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A Tale Of Two Cities Analysis

Decent Essays

Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities shows a literary perspective on the French Revolution. The story follows characters from London and from Paris. The two cities are constantly compared to each other, even from the first paragraph “There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever” (Dickens 3). Since Dickens grew up in London, many understand why he holds bias for Londoners. Dickens seems to write London as being orderly and morally correct. In contrast, when Dickens talks about Paris, he refers to the riffraff and moral instability of the French Revolution. When readers take time to look at the characters who hailed from either city, they may notice this trend carries to the characters as well. A Tale of Two Cities uses its characters to portray Paris as immoral and savage and London as moral and orderly. When looking at two counterparts, most readers would not think to compare Madame Defarge and Sydney Carton. Both of these characters have a chance to save Charles Darnay. Madame Defarge is depicted as a heartless and single minded French Revolutionists. Of of the first things we notice Madame Defarge doing is knitting. We find out the reason she knits so much is because she is making a

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