the name of the Republic results in
the president of the court, saying that Dr. Manette should be glad that an aristocratic family is being exterminated in this
way. He says that the doctor should rejoice in "making his daughter a widow and her child an orphan." There is absolutely
no sympathy for the doctor's sadness or loss. The desire to see another head roll at the guillotine is stronger than anything
else.

In Book 3, Chapter 11 of A Tale of Two Cities, why does Sydney Carton send Dr. Manette to speak to the judges again?

It's clear from his conversation with Mr. Jarvis Lorry at the end of the chapter that Sydney Carton is sure Dr. Manette will
not be able to get Darnay's sentence reversed. Mr. Lorry says that no one would dare overturn the decision "after the
demonstration in the court." Carton agrees, saying, "I heard the fall of the axe in that sound"; the axe he "hears" is the blade
of the guillotine. The condemned is clearly as good as dead. Still, Carton encourages the doctor to try. He likely has three
reasons, only one of which—the one that is most important to both Mr. Lorry and himself—is mentioned in the chapter. That
reason is Lucie Manette. He feels she may need to know every possible attempt was made to save him, so that she won't be
troubled by thoughts that "his life was wantonly thrown away or wasted." Of course, he is thinking of himself, not of
Darnay. He doesn't want her to think his life was cheaply cast aside. But right now he is the only one who knows that it is his
life on the line and not Darnay's. Carton's second reason is that the doctor will need this consolation as well; otherwise he
would feel guilty over Carton's death. Finally, Carton is hoping against hope that he will not have to go to the guillotine in
Darnay's place. But this can only happen if Darnay receives a reprieve.

In Book 3, Chapter 12 of A Tale of Two Cities, what can be inferred from Dr. Manette's state of mind when he finally
returns to Tellson's Bank?

In the early evening, Dr. Manette sets out to meet with the prosecutor, the president of the Tribunal, and other contacts of his
to try to persuade them to reverse the judgment on Charles Darnay. When he finally returns to Tellson's Bank, he is several
hours late, has lost his grip on reality, and is frantically searching for his shoemaking tools. This is not surprising. Much
earlier, after the Tribunal sentenced Charles Darnay, he had already been unable to speak, raking his fingers through his hair
and wringing his hands the way he had when he was insane. And before going out on his mission, his mood had been fragile
despite his determination to try to save Darnay. When he returns, it is impossible for Mr. Jarvis Lorry and Carton to know
whether he has actually spoken to anyone who might help Darnay. It may be that he tried, but couldn't find them or that he
tried and failed to convince them; it may also be that he just wandered around the city, having taken refuge in his old
madness. But one thing is clear: Darnay still has only hours to live.
In Book 3, Chapter 13 of A Tale of Two Cities, why does Sydney Carton have Charles Darnay write a letter to Lucie
Manette?

Sydney Carton dictates a letter to Charles Darnay reminding Lucie Manette of what he promised her when they spoke with
each other in private back in Soho: "there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you!" In the letter
he asks her not to grieve over his decision. After all, in that conversation in Book 2, Chapter 13, he also told her, "I would
embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you," making clear that he considered his life otherwise useless. He
characterized his life this way: "I am like one who died young. All my life might have been." By having Darnay write the
letter instead of doing it himself, Carton ensures he has the opportunity to drug Darnay so that Darnay can be taken out of
the prison without giving the plan away. They have switched clothes, and Carton slips the letter into Darnay's breast pocket.
It is written in Darnay's hand so that there is no evidence of Carton's being in the cell. In this way, he can save Darnay and
console Lucie that he has only made good on his old promise and that he embraces his sacrifice.

In Book 3, Chapter 14 of A Tale of Two Cities, is the mender of roads better off than he was living in the village on the
Marquis's lands?

Readers first meet the mender of roads when he tells the Marquis someone was hanging under the Marquis's carriage. Life is
hard for him, and he is hungry, but he is willing to speak aloud to the Marquis and does not seem afraid despite the Marquis's
reputation for cruelty. After all, he is useful to the Marquis. Some time later, the mender of roads is brought to Paris by
Monsieur Defarge to join the revolutionaries. There, he meets Madame Defarge and rides with her and her husband to see
the king and queen pass by. He finds that she makes him uncomfortable and somewhat afraid, which is how most people
who know her react. By the end of Book 3, he has known Madame Defarge for years, and, if anything, that fear has grown.
Then, he could not say what it was about her that frightened him, but now he suffers from "mortal fear." He even invents
signals Lucie Manette is supposed to have made toward the prison in order to please Madame Defarge. He knows that she
would denounce him without a second thought. He goes in fear "for his own personal safety, every hour in the day." At the
same time, he is no richer and relies on tips from passersby like Lucie to supplement his income as a wood-sawyer. If
anything, things are worse for him under the Republic than they were under the Marquis, which is saying a lot.

In Book 3, Chapter 15 of A Tale of Two Cities, how does Dickens wrap up the plot?

When reader last saw Mr. Jarvis Lorry, Dr. Manette, Lucie Manette, Charles Darnay, and little Lucie, they were speeding
toward the coast in a hired carriage, fearful they would be caught. Dickens never returns to them. In fact, the story is told in
three simultaneous episodes, each of which adds information about another. Readers only know, for example, that Miss
Pross and Jerry Cruncher make good their escape because Mr. Lorry's carriage smoothly gets its changes of horse and
postilions. But this sort of subtlety leaves too much to the imagination for Dickens, who winds up his novels with a summary
of what happens to all the characters his readers have come to love. And that is what he does here—but in a unique way.
Rather than having the narrator describe the futures of Mr. Lorry, Dr. Manette, Charles and Lucie, and the couple's family, it
is Sydney Carton who tells their story. Instead of seeing his own life flash before his eyes in the seconds before his death, he
sees the future lives of those he loves most, and it is through reading his thoughts that readers' curiosity is satisfied.

Was the concern for Victorian England expressed by Charles Dickens in the opening chapter of A Tale of Two Cities
justified?

