A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Perspective and Narrator

A Tale of Two Cities is told in the third person by an omniscient
narrator.
Tense
A Tale of Two Cities is told primarily in the past tense.
About the Title
Charles Dickens wanted to call his novel Recalled to Life, but he
decided to use that title for Book 1. Instead, he called the novel A Tale
of Two Cities, referring to the cities of London and Paris, which figure
prominently as settings.

CONTEXT

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.

Summary
A Tale of Two Cities is set in both London and Paris in the late 18th
century, but earlier events contribute to the plot. In 1757 one of the
main characters, Dr. Alexandre Manette, has been imprisoned in the
Bastille by the Marquis St. Evrémonde and his brother for refusing to
keep quiet about a crime they committed. At the start of the novel, he
has been released and is in a garret in Paris.
Book 1: Recalled to Life
In 1775, Mr. Jarvis Lorry of Tellson's Bank is on his way from
London to Dover to meet with his charge, young Lucie Manette,
who has also come from London. On the way, the coach is stopped by
a messenger from Tellson's, Jerry, who gives Lorry a small, folded
paper. Lorry reads the paper and tells Jerry to take a message back to
the bank: "Recalled to Life."
When Lorry arrives in Dover, he meets with Lucie. Lorry tells her
that her father, whom she believed dead, is actually alive, has been
released from prison, and is staying at the house of a former servant.
Lucie is in shock.
When Lorry and Lucie arrive at the Paris wine shop of Monsieur
and Madame Defarge, they are taken to see Dr. Manette, who is
busy making shoes in the garret on the fifth floor of their house.
When Lucie sees him, she is afraid at first, but she soon embraces
him. She and Lorry take Dr. Manette out of Paris.
Book 2: The Golden Thread
Five years later in London, Charles Darnay is being tried for
treason. John Barsad and Roger Cly, two spies, testify against Darnay.
Lucie and Dr. Manette also testify against Darnay, albeit unwillingly.
Mr. Stryver, Darnay's lawyer, points out that Sydney Carton, his
associate, looks exactly like Charles Darnay, and Darnay is acquitted.
In Paris, the Marquis has his carriage drive through the streets so fast
that he kills the peasant Gaspard's child. The Marquis flips him a coin
and drives on. That evening, he meets with Charles Darnay, who is
his nephew, and Darnay gives up his inheritance. That night, someone
stabs the Marquis to death.
A year later, Darnay tells Dr. Manette he wants to marry Lucie.
Meanwhile, Sydney Carton tells Lucie that he will do anything for the
people she loves.
Jerry Cruncher sees the funeral procession of Roger Cly and decides
to rob his grave to sell the body. Meanwhile, Gaspard has been caught
and hanged for the death of the Marquis. Madame Defarge adds John
Barsad and the Marquis's family to her "register"—the list of people
to be guillotined recorded in her knitting.
Lucie marries Darnay. After a private meeting with Darnay, the
doctor reverts to his old shoemaking habit, but he recovers ten days
later. Miss Pross and Lorry destroy his shoemaking tools.
Over the next few years, Lucie and Darnay have a daughter, little
Lucie, and a son, who dies young. In 1789. the Paris revolutionaries
storm the Bastille, led by the Defarges. Later that month,
revolutionaries burn down the Marquis's mansion. In 1792, Darnay
learns that Gabelle, his uncle's former servant, has been imprisoned
and goes to France to save him.
Book 3: The Track of a Storm
When Charles Darnay arrives in France, he is imprisoned as an
emigrant and an aristocrat. Lucie, Miss Pross, and Dr. Manette go to
Paris, find Mr. Lorry at Tellson's Bank, and tell him Darnay is in
prison. Dr. Manette tries to get him out, but he is unsuccessful. It is a
year and three months before Darnay is released. However, that
evening, he is arrested again, denounced by the Defarges and another
person.
Miss Pross sees her long-lost brother, Solomon Pross, who uses the
alias John Barsad. Jerry recognizes him, and so does Sydney Carton.
Carton blackmails Barsad to get him into the prison to see Darnay.

In court, the third person to denounce Darnay is Dr. Manette, through

a letter found in his old cell. The letter says the Marquis raped and
killed a peasant woman and, with Darnay's father, killed the woman's
father and husband as well as her brother, who hid their younger sister
before he died. Dr. Manette had tried to report the crime but had been
captured and imprisoned by the Marquis before he could do so. After
hearing this, the jury condemns Charles Darnay to death.
Sydney Carton discovers Madame Defarge is that younger sister and
that she plans to denounce Lucie, and little Lucie as well. Carton tells
Lorry to get the doctor, Lucie, and little Lucie out of Paris. He goes to
the prison with Barsad, exchanges clothes with Darnay, and drugs
Darnay. Barsad takes Darnay out of the prison and leads his family to
escape. Carton stays in the cell.
Madame Defarge tries to find Lucie and her daughter. She finds Miss
Pross and struggles with her, pulling a gun. The gun goes off in the
struggle, killing Madame Defarge and permanently deafening Miss
Pross. Sydney Carton is guillotined in Darnay's place.
A Tale of Two Cities Plot Diagram
Introduction

1Jerry delivers a note from Tellson's Bank to Mr. Lorry.

