A Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens

The French Revolution was a movement from 1789 to 1799 that brought an end to the monarchy, including many lives. Although A Tale of Two Cities was published in 1859, it was set before and during the French Revolution and had over 200 million copies sold. The author, Charles Dickens, is known for being an excellent writer and displays several themes in his writings. Sacrifice is an offering of an animal or human life or material possession to another person. Dickens develops the theme of sacrifice throughout the story by the events that occurred involving Dr. Manette, Mr. Defarge, and Sydney Carton.

The novel, A Tale of Two Cities, was written by Charles Dickens and was published in 1859. A Tale of Two Cities is a historical fiction based during the French Revolution. As two groups of people who both live in London and Paris find themselves in a situation that affects all of them, which ends with some deaths and suffering. Charles Dickens purpose for writing A Tale of Two Cities was to inform and amplify the readers mind on human nature. Throughout the book Charles Dickens uses many themes and characteristics, that bring out human nature in all his characters, to broaden the view of the readers.

Of the extraordinary amount of literary devices available to authors, Charles Dickens uses quite a few in his novel A Tale of Two Cities, which is set during the French Revolution. One of his more distinctive devices is character foils. The five sets of foils are Carton and Darnay, Carton and Stryver, Darnay and the Marquis de Evremonde, Madame Defarge, and Mr. Lorry and Jerry Cruncher. Dickens uses foil characters to highlight the virtues of several major characters in order to show the theme of personal, loving relationships having the ability to prevail over heartless violence and self-consuming vengeance.

In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, isolation impacts Madame Defarge and Sydney Carton by altering their perception of life, influencing Madame to become obsessive with her vengeful goal of eliminating the aristocracy and damaging Carton by forcing him to contain his depressive emotions.

In the melodramatic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the author uses the theme sacrifice. He shows that sacrifice is important in his story because some of his characters must give up their lives for another. Miss Pross dedicates herself to Lucie because she wants Lucie to have a brighter future than she did. Then, out of his love and devotion for Lucie Manette, Sydney Carton sacrifices his life to save a life she loves. The sacrifices Miss Pross and Sydney Carton make express that mankind will give everything for what they love and believe in.

A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, is a suspenseful novel taking place before and during the French Revolution in the late 1700s. The audience is taken on a journey through time, learning about how the Revolution affected two main families, the Manettes and the Evrémondes. Throughout the novel, Dickens makes the reader question what drives man-kind to sacrifice? The answer is love and happiness result in sacrifices. The characters, such as Charles Darnay, Doctor Manette, and Sydney Carton prove this as they commit sacrifices to start a new life, for a loved one, or for the benefit of other people.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a story of great sacrifices being made for the sake of principle. There are many examples of this throughout the book made by many of the characters but some or more evident than others. In Book The First, entitled “Recalled to Life,” the most obvious sacrifice for the sake of principle was made by Dr. Manette. He is imprisoned for eighteen years in the Bastille, for no apparent reason. Another noticeable sacrifice made for the sake of principle was made in Book The Second, entitled “The Golden Thread,” also by Dr. Manette. Charles Darnay reveals the truth about himself and about his family history. He tells Dr. Manette his real identity and that he is heir to the Marquis

A Tale of Two Cities has several recurring themes, including the failure of the French Revolution. In the book, the peasants defeated the aristocrats by imprisoning and murdering them. Although many of the imprisonments and executions were unjust, the peasants had gain complete power. The peasants’ revolution did not end the tyranny that existed with the aristocrats ruling, but created a new tyranny with lack of justice and mercy.

She connected him to the benevolent part of his Past, and now she is the only one who can guide him beyond his sufferings, eventually to a better place in the Future. In a like manner, Lucie heals Dr.Manette not only in physically or a mental way, now she indirectly helps him “recalls to life” a newfound purpose by using his miserable past to help the Evrémondes. Charles is locked up in the La Forcé by the French peasantry so, Dr.Manette protects Charles by going to the prison, interacting with the people by using his influence to tell them how Charles is innocent. Interestingly enough, the Doctor’s actions surprise

The era surrounding the French Revolution was a horrifically bloody and violent period of history – the best of times and the worst of times. The violence enacted by the citizens of French on their fellow countrymen set a gruesome scene in the cities and country sides of France. Charles Dickens uses a palate of storm, wine, and blood imagery in A Tale of Two Cities to paint exactly how tremendously brutal this period of time was.

The French Revolution was a time of many sacrifices. Some were for the right reasons and other sacrifices were for the wrong reasons. In Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, the theme of sacrifice is developed throughout the novel; the three best symbols of sacrifice are Miss Pross, Doctor Manette and Sydney Carton. Miss Pross willingly and gladly sacrificed a normal life and was willing to die for Lucie. When Lucie fainted because she found out news about her father from Mr. Lorry Miss Pross lovingly called

Darnay’s imprisonment marks the high point of Dr. Manette’s resurrection as he realizes that “his suffering is strength and power ” (Dickens 260). Manette acknowledges that he can be Darnay’s savior and rejoices, “As my beloved child was helpful in restoring me to myself, I will be helpful now in restoring the dearest part of herself to her”(” (Dickens 260). Although Dr. Manette’s imprisonment had initially been the death of him, “he He had slowly forged the iron which could break the prison door of his daughter’s husband and deliver him” (Dickens 260). Eventually, Dr. Manette convinces the court to set Darnay free. He is finally able to be the father Lucie never had as he assures her that “I have saved him” (Dickens 280).

“Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it 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, sensible of the blight on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away” (Dickens 92). A Tale of Two Cities, a novel by Charles Dickens, describes the “imprisonment of the whole French people within the walls of an unyielding social system.” During the time before the French Revolution, a person’s fate was determined by the family into which someone was born. No matter how hard someone worked to rise above this social status, it was impossible to overcome this fate. Many were weary of this mistreatment of the poor and decided to turn to rebellions to break the separation between the wealthy and the poor. The characters in this novel are analogous to the French people in that they are ensnared by love and hatred, mental instability, and the unfortunate events that lead up to their imprisonment. Nonetheless, Dickens’ allows them to be unchained by embracing their past and fate to further determine their “key to release.”

When people go through traumatic experiences, they often tend to have a different perspective of the world around them. Dickens puts his characters through many distinct personal struggles that end up shaping who they are. Although each of these struggles was particular to each of the characters, they all were affected in some way, whether that be in a positive or negative light. Throughout the course of the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens toys with the idea of personal change to develop the ambiguity of the characters Sydney Carton, Ernest Defarge, and Madame Defarge.

Although the “rebirth” does not take place right then Lucie’s love for her father is never doubted for even a second. In chapter six, when she sees her father for the very first time Lucie says to him, “…that your agony is over...I have come here to take you from it...” (49), this marks the beginning of the doctor’s rebirth. Through this statement Dickens has Lucie promising that she will do anything for her father out of pure love. As the Manette’s travel back to England, in time it becomes clear that Lucie’s love towards her father is beginning to have an impact on his behavior. In chapter five, of the second book Dr. Manette is able to carry on a complete conversation, which shows the readers that he is regaining his sanity. Later on in chapter seven of the third book, Dickens reminds his readers again of how far Dr.Manette has come since that first day in the Defarge’s attic, “No garret, no shoemaking, no One Hundred and Five, North Tower, now! He had accomplished the task he had set himself…" (285-6). It is at this moment that the reader knows he has been resorted back to his old self before he was in prison. Throughout all the hardship and pain the doctor has to endure, his daughter Lucie never leaves his side.