Dickens was concerned that the conditions of the poor in the mid-19th century might lead to social unrest. In 1855, Dickens
wrote in a letter that he considered "the discontent [in England] to be so much the worse for smouldering, instead of blazing
openly, that it is extremely like the general mind of France before the breaking out of the first Revolution." He feared this
"discontent" might erupt into violence in England just as it had in revolutionary France and pointed out in the first chapter of
A Tale of Two Cities that 1775 "was ... like the present period." However, the reception of the novel revealed that, for
readers, the comparison actually reinforced the opposite idea: that England was handling its various crises much better than
France had. The unrest that had characterized the early 19th century had in fact declined by the 1850s. Parliament began
regulating industry to protect workers. For instance, laws now prohibited the child labor that Dickens had witnessed
firsthand in his own youth. Also, with the growth of the middle class, the country began to enjoy a general mood of
optimism, and the spreading empire promoted national pride. For Dickens, who was a master of dramatic irony—letting
readers know the full effects of a character's actions when the character doesn't yet know—this unexpected interpretation of
the novel was in itself ironic.

How does Dickens use character names in A Tale of Two Cities?

Dickens is famous for his inventive use of character names to indicate character's personalities or professions, such as Morris
Bolter, a runaway thief in Oliver Twist; Mr. Guppy, taken from the Hindu word gup ("gossip"), who uncovers Lady
Dedlock's secret in Bleak House; and the surgeon Mr. Slasher in The Pickwick Papers. Dickens does this to only a limited
extent in A Tale of Two Cities. Mr. Stryver, for instance, is an ambitious lawyer, the Marquis's servant and tax collector
Gabelle is named after an unpopular French tax on salt, and Jerry Cruncher beats his wife. The name Roger Cly may be
meant to suggest "clever spy." Of course, this practice did not originate with Dickens. Puns on character names, for instance,
were common among Elizabethan writers and continued to be used liberally for several centuries. Perhaps the ultimate
example is the highly influential 17th-century allegory by John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, which contained such names
as Christian (the titular pilgrim, whose given name was Graceless), Mr. Worldly Wiseman, Prudence, and Lord Hate-Good.
The practice fell out of favor in the 20th century. For the French characters in A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens often uses titles
rather than names. This pertains not only to nobility, such as the Marquis, but also to commoners, such as the mender of
roads and The Vengeance. Even the name Jacques, which is used for a number of characters, may be seen as a title because it
explicitly denotes a revolutionary. Similarly, Dickens uses the appellation Monseigneur to refer not only to the court member
who holds a reception in Book 1 but to any member of the nobility and, in Book 2, even to the nobility as a group. Other
characters are given names that seem appropriate to their nationality (the French-sounding name Manette as compared to the
English-sounding name Lorry, for instance) and station (for example, Miss Pross, whose single status—typical of a
governess—is conveyed by "Miss").

In Book 2, Chapter 8 of A Tale of Two Cities, what do readers learn about the Marquis from his stop at the burial ground?

The reader's first sight of the burial ground is the cross with the newly carved figure of Christ on it. It would be natural to
expect the Marquis to have commissioned the figure, but because the narrator calls it "a poor figure," it must have been
created by a peasant without the Marquis's instigation. Apparently, the Marquis does not support his tenants' faith. The figure
itself, which the artist "had studied ... from the life—his own life, maybe—for it was dreadfully spare and thin," gives the
impression the Marquis's tenants are undernourished. It is not surprising that the Marquis is unsympathetic to the peasant
woman's petition. From his conversation with her, though, readers discover several new traits. First, although he comes
across the woman kneeling in a graveyard, when she mentions her husband, his first thought is of his income; he asks, "What
of your husband ... He cannot pay something?" When she says her husband is dead, he finds comfort in that because the man
can cause him no trouble: "Well! He is quiet." He then wonders why she is telling him; after all, there's nothing he can do for
her: "Can I restore him to you?" She explains her husband, like so many others, died "of want." The Marquis asks, "Again,
well? Can I feed them?" In the context, this is a shocking question. He's their liege lord and therefore has an obligation to the
peasants on his land. They pay taxes to him; in that sense, they feed him. They work his properties, and he lives off that
work. But the Marquis is completely unaware that he has a responsibility to them; he sees only their responsibility to him.
This shows economic ignorance. When, in the end, all the woman wants is a grave marker that she cannot afford herself, he
unsurprisingly drives off. He never hears her final words about the village's dead: "They are so many, they increase so fast,
there is so much want." But for readers, these words echo Dickens's constant refrain about the miserable condition of
France's working poor.

How does Dickens use metaphor in Book 2, Chapter 16 of A Tale of Two Cities?

In the conversation between the Defarges, it becomes clear that Monsieur Defarge is becoming dispirited and impatient with
the pace of revolution. They use several metaphors in their conversation. When she reminds him that "Vengeance and
retribution require a long time," he says, "It does not take a long time to strike a man with Lightning." He is likening their
revolution to lightning, which strikes suddenly and can be deadly. It also brings with it echoes of divine retribution, that is,
of a god striking down his enemies with lightning. Madame Defarge extends the metaphor by asking, "How long ... does it
take to make and store the lightning?" This makes her argument that such things take preparation. Then she brings up
another metaphor to illustrate the same juxtaposition: "It does not take a long time ... for an earthquake to swallow a town. ...
Tell me how long it takes to prepare the earthquake?" She delves further into this second metaphor, pointing out that no one
sees or hears the earthquake developing, but that "when it is ready, it takes place, and grinds to pieces everything before it."
This is a comforting image for Monsieur Defarge.

How does Dickens portray the relationship between Lucie Manette and Charles Darnay in Book 2, Chapter 20 of A Tale of
Two Cities?

This is the first time readers experience a conversation between Lucie Manette and Charles Darnay after their marriage. The
couple is alone, and throughout the conversation they stand close together, each wrapped in the other's arms. Lucie is
requesting that her husband do as she asks without questioning her reasons. But even though she is making a demand on
him, her body language—"her hands on his breast, and the inquiring and attentive expression fixed upon him," and later
"clinging nearer to him, laying her head upon his breast, and raising her eyes to his"—is yielding and trusting. She trusts him
to listen to her calmly and without jealousy and to take her concerns seriously. Not for an instant does Darnay question what
may have passed between his wife and Sydney Carton; not for an instant does he doubt her assessment of the man. He
accepts her gentle rebuke that he does not show Carton enough "consideration and respect" and agrees to do so in future and
to "remember how strong we are in our happiness, and how weak he is in his misery ... as long as [he] live[s]." (He cannot
know it now, but Carton will repay his faith many times over, and it will be due to Carton that Darnay's life of happiness
with Lucie will be a long one.) This is a picture of romantic love characterized by complete trust and a shared commitment
to generosity of spirit toward others. This spiritual closeness is echoed in a physical closeness as indicated by Lucie and
Darnay's close contact with one another, which culminates in a series of tender kisses at the end of the scene.