Rising Action
2Lorry sends back the message, "Recalled to Life."
3Lorry tells Lucie Manette that her father is alive.
4Lorry and Lucie find her father above Defarge's shop.
5Lorry and Lucie bring Dr. Manette back to London.
6Charles Darnay's British treason charges are dropped.
7The Marquis kills Gaspard's child and is murdered for it.
8Darnay asks to marry Lucie; Carton admits he loves her.
9Darnay tells his name; Dr. Manette is insane for days.
10Darnay is arrested in Paris; Dr. Manette frees him.
Climax

11Darnay is denounced by Defarges and Dr. Manette's letter.

Falling Action

12Miss Pross sees Barsad, her brother; Carton blackmails him.

13Dr. Manette's prison term was for reporting the Marquis.
14Lucie escapes; Madame Defarge dies fighting Miss Pross.
Resolution

15Sydney Carton drugs and frees Darnay and dies in his place.

CHARACTERS
Charles Darnay
At the beginning of the novel, the innocent Charles Darnay is
being tried in England at the Old Bailey for treason. Sydney
Carton gets him acquitted, and he meets Dr. Manette and Lucie
Manette, who reluctantly testified against him. He falls in love
with Lucie and marries her, but he has to tell her father his
secret: He is of the same French aristocratic family that
imprisoned Dr. Manette. Darnay is determined not to continue
the cruelty practiced by his ancestors but to treat people with
compassion. Later, Darnay is imprisoned in Paris for being an
aristocrat despite having renounced his title. Saved by Dr.
Manette, he is rearrested—this time for murders committed by
his father—and saved from the guillotine by Sydney Carton.
Sydney Carton
Sydney Carton, a lawyer who drinks heavily, happens to look
enough like Charles Darnay that he saves Darnay from
trumped-up treason charges. He becomes reluctant friends with
Darnay because he is in love with Lucie Manette, but he knows
he cannot have her. Carton's failing is that he has such terrible
self-esteem that a simple friendship with Lucie is not enough to
help him change his life for the better. But his love for Lucie is
so strong that he vows to do anything for those she loves, so
that she can have a good life. In the end, he sacrifices his life to
save her husband from the guillotine.

Lucie Manette
At the beginning of the novel, Lucie is only 17 and has been
told by Mr. Lorry, her guardian and adviser, that her father,
whom she believes dead, has been released from the Bastille
and is living in a garret in Paris. She brings him back to London
to live with her. As the novel progresses, Lucie is the "golden
thread" who ties together nearly all the other characters. She
marries Charles Darnay, becomes friends with Lorry, and is
loved unreservedly by Sydney Carton. Her goodness and her
connection to Darnay make her a target for Madame Defarge,
though Ernest Defarge believes she should be spared. Miss
Pross is jealous of anyone who takes her away and yet will also
do anything for her. And Dr. Manette considers her his angel of
mercy.

Dr. Manette
When the story begins, Dr. Manette is a frail former prisoner
who can do nothing but make shoes all day long. He is rescued
by his daughter, Lucie, and once he is living with her, becomes
a stable, loving father and solid friend—unless something
reminds him of his time in prison. Even though Darnay is the
nephew of the man who imprisoned him, Dr. Manette accepts
Darnay into his family for Lucie's sake. He is willing to fight for
Darnay's life, using every connection he has to save him from
prison and certain death.

Mr. Jarvis Lorry

Mr. Jarvis Lorry is the one who discovers that Dr. Manette is
actually alive and has survived his imprisonment in the Bastille.
As the financial adviser to the family and Lucie's guardian for
financial purposes, Lorry tries to keep their relationship
professional. However, he can't help but get personally
involved, and his ability to do business in both London and
Paris gives him leeway to go above and beyond the call of duty
for Lucie, Darnay, Carton, and Dr. Manette. His messenger
even serves as a sort of guide and guard for Miss Pross,
Lucie's governess. For Mr. Lorry, the Manette family and all
who are connected with them are like family.

Monsieur Defarge
At the beginning of the novel, Monsieur Defarge seems to be
an ally of Dr. Manette, his one-time employer. Defarge has
stepped forward to give the doctor a safe place to stay after he
is released from the Bastille. He also helps Lucie and Lorry
take Dr. Manette out of the garret above the shop and get him
out of Paris. However, as a leader of the revolutionaries,
Monsieur Defarge cannot simply stand by and allow Charles
Darnay to come back to Paris without any consequences,
regardless of the fact that he is now Dr. Manette's son-in-law.
Defarge is one of the people who denounces Darnay in court
and brings forth Dr. Manette's letter denouncing Darnay as well.
He stops short of being thoroughly vindictive, however, by
saying he thinks it enough to punish only Darnay, not his wife
and child.

Madame Defarge
Madame Defarge is admirably strong in her determination to
fight for the revolution, but she is also vindictive and cruel.
Once crossed, she has no mercy whatsoever. She stands by
saying almost nothing and knitting, but she is the one who
ultimately decides if someone will be executed or not, knitting
that person's name into the long, otherwise purposeless piece
of fabric she creates. Anyone connected with the aristocracy in
any way is an enemy of hers, and anyone connected with the
death of her family is condemned to die.