A Tale of Two Cities

Chapter 6
East, West, South
and North
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When Charles and Lucie Darnay came back to London from
their honeymoon, Sydney was their first visitor. Carton
spoke to Charles, asking him to forgive him for being rude
after the trial and offering him a hand of friendship.
Charles assured Sydney that had forgotten all about it, but
at dinner, after Sydney had gone home, Charles made some
general comments about his lack of responsibility. His wife
was silent at dinner, but after Dr Manette and Miss Pross
had gone, she sat staring thoughtfully into the fire.
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“What is it, my dear?” asked Charles.
“I don’t think you were very kind to Mr Carton this afternoon. I
know he seems a rude, lazy man, but there is more to his
character than this.”
“I don’t think too badly of him, really.” Her husband was
surprised.
“I know, but Mr Carton has a heart, which he shows very rarely.
His heart is broken, I have seen it bleed.”
“I’ll remember this as long as I live,” Charles replied, touched
by how much his wife cared.
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The years passed and Lucie had a daughter now, also
called Lucie, who was 6 years old. Charles Darnay was a
strong, wealthy man and both her father and Miss Pross
were well and happy. Sydney Carton visited them a few
times a year and Lucie listened to the footsteps of the
years. There had been sadness as well as joy: their young,
golden-haired, son had died. Now there was just little
Lucie to chat away in the tongues of the Two Cities that
were important in their lives.
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Now there was just little Lucie to chat away in the
tongues of the Two Cities that were important in
their lives.
What did Dickens mean by ‘the tongues of the two
cities?
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Now there was just little Lucie to chat away in the
tongues of the Two Cities that were important in
their lives.
What did Dickens mean by ‘the tongues of the two
cities’?
Dickens meant the two languages spoken in the
Two Cities; the English Language in England and
the French language in France.
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What did Dickens mean by ‘the tongues of the two
cities’?
Dickens meant the two languages spoken in the
Two Cities; the English Language in England and
the French language in France. In addition,
Charles teaching Lucie to speak the French
language while Lucie taught Little Lucie the
English language.
Page 71:
At the same time, there were other echoes from a
distance, too. There was the sound of thunder from
the other city, the sound of the great storm in
France and the dreadful sea that was rising on that
July evening in 1789 …

What did Dickens hint to in the last paragraph?

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At the same time, there were other echoes from a distance, too.
There was the sound of thunder from the other city, the sound
of the great storm in France and the dreadful sea that was rising
on that July evening in 1789 …

What did Dickens hint to in the last paragraph?

Dickens used foreshadowing for the French
Revolution that was about to burst as a storm.
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At the same time, there were other echoes from a distance, too.
There was the sound of thunder from the other city, the sound
of the great storm in France and the dreadful sea that was rising
on that July evening in 1789 …

What did Dickens use for suspense?

Page 71:
At the same time, there were other echoes from a distance, too.
There was the sound of thunder from the other city, the sound of
the great storm in France and the dreadful sea that was rising on
that July evening in 1789 …
What did Dickens use for suspense?
Dickens used two literary techniques to show suspense:
1- Dickens used a foreshadowing and a metaphor by
comparing the revolution to a storm that was about to
burst.
2- Dickens used an ellipsis […] to create a dramatic effect.
Page 71:
Mad dangerous footsteps were forcing their way through
the streets of Saint Antione, footsteps not easily made
clean again once they were stained red. A huge shout
had come from the throat of Saint Antoine that morning,
and at the center of that angry screaming mob was
Defarge’s café. Young and old took hold of knives, guns
and swords, tools they found on their farms and in their
workshops. Others armed themselves with rocks and
stones.
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“Jacques One, Jacques Two, Jacques Three stay
near me!” shouted Defarge.
Mme Defarge was not knitting today. She stood
calmly near her husband, in her right hand was a
long knife, and in her belt were a small gun and
another and another, shorter, knife.
“ Come then!” cried Defarge.
“Patriots and friends, we are ready! To the
Bastille!”
Page 71 and 72:
With a shout that sounded as if all the breath in
France had been shaped into that one hated word
‘Bastille’ the living sea rose, wave after wave and
flowed to that very place. Alarm bells rang, drums
sounded. The eight great towers of the Bastille
stayed strong for four hours against the waves of
angry people. Then a white handkerchief appeared.
The Bastille had fallen! The sea of people became
an ocean and flooded in through the great gates.
Page 72:
“The Prisoners!”
“The records!”
“The secret cells!”
“The prisoners!”

At one point, Defarge caught hold of a prison officer.

“What is the meaning of One Hundred and Five
North Tower?” he screamed at the terrified man.
“Monsieur, it’s a cell. I’ll take you there!”
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They pushed through the mob of people and found the
cell. It was a small room with a window high in one of
the walls. There was a chair, a table and a small bed. On
the wall, were two letters.
“A. M.!” cried Defarge. “Alexander Manette!”
He began to search the room. He broke the table, the
chair and the bed. Then, in the wall, he saw something
white. A document! Defarge took the document, set fire
to the furniture and the men left the cell.
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The sea of people of Saint Antoine was anxious to have
Defarge at their heads: they had found the Governor of
the Bastille and wanted to make sure he couldn’t escape;
they were taking him to court at the Hotel de Ville for
trial. Mme Defarge stood next to the Governor as the
mob began to attack him. She didn’t try to save him, and
when he was dead, it was she who took out her long
knife and cut off his head on the steps the Hotel de Ville.
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Through the streets of Paris, the footsteps of St.

Antoine echoed in the middle of July, in the year
1789. The footsteps were mad and dangerous and
the stains they made would not be as easily cleaned
as they were when they were stained red by the
broken barrel of wine.
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St. Antoine had one delighted week of brotherly
affection and congratulations. Mme Defarge
looked around her café and at the street outside.
She could see the poor and the unemployed: they
now had a job to do. Mme Defarge had a look of
approval on her face. She could see the knitting
women with their cruel fingers, and she was the
leader of this group.
Page 74: A new character:
A companion sitting next to her was knitting red
caps for the people. People called this short, rather
fat, grocer’s wife The Vengeance.
“Listen!” shouted The Vengeance. “Someone is
coming.”
“It’s Defarge!”
Page 77: A new character
There was a whisper in the village and after eating
their poor suppers, the villagers didn’t go back to
bed. They stood, near the fountain, waiting for
something to happen.
The villagers were all looking in the same direction
and Monsieur Gabelle, the head tax
collector of the place, was worried. He went up
to the top of his house and looked in the same
direction as the villagers.
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The night got deeper. Four figures, East, West, South
and North walked through the woods and into the
castle [The Marquis’ castle]. Four lights started to
shine in four different places, but soon the castle
began to be visible by some strange light of its own.
The doors and the windows were lit as the light grew
higher, wider and brighter.
Give an example of triplets that Dickens used
to draw a picture in the reader’s mind?
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The few servants who were left there ran or rode
away as the fire got stronger. They ran, or rode, to
the village to ask for Monsieur Gabelle’ s help, but
he could do nothing. The mender of roads and two
hundred and fifty of his friends , all called Jacques,
were standing by the fountain, all wearing their red
caps.
“The Castle must burn,” they said with one voice.
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“The Castle must burn,” they said with one voice.
Monsieur Gabelle was lucky; he escaped with his
life. There were other tax collectors in other
villagers across France who were less lucky that
night. East, West, South and North travelled
through the country and the fires burnt.