How does Dickens introduce and develop the sea as a metaphor in Book 2, Chapter 21 of A Tale of Two Cities?
Dickens uses the sea as a metaphor for the mob of revolutionaries as they storm the Bastille, showing the sound, vastness,
anger, and power of the mob. The narrator describes how, at Defarge's call, "with a roar ... the living sea rose, wave on wave,
depth on depth, and overflowed the city" and how, when it reaches the prison, it "rag[es] and thunder[s] on its new beach."
Like the ocean, the mob of revolutionaries is inexorable, inescapable, and destructive. Just as the rocks of a beach are ground
to sand, the stones of the Bastille will topple before it and many will die beneath its surge. Even Monsieur Defarge cannot
control the mob. He sets off as its leader, but quickly becomes just another soldier: "the sea cast him up against a cannon,
and on the instant he became a cannonier." When the fortress surrenders, the mob again behaves like the ocean rushing in,
sweeping Defarge "over the lowered drawbridge, past the massive stone outer walls," and into the Bastille. Until he is in the
courtyard, "so resistless was the force of the ocean ... that [he couldn't] draw his breath or turn his head." He sets off to find
Dr. Manette's cell, but still the sound of the "sea" is audible, "inundati[ng] ... the courts and passages and staircases" and
sometimes drowning out his conversation with the prison guard and Jacques. Eventually, they climb the North Tower, rising
above the ocean, but when they return, they find themselves back "in the raging flood." The narrator summarizes the
metaphor of a dark and dangerous sea near the end of the chapter, when he describes "the sea of black and threatening
waters, and of destructive upheaving of wave against wave, whose depths were yet unfathomed and whose forces were yet
unknown." This is only the beginning of the destruction; the mob's true extent and power are yet to be revealed. In fact, the
metaphor continues in the next chapter, which is called "The Sea Still Rises."

How do Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge function as "threads" in A Tale of Two Cities?

Both Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge bind people to them and connect the people around them. Lucie does this through
her loving nature. When she establishes a bond with someone, it is one of mutual love and respect. Her web reaches beyond
her immediate family to tie in even business associates like Mr. Jarvis Lorry and bind them as close friends. Lucie brings out
the best in people, such as the otherwise dissolute Sydney Carton; his selfless love for her extends to everyone who is dear to
her. She also ensures that the people around her value one another. In this way, she weaves a life-sustaining web of people
who love and support one another. Madame Defarge functions as a dark thread, weaving a life-threatening web that binds
people in a web of shared passion for vengeance. Only her husband seems to truly love her. Most others, such as the Jacques,
respect but also fear her. The Saint Antoine women seem closer to her, but at the end of Book 2, Chapter 16, she stays with
none of the groups of women she speaks to; instead, she seems to stay just long enough with each group to bind them into
her dark web: "As Madame Defarge moved on from group to group, [the fingers, eyes, and thoughts] went quicker and
fiercer among every little knot of women that she had spoken with, and left behind." She holds the revolutionaries together at
the Bastille, refusing to let them take the governor away before her husband, their leader, returns. When the governor is
killed, she is at the center of the violence. Madame Defarge also knits more literal thread into a register of the condemned.
This particular thread loops in Charles Darnay and his family, including Lucie, due to the emotional damage Madame
Defarge suffered as a young girl. She is committed to taking personal vengeance on the St. Evrémonde family. In the end,
though, Lucie's golden web of love is the stronger one and survives almost intact, but Madame Defarge herself becomes the
victim of her vengeful nature.

In The Tale of Two Cities, how do characters other than Dr. Manette embody the theme of resurrection?

Charles Darnay is resurrected several times from a death sentence: once in London, when Sydney Carton gets him acquitted
of treason, and twice in Paris, where Dr. Manette gains his release at first, and Sydney Carton takes his place the second time
he is imprisoned. His third and final resurrection is, oddly, mirrored in Sydney Carton's words at the end of the novel just
before he is about to be executed in Darnay's place: "I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord." Sydney Carton
believes that by acting to save Darnay in this way, he is resurrecting his own life from its meaninglessness. Jerry Cruncher is
a body snatcher—otherwise known as a resurrection man. The only body he tries to dig up who might really be said to have
been resurrected is Roger Cly, the English spy who paired up with John Barsad to frame Charles Darnay for treason. Jerry
found Cly's coffin filled with paving stones; later, Roger Cly is found to be alive and living in Paris. With him is another
case of resurrection: John Barsad proves to be Solomon, the long-lost brother of Miss Pross. However, it is not only people
who are brought back from certain death, taken out of the grave, or fake their deaths who might be considered to have been
resurrected. Stories of crimes and the lies hatched to cover them are also resurrected, uncovered by the revolutionaries and
by sharp observers like Jerry Cruncher and Sydney Carton. The story of the Evrémonde brothers' rape and murder of a
peasant family is supposed to have been kept quiet by putting Dr. Manette in prison, but a letter the doctor wrote is found
and resurrects the story. In fact, the youngest member of that peasant family is none other than Madame Defarge. Once
discovered, she is not to be resurrected for long, however, and meets a similar fate to those whom she condemns to die at the
guillotine.

In A Tale of Two Cities, how does Dickens link sunrise to the concepts of life and resurrection?

Dickens first connects sunrise to the ideas of life and resurrection quite early in the novel. In Book 1, Chapter 3, as Mr.
Jarvis Lorry is traveling to meet Lucie Manette in Dover, he dozes in the carriage until sunrise. He wakes from fitful dreams
of Dr. Manette, looks at the rising sun, and says to himself, "Gracious Creator of day! To be buried alive for eighteen years!"
After Lucie and Charles Darnay's wedding, the doctor descends into madness again and returns to his shoemaking for nine
days. On the tenth day, Lorry, who has been sitting in the doctor's room, is awakened as the sun shines into the room to find
the doctor reading by the window, returned to life once more (Book 2, Chapter 19). In Book 2, Chapter 5, Dickens
establishes a connection between Sydney Carton and the sun when, in the last sentence, he writes, "Sadly, sadly, the sun rose
... upon no sadder sight than the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of
his own help and his own happiness." Although the sun is "sad" on this particular morning, it offers Carton hope at the end
of the novel, as he sees the sunrise while standing beside the Seine: "the glorious sun, rising, seemed to strike ... straight and
warm to his heart in its long bright rays. And looking along them ... a bridge of light appeared to span the air between him
and the sun, while the river sparkled under it" (Book 3, Chapter 9). This experience is so redemptive that Carton is able to
sleep for a while and is calm from that time forward. The sun has assured him of a resurrection, if not of the body, then
certainly of the soul.

In A Tale of Two Cities, how does Dickens link sunset to the concepts of death, violence, and vengeance?

Dickens clearly depicts the connection between sunset and the concepts of death, violence, and vengeance at the beginning
of Book 2, Chapter 8, as the Marquis travels home after running over Gaspard's child: "The sunset struck so brilliantly into
the travelling carriage ... that its occupant was steeped in crimson. ... The sun and the Marquis going down together, there
was no glow left when the drag was taken off." This is the moment when the man clinging to the undercarriage drops off;
before morning he will kill the Marquis, who, when last touched by the sun, was drenched in the color of blood. Later, it is
also sunset when the mender of roads sees soldiers bringing the Marquis's killer back to the village to hang him over the
fountain as he recounts to Monsieur Defarge and the Jacques in Book 2, Chapter 15: "they are almost black to my sight—
except on the side of the sun going to bed, where they have a red edge." Again, the sunset tinges the perpetrators of death
with blood. In Book 2, Chapter 23, the mender of roads wakes Jacques at sunset so that the revolutionary can go to the
Marquis's chateau and set it on fire; the narrator tells readers "the sun was low in the west, and the sky was glowing"—just as
it will glow in the night as the chateau burns.

10. Body snatching was a common practice in Dickens's day.

The character Jerry Cruncher in A Tale of Two Cities spends his nights collecting corpses for dissection by doctors. Only the
corpses of executed criminals were legally allowed to be used in this way, so the shortage of available corpses led to grave
robbing and even murder for profit. It was addressed by Parliament in the Anatomy Act of 1832, which allowed corpses of
those who died in workhouses to be used for dissection.

setting

As the title indicates, the novel’s action is split between two geographic settings, London and Paris. The novel’s main action
begins in 1775 with Dr. Manette’s return to England and ends around 1793, with Carton’s execution. Key plot events occur
even earlier, in 1757, when Manette is first arrested. The presence of two main settings allows for Dickens to incorporate
multiple storylines unfolding simultaneously in both places, which then come together in the novel’s final section when all
of the English characters find themselves in Paris. The split setting also gives Dickens the chance to contrast both cities. The
novel is critical of both cities in different ways: London (and England more generally) is presented as somewhat old-
fashioned, conservative, and out of step with the times. Dickens dryly notes that England “did very often disinherit its sons
for suggesting improvements in laws and customs.”

In contrast to this stodgy depiction of England, Paris (and other regions of France) is shown to be a place of high tensions,
perpetually simmering on the edge of violence. For example, the first description of the Saint Antoine neighborhood
highlights “a narrow winding street, full of offence and stench… in the hunted air of the people, there was yet some wild
beast thought of turning at bay.” As the violence of the Revolution finds its full expression, the Parisian setting becomes a
wild and dangerous place dominated by “cannon, muskets, fire and smoke”, as well as bloodthirsty mobs who behave with
animalistic brutality. The novel evokes the setting of a particular time and place for two reasons. First, because the novel is
historical fiction, the reader should feel immersed in the past. Second, because the shocking violence of the Revolution
serves as a warning to the consequences arising from social injustice, readers should be able to imagine what it would have
been like to live through these circumstances.

Style

Main Ideas Style

A Tale of Two Cities is written in a grandiose style. The omniscient narrator can see both into the past and the future, and
uses this perspective to make sweeping pronouncements about human nature and what lies ahead. For example, after the
Marquis heartlessly kills a young boy, the narrator describes how “The water of the fountain ran, the swift river ran, the day
ran into evening, so much life in the city ran into death according to rule, time and tide waited for no man.” Imagery of
water, and the repetition of the word “ran” creates the sense of looming disaster, and turns one specific event into a part of
larger pattern. This style contributes to the effect of recounting history, because singular events are shown to cause major
shifts in society. This same style is also evident at the novel’s conclusion when the narrator describes Carton’s prophetic
vision of the future. He is able to look beyond the violence of the Revolution and predict: “I see the evil of this time …
gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.”

Tone

Main Ideas Tone

The tone of the novel is fatalistic and foreboding. Throughout the novel, the narrator creates the sense that inevitable
suffering lies ahead. In the first chapter, the narrator describes Fate as a kind of woodsman who chooses trees to be fashioned
into the wood of the guillotine and used to kill thousands of people, while Death is portrayed as a farmer driving carts which
will eventually contain the bodies of those taken to execution: “”that Woodman and that Farmer, though they work
unceasingly, work silently, and no one heard them as they went about with muffled tread.” These images work to create a
dark and foreboding tone. Later, the novel’s urban imagery is also used to further this tone. The narrator muses that it is “A
solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own
secret.” Events in London and Paris will reveal that ordinary residents can be capable of great cruelty and violence, or hiding
mysterious pasts.

Antagonist

Main Ideas Antagonist

Madame Defarge is the antagonist of the novel. She is motivated by her desire to get revenge against any remaining
members of the Evremonde family, including Darnay, Lucie, and their young daughter. She has been “imbued from her
childhood with a brooding sense of wrong, and inveterate hatred of a class, opportunity had developed her into a tigress.” As
a result, she works to thwart Darnay and his family by reporting him to the authorities after he has been released, and she
also plans to kill Lucie and her daughter. While Madame Defarge is helped by other French revolutionaries and her husband,
she often acts independently because her hatred and desire for vengeance exceeds the hatred of others. While other
revolutionaries hate aristocrats on principle, Madame Defarge’s quest is personal: as she explains, “those dead are my dead.”
While Madame Defarge acts in cruel and bloodthirsty ways, her motivation is rooted in genuine trauma and injustice. She
remains consistent over the novel, but her motivations become more clear, and perhaps even relatable, when her family
connection to the Evremondes is revealed

Motifs

Main Ideas Motifs

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

Doubles

The novel’s opening words (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . .”) immediately establish the centrality of
doubles to the narrative. The story’s action divides itself between two locales, the two cities of the title. Dickens positions
various characters as doubles as well, thus heightening the various themes within the novel. The two most important females
in the text function as diametrically opposed doubles: Lucie is as loving and nurturing as Madame Defarge is hateful and
bloodthirsty. Dickens then uses this opposition to make judgments and thematic assertions. Thus, for example, while Lucie’s
love initiates her father’s spiritual transformation and renewal, proving the possibility of resurrection, Madame Defarge’s
vengefulness only propagates an infinite cycle of oppression, showing violence to be self-perpetuating.

Dickens’s doubling technique functions not only to draw oppositions, but to reveal hidden parallels. Carton, for example,
initially seems a foil to Darnay; Darnay as a figure reminds him of what he could have been but has failed to become. By the
end of the novel, however, Carton transforms himself from a good-for-nothing to a hero whose goodness equals or even
surpasses that of the honorable Darnay. While the two men’s physical resemblance initially serves only to underscore
Carton’s moral inferiority to Darnay, it ultimately enables Carton’s supremely self-elevating deed, allowing him to disguise
himself as the condemned Darnay and die in his place. As Carton goes to the guillotine in his double’s stead, he raises
himself up to, or above, Darnay’s virtuous status.

Shadows and Darkness

Shadows dominate the novel, creating a mood of thick obscurity and grave foreboding. An aura of gloom and apprehension
surrounds the first images of the actual story—the mail coach’s journey in the dark and Jerry Cruncher’s emergence from the
mist. The introduction of Lucie Manette to Jarvis Lorry furthers this motif, as Lucie stands in a room so darkened and awash
with shadows that the candlelight seems buried in the dark panels of the walls. This atmosphere contributes to the mystery
surrounding Lorry’s mission to Paris and Manette’s imprisonment. It also manifests Dickens’s observations about the
shadowy depths of the human heart. As illustrated in the chapter with the appropriate subheading “The Night Shadows,”
every living person carries profound secrets and mysteries that will never see the light of day. Shadows continue to fall
across the entire novel. The vengeful Madame Defarge casts a shadow on Lucie and all of her hopes, as emphasized in Book
the Third, Chapter 5. As Lucie stands in the pure, fresh snow, Madame Defarge passes by “like a shadow over the white
road.” In addition, the letter that Defarge uses to condemn Darnay to death throws a crippling shadow over the entire family;
fittingly, the chapter that reveals the letter’s contents bears the subheading “The Substance of the Shadow.”

Imprisonment

Almost all of the characters in A Tale of Two Cities fight against some form of imprisonment. For Darnay and Manette, this
struggle is quite literal. Both serve significant sentences in French jails. Still, as the novel demonstrates, the memories of
what one has experienced prove no less confining than the walls of prison. Manette, for example, finds himself trapped, at
times, by the recollection of life in the Bastille and can do nothing but revert, trembling, to his pathetic shoemaking
compulsion. Similarly, Carton spends much of the novel struggling against the confines of his own personality, dissatisfied
with a life that he regards as worthless.

Genre

Main Ideas Genre

A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel. While Dickens published the novel in 1859, the action of the plot begins in 1775.
The novel’s opening purposefully evokes the past, giving a reader a sense of what this moment in time was like: “It was the
best of times, it was the worst of times… we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.” This retrospective voice
indicates the story to come will encompass a time period, and will be directly concerned with the events of that period.
Historical novels use plots set during a time period prior to the time when the novel was written, and make reference to
documented historical events or characters. However, authors most often use the genre in order to help the reader think more
critically about the present moment. Dickens writes about the French Revolution as a way of showing how injustice and
abuse of power led to violence and chaos, and warning readers that these same problems continue to exist in Victorian
England.

Point of View

Main Ideas Point of View

A Tale of Two Cities is written in the third person omniscient point of view. An all-seeing and all-knowing narrator recounts
the events of the plot, and provides insights into the thoughts and feelings of various characters. This point of view provides
a wide-ranging perspective on historical events occurring in multiple places. An omniscient narrator can easily move
between describing events in Paris and in London. This point of view also allows a panoramic perspective on events. One
example of this panoramic view is when the narrator is describing scenes of violence during the Revolution: “Every pulse
and heart in Saint-Antoine was on high fever strain and at high fever heat. Every living creature there, held life as of no
account, and was demented with passionate readiness to sacrifice it.” The point of view allows for a removed and chilling
description of human violence.

Foreshadowing

Main Ideas Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is used in the novel to create a sense of significance and inevitability. Since all of the plot events happen in
the historical past and are recounted retrospectively by someone looking back on them from the present day, foreshadowing
arises naturally. The narrator is not trying to create suspense about what could possibly happen in the future--- readers
already know what some of the major events will be. Instead, foreshadowing is used to heighten the impact of waiting for
events to occur, and the feeling that no one can control the dark events of history.

The first time the Defarge wine shop and the St. Antoine neighborhood are introduced in the novel, “a large cask of wine had
been dropped and broken in the street.” The red wine flows everywhere and the Parisians rush around trying to drink it. The
spilling of the wine foreshadows the violence and bloodshed of the revolution. The enthusiastic reaction of the Parisians also
foreshadows the way they will get caught up in the violence, and become “drunk” on chaos and bloodshed.

Carton Preventing Darnay From Getting Convicted

When Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay first appear in the novel, Darnay is on trial for treason. When the court’s attention
is drawn to how much Carton and Darnay look alike, the jury is unwilling to convict Darnay because they cannot be certain
he is not being mistaken for someone else. This event foreshadows how Carton will later save Darnay’s life a second time: in
France, he will assume Darnay’s place in prison and eventually be executed. The foreshadowing is important on a plot level,
because it introduces the strong physical resemblance between the two men, and on a symbolic level, because it hints at
Carton having integrity and compassion. For much of the novel, Carton seems like a dissolute and selfish character, but this
act hints that he will later show a much more noble side of his nature.

Dr. Manette’s Imprisonment

At the start of the novel, Dr. Manette has just been released from many years of imprisonment in the Bastille on false
charges. Although this imprisonment seems to have been resolved, it foreshadows ways other characters will be treated
unjustly by the law in both England and France. Darnay will be tried falsely in both France and England, and Carton will
eventually be among the many innocent individuals executed during the Revolution. Dr. Manette’s imprisonment
foreshadows how injustices perpetuated during the Old Regime will continue to exist even as the Revolution claims to create
more justice.

How is A Tale of Two Cities a critique of English society?

Main Ideas How is A Tale of Two Cities a critique of English society?

A Tale of Two Cities presents a nuanced view of the French Revolution. During the period preceding the Revolution, the
aristocracy is abusing their power and bringing suffering to people as well as to France in general. The narrator describes
how “on inanimate nature as well as on the men and women who cultivated it, a prevalent tendency… towards a dejected
disposition to give up, and wither away.” However, while Dickens criticizes the social injustice and suffering created by the
old system, he also shows the horrors perpetuated by the Revolution. In describing the fall of the Bastille, Dickens paints a
vivid picture of “the remorseless sea of turbulently swaying shapes, voices of vengeance and faces hardened in the furnaces
of suffering .until the touch of pity could make no mark on them.” Even if the Revolutionaries have good reasons to try to
change the system, they become dehumanized in their violent struggle to do so.

By the time Dickens was writing, the events of the Revolution were over, but England was plagued by its own problems with
social and class injustices. In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens uses his critique of both the conditions leading up to the
Revolution, and the Revolution itself as a warning to his English audience. He connects the cold and selfish behavior of the
aristocracy to the revolutionaries’ violent demands for justice. On a political and also a personal level, the Evremonde family
is punished for generations of exploiting others. This storyline serves as a cautionary warning to the English nobility not to
become complacent or exploitative. At the same time, the negative representation of figures like Madame Defarge cautions
against using violent means to achieve political goals. Through characters like Sidney Carton, Jarvis Lorry, and Miss Pross,
the novel suggests that true change comes from individuals who act in unselfish ways, and prioritize loyalty to others.

Literary Theory:

Psychoanalytic:

 The Psychoanaylitical theory is the theory that there are three main parts of the subconscious, the id, the ego, and the superego.

 The id is basic human desire that has no sense of consciousness. This is the part of the mind that requires instant gratification at all ti

 The superego is the opposite of the id. It is the compilation of all social skills and guilt. Unlike the innate nature of the id, the supere

 The ego attempts to achieve a balance between the id and the superego. The "job" of the ego is to satisfy the id and superego at t
learned manner.

 In this novel Dickens uses these areas of the mind to show that it is impossible to live as a divided society without a mediator. This
the id, superego, and ego help to further understand this as each corresponds to a social class.  

 The id in A Tale of Two Cities is the mentality of the commoners and peasants that make up the revolting class during the revoluti
order to achieve what they want. In this wasy they are chasing immediate gratification of being liberated from the harsh rule of
disorganized and takes the form of a violent mob when bringing a member of the wealthy to the guillotiene.

 On the other side of the spectrum is the upper class and the wealthy, such as Monsegiur de Marquis, that symbolize the superego. T
through refined political tactics instead of violence and execution. 

 The French Revolution occured due to the utter absence of a middle class,  the ego, to mediate relations between the poor, the id, an
more animalistic and raw desire of the peasants to revolt against the wealthy was able to overpower the civilized methods of the u
they, hungry for revenge, brutally tortured the aristocrats.

Formalism is concerned not with what the text says but how it was said, the tone of the language that the author uses in
his work. This lens is associated with close literary analysis of dialogue and events within the novel in order to discern
the true meaning of the work.

 Dickens uses characters in his work in order to show the true state of relations between the upper and the lower
class. Dickens describes the lower class in this wasy when the wine from a broken barrel flows in the street in
France. Dickens states, " It had stained many hands, too, and many faces, and many naked feet, and many wooden
shoes," (Dickens 49). Dickens also states that the other wine, blood, would eventually also flow in the streets. The
 signifigance of the staining of the streets, hands, and feet of the townspeople is Dickens' way of showing the extent
of those who would participate in the bloodshed of the revolution. This is further confirmed with a description of
those who had been stained, "The hands of the man who sawed the wood, left red marks on the billets; and the
forehead of the woman who nursed her baby, was stained with the stain of the old rag she wound about her head,"
(Dickens 49).

 Dickens uses formalism to show the extent of the lofty superiority of the upper class. This is shown with Monsieur
the Marquis when he confronts the father of the child his carriage has just killed. Marquis is described as speaking
calmly and viewed as having, "no visible menacing or anger," (Dickens 192). In this way it is revealed how much
higher Marquis believes himself to be over these peasants. It is thought that anyone who murders another should
themselves be hysterical and express major condolences to the grieving family however Marquis does none of this.
As he is calm he is showing that he does not care in the slightest for this man as he is beneth Marquis in social
stature.

The Marxist theory is one that states whichever group controls the means of production controls society. As a result
of this there is usually a large difference between the economic state of the laborors, the proletariats, and those in
power, the bourgeoisie.

 This novel is a perfect example of this as there is a large disparity between the wealthy ruling class and the
peasants. This gap eventually causes great conflict that is supposedly resolved through the events of the French
Revolution. 

 In this novel there are many examples of this wealth gap in the first and second books. These are events that show
the extent of the disparity. One such example occurs in when Monsieur the Marquis confronts the man whose son
his carriage has run over and killed. Marquis responds to this mans grief with pompous criticism saying, "It is
extraordinary to me that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children. One or the other of you is
for ever in the way. How do I know what injury you have done my horses," (Dickens 193). Marquis exhibits the
lack of emotion that should accompany anyone who has just killed a man's son. He shows that he cares more
about his own possessions, his horses, as he values his possessions over the lives of those below him. In this
series of events in the novel it is shown that the poor have been dehumanized by the wealthy, and are seen only as
inconveniences. This lack of compassion for the opposite class goes both ways as there is no sympathy for the
wealthy from the peasants. This is why once the revolution begins there is a seemingly unquenchable thirst for
royal and wealty blood by the peasants as they have siezed control of the country and begun to treat those who
once held power as they had been treated themselves.

 Certain characters are representations of the struggle of the lower class. These characters include Charles Darnay
and Dr Manette. Darnay was seen to willingly cross this social boundry. When Darnay is with his uncle,
Monsieur the Marquis, he is a part of the oppresive upper class and takes advantage of the servants in his uncle's
manor to fulfill his needs. However, when his is with Lucie Manette, he becomes a member of the oppressed class
and struggles along with the Manettes. Dr Manette is also representative of the oppresion of the lower class.
Though he is a doctor and should garner the utmost respect from his community he was oppressed and held in
darkness for eighteen years. His transition describes the lower class in France. The people that make up the lower
class should have the respect of those who govern them yet they are treated as animals.

“A Tale Of Two Cities”As A Historical Fiction. The word history always plays an important role in‘ forming the
background of Dickens’ literary works. As far as the novel “A Tale of Two Cities” is concerned which can be termed as an
historical novel because it has always been important in literary figures. For it always provides a background to their literary
compositions. So, it can also be said that history and Dickens always go side by side. French Revolution which had played a
very key and vital role in the lives of Europeans who were absolutely affected by its horrible and dreadful results. Their lives
took a new great turn after this revolution.

This Revolution not only affected every European’s life but also the lives of all the writers. Dickens was not exempted from
it. He was having a very sensitive soul and was deeply affected by the results of French Revolution, he therefore wrote this
novel in the perspective of French Revolution.

We observe in this novel that every character is directly or indirectly influenced by this revolution. Sometimes, it seems
that Dickens is against the Revolution because it caused a lot of bloodshed, killings, executions, murders, hangings, etc. It
seems to be annihilating the whole generation but sometimes, it feels that Dickens favors it; as it helped the poor and
crushed people to compensate for the wrong doings and exploitation of the rich and aristocratic sections against them. It also
became a medium of raising a voice of protest against the privileged and aristocratic families of the society.
Carlyle’s French Revolution had great effects on Dickens’ imagination and he described the principal historical scenes and
events. Yet, there are many limitations in this novel from a historical point of view because other English and French issues
of the society are not discussed. Dickens gives us no progress and culmination of French Revolution though he tells us the
only hatred of the public towards the privileged classes. He only gives the sketches and scenes of excesses, killings,
executions, hangings and barbarities which were committed by the revolutionaries during that revolution. He even does not
talk about the systematic analysis of the causes of the French Revolution.

Neither does he take notice of the leading historical figures of the French Revolution such as Napoleon and Mirabeau who
did great in making this Revolution a success. On the contrary, Dickens only shows a great injustice of the rich towards the
poor which leads to violence, and violence then to inhuman cruelty. To some extent, here Dickens becomes paradoxical.
Firstly he supports the crushed and down-trodden sections of the society but in the end he terms them as villains. How a
pathetic scene it is when the French Revolution gets its climax when Madame Defarge cuts off the head of the Governor of
the Bastille. Apart from these acts of violence, there are also further excesses which show the anarchy of the Revolutionaries.

There is no doubt in saying the fact that Dickens, having a very soft and tender heart, feels a great pathos at such excesses.
The Chateau of the Evremondes is set on fire and the old Foulon and his son-in-law are hanged. It is the ending part of the
novel in which we see that the brutalities of the French Revolutionaries reach at their peak. The scenes in which weapons
are sharpened on the grindstones for the next killing or bloodshed, are really heart-itching and nerve splitting.

The working on La Guillotine which is the National Razor and which shaved close, is really awful to watch. The
revolutionary tribunals in which the arrested culprits are trailed to death sentence, also resulted in killing of many harmless
people for nothing. In fact, these are such episodes and scenes in which Dickens shows us the atrocities of French
Revolution and also clarifies the historical references about this revolution. 

Apart from giving the graphic picture of the French Revolution, Dickens is not ignorant of the vital roles which were played
by a group of private characters with its events. These particular individuals are the major characters of this novel who are
as Dr. Menette, Luice Manette, Darnay and Sydney Carton. These such characters were forcefully drawn into the horrible
revolutionary events as innocent victims who did not at least deserve the sufferings and distresses which were caused to
them by the dreadful and torturous events of the French Revolution.

Darnay who loves the poor and common section of people who were being exploited by the rich people. He renounces the
properties of his forefathers and bid farewell to the luxurious estate of his family in Paris but even then he is sentenced to
death very unjustly and lawlessly. Sydney Carton’s sacrificial execution is an act of supreme sacrifice. It is his noble death
which demonstrates the possibility of rebirth through love and expiation.

This novel is different from Dickens’ other novels in its presentation. Dickens presents everything through the symbolism.
Being a fine piece of fiction in which Dickens converts a domestic life of a few simple private people with the terrible public
event so masterly that the one seems to be the part of the other. As Dickens himself is not a man of revolutionary acts, he
makes it clear that it is the upper strata or high gentry of French society which causes the outbreak of out breaking this
bloody French Revolution. It was the result of a natural process which resulted in the consequences of the social oppression
which had been continuing in France for many centuries.

Note being a true Marxist yet revolutionaries and radicals have been Dickens’ favourite topics, Both Marx and Engels
always praised his novels and regarded him as a fellow fighter in the war against social injustices, social inequalities, social
exploitation of Victorian England. As a matter of fact is concerned, they are not right in their views because Dickens does
not favour or approve the violence, executions, murders, killings, hangings etc. of the revolutions. Dickens had always
condemned these acts of bloodshed and he thought always that these are as negative as the oppression of a rigid capitalist
social order and all these acts of violence were equally destructive.

Dickens had openly clarified that he always considered revolution as a monster violence which always led to another
violence and it was a such kind of process in which the oppressed got oppressive whenever they had an opportunity to
dominate. There is an evident example in this regard in this novel “A Tale of Two cities” when Madame Defarge gets
oppressive, she gets aggressive and her limitless desire for revenge changes her into the same evil against which she began to
struggle. Her hatred is the reward of hatred.

To sum up this above mentioned analysis; we can say in the concluding remarks forcefully and vehemently
that Dickens wants to make it clear that aristocratic and high gentry people of any society should not behave exploitedly
with the common and poor people of the society that they become so frustrated and angry that they are compelled to revolt
and become ruthlessly violent. This bloody French Revolution could be averted if the Frenchmen had behaved
like Dr. Manette and Darnay then would not have erupted or started any kind of revolution Dickens always favoured and
agreed to the view that every revolution is the product of social injustice, inequality and lawlessness. It is the law of nature
that whenever and wherever the subjects will be crushed down by suppression, the oppressors would react in bloody
revolution.
A Tale of Two cities – As Historical and Tragical Novel

Limited view of the French Revolution: A TALE OF TWO CITIES is a historical novel pertaining to the period before and
during the French 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 TWO CITIES he was vitally interested in history. In
FR, he found a subject worthy of his broad conceptions a great nation ripening its own destruction – literally France of
course, but by implication England, too. However, it must be kept that CHARLES DICKENS’s novel doesn’t by any 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 that can 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’s French Revolution which Dickens had studied many times. In this book, he found a perfect source
for the principal historical scenes and events that he needed for his purpose. The basic idea for the plot was derived by
Dickens from a play called the Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins. A novel called Zanoni written by Lytton in a similar context
also supplied help to CHARLES DICKENS. 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 transferred the involvement which he had experienced in
the acting of The Frozen Deep to the writing of A TALE OF TWO CITIES. Dickens has identified himself completely with
the part played by Sydney Carton in the story. This is one aspect of the link between the novel and the personal feelings of
the author.

Crisis and Revolution in his personal life: While A TALE OF TWO CITIES was maturing in his mind, Dickens was
passing through a series of dramatic personal events. His married life with Catherine had never been happy since the
marriage took place. There were two reasons for this unhappiness. One was incompatibility with his temperament. Second
was that Dickens was deeply interested in a girl before and during the marriage.  In his early youth, he had successfully
courted a young girl named Maria Beadnell, but she died causing a great shock and grief to Dickens. Later his feelings were
taken up by an actress named Ellen Ternan who played the role of Clara in the Frozen Deep with Dickens. Catherine could
no longer bear this relationship and got separated. Such was the personal crisis in his life which were externalized into A
TALE OF TWO CITIES. The French Revolution which deeply affected the destiny of the characters in A TALE OF TWO
CITIES overtook Dickens as a man, as a husband and as a lover. A TALE OF TWO CITIES enabled Dickens to combine his
bent toward social criticism and warning with the technique and point of view of the historical novel, and it also enabled him
to find an escape from the torments of his personal struggles and at the same time expose those pains in a symbolic form.

Elements of a tragedy: It is not a full historical or personal novel. It is basically a tragedy written in the background of
French Revolution. It depicts the fortunes and misfortune of some individuals who are drawn into the public events. It is
impossible to take the French Revolution as the theme of the novel. Despite all its melodramatic, injustice, barbaric and
historical scenes of the Revolution, we can, unhesitatingly, state that A TALE OF TWO CITIES is a genuine and realistic
tragedy. A true tragedy in literature depicts suffering and misfortune and shows human beings 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 an exhilarating effect upon the reader by showing the lofty and heroic side of human nature while also taking
cognizance of the mean, evil and wicked manifestations of human nature. Pity and Fear are the two dominant emotions
aroused by a tragedy, but a true tragedy must effect a catharsis of these and kindred emotions. Though a novel written with a
great deal of objectivity and detachment is yet one having a great personal and autobiographical significance. It was written
at the time when Dickens was passing through a great crisis and a mental struggle in his life. The crisis and the mental
struggle are reflected in the troubled lives of the characters. The revolution in Dickens’ own mind shows him struggling with
himself not only as a man but also as an artist in order to evolve a new method and technique of expression. So far his life as
a man is concerned, three of the main characters, namely Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton and Lucie Manette become
projections of Dickens himself. At the time this novel was written, Dickens wanted 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 does have obvious
limitations as a historical novel. It attempts no really panoramic view of either the English or The French political world of
those critical years (1775-1793). Barnaby Rudge was even 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 rising dissatisfaction of
the people, the turmoil caused by public fury, and the excesses and barbarities committed by the revolutionaries during the
years of the FR. CHARLES DICKENS gives us no connected account of the FR, its progress, and its culmination. He gives
us brief and shattered accounts of some of the principal episodes. He doesn’t give us systematic analysis of the causes of the
FR, but he manages to convey to us all the horrors of the FR. Similarly, he takes no notice of the historical personalities and
their contribution such as Mirabeau and Napoleon. Nor did he attempt to do what Tolstoy might have attempted. Dickens’s
main concern so far as FR is concerned, was to show that extreme injustice leas to violence and violence then leads to in
human cruelty as shown by the Reign of Terror in France. In the first part, Dickens’s sympathizes with the poor and
downtrodden, but at the end these people become the villains who therefore repel him.
Historical scenes in A TALE OF TWO CITIES:  Dickens’s first reference to the outward causes of the FR comes in the
chapter, “The Wine-Shop” in which he uses the symbol of the mill to convey 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 assassination by 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 the French Revolution is then briefly described by Dickens in the Chapter;
“Echoing Footsteps” That episode is the storming of the Bastille Madame Defarge’s cutting off the head of the governor
with her own hands prepares us for the excess which will be committed by the revolutionaries. But the real brutalities and
excesses are described at the end when the prisoners in La Force are waiting to be cut off, a frightening description of the
weapons by the revolutionaries on the grindstone and the awful working of the La Guillotine (The National Razor which
shaved close). None of the great historical leaders are mentioned, only the executioner Samson is mentioned. In the final part
of the novel, Dickens has followed Carlyle very closely.  However, Dickens’s debt to Carlyle is 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 French Revolution which shook France in the years
1789-93. Dickens’s main achievement lies not only in giving us graphic and stirring accounts in the manner of Carlyle, but
also in interweaving the personal lives of a group of private characters with the events of the FR. (a brief summary that how
the characters are slowly drawn into the FR. The real identity of Charles Darnay, wrongs done to Dr. Manette by Evremonde
family. Their sexual harassment of a girl and Dr. Manette’s evidence so that he had to stay under prison. Why Madame
Defarge is revengeful because she is the sister of the girl raped by the Evremonde family. Etc. describe Darnay’s visit
to France, the arrest and acquittal of Darnay linked with the revolution, the death sentence against Darnay, the substitution of
Sydney Carton and conclusion of the whole incident.).

The Tragedy of Dr. Manette: This man was a promising young physician, leading a quiet and peaceful life with his wife in
the city of Paris. His life was blighted by the cruelty of the two Evremonde brothers who took him to attend upon a young
girl and her dying young brother. Give his story of suffering…to the end…

Sufferings of Lucie and Darnay: Life is not very kind to Lucie and her husband either. Lucie lost her 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 to Lucie, “I am like one who
died young.” He is a frustrated individual who sinks lower and lower in life 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, the drinking of spilled wine. The
storming of the Bastille, Defarge’s cutting the governor’s head, the sharpening 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 the tragic conflict that had been
going on in Dickens’ own mind just before he wrote this novel. In 1855 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 systematic theory of revolution, he
certainly reveals a well-defined attitude towards the revolution and seems to 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 the principal 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 though suffering 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 simple private people is in such a manner integrated and knitted with the outbreak of a terrible
public event, so that one seems to be a part of it. Although Dickens was obsessed with the revolution and its massacre, but he
was no revolutionist. It is true that certain Marxist critics have treated A TALE 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 personification of 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 Madam Defarge is self-destroyed thought the accidental shooting off her own
pistol. This incident shows that Dickens feels no sympathy for the revolutionaries of Madame Defarge type. The actual fact
is that Dickens regarded the revolution as a monster. The scenes painted in A TALE OF TWO CITIES are a nightmare it is
Dickens’s own nightmare. He teaches us that violence leads to violence, that prison is the consequence of prison and that
hatred is the reward of hatred. If all French noble men had been as willing to give up their class privileges as Darnay and if
all French intellectuals had been so as keen to expose social abuses as Dr. Manette, there might have been no revolution or at
least no revolution of this intensity. His conclusion about the French 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.”

IRONY

When Charles Darnay is exchanged with a Carton and When Dr. Mannette has to testify against Charles.