Symbols and Symbolism in A Tale of Two Cities - Symbolic Events

In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens opens with an anaphora, about how the world is throughout the novel. A reoccurring theme throughout this story is the battle between good and evil. Most of the novel is about the struggles each force has and how most of the time good triumphs over evil. In A Tale of Two Cities, the triumph of love, the death of the Marquis, and the contrast between Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay shows how good triumphed over evil.

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.

Although Dickens clearly supports the revolutionaries cause, through metaphors of water, he highlights the sometimes animalistic nature of the revolution. In Book one, “[T]he sea did what it liked and what it liked was destruction.” Dickens acknowledges the inevitable nature of the revolution by comparing the sea to the French mob. And the mob, much like a sea,

A Tale of Two Cities, set in the era of the impending French Revolution, describes the life of the tyrannical nobility, the raging mob, and the dynamic central figures of the book. To portray these dynamic characters, Charles Dickens’ uses themes and motifs such as resurrection, secrecy, sacrifice, shadows, imprisonment and the women of the revolution knitting. Of these themes, sacrifice for happiness is most prevalent in Dickens’ writing, because he uses it to portray that, in order for someone to be truly happy, sacrifice is vital.

In many works of literature an author uses motifs to help explain the overall theme of a novel. In A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens most prominently uses the motif of resurrection. From the very first chapter when Jarvis Lorry sends a letter from the bank saying “Recalled to Life” on it, the motif of resurrection becomes very significant. He develops this motif by using many literary devices such as character development, setting, and symbols. Dickens places symbols to continually remind the reader of the overall theme that sacrifice is necessary to be happy.

The French revolution started as a fight for the common folks’ freedoms, and quickly mutated into a murderous rampage. In the beginning of chapter five, a wine cask is dropped while being carried into a wine shop owned by Mr. Defarge who is a revolutionary. The poor and hungry people come by the dozens to drink the wine from

Charles Dickens is often praised for his unique writing style. One literary device he often uses is symbolism, and often in A Tale of Two Cities, symbolism is a vehicle for foreshadowing events. Three examples of this are the cliché wine scene, the echoing footsteps throughout the Manette’s house, and Sydney Carton’s mantra.

In the beginning of the French Revolution, Enlightened ideas drove the thought processes behind the protests. However, over time, the proletariat strayed from these ideas, resorting to violence and atrocities to solve their problems. After the revolution began, they became headlong, mad, and dangerous; and in the years so long after the breaking of the cask at Defarge's wine-shop door, they [were] not easily purified when once stained red” (Dickens 249). The wine in this passage is representative of the blood spilled during the

This represents peoples unhappiness and uncontrollable behaviors like the sea. It is clear to see that in The Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses many forms of literary devices to enrich his story and give it more of a stronger meaning to

More specifically being that the lower class peasants were tired of being exploited by the corrupt aristocracy. Dickens effectively argues that there is fault in the disparity of the social structure in society among the time of the

In France, all important characters, including the Marquis have ties to the Defarge’s wine shop. The Marquis’ connection is through the event that got him murdered. These two institutions are the central pillar of their society, and the events that transpire there reflect who their owners are as people. The Defarge’s wine store is frequented by the Jacques revolutionaries, and plotting murder is common practice for its owners. There is a truly evident reason that this location was central to all the events that happened in the book, its patrons and owners were central to the book.

Dickens further heightens their perversion by describing Revolutionaries at the grindstone as “ruffians” and “creatures” with “matted locks” (242). He goes on to illustrate the Reign of

The passage concludes with the line: "The time was to come, when that wine [blood] too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there". This foreshadowing is anything but subtle. The wine is a symbol of the blood that will be spilled in the future violence will take place in Paris; not only that, but based off of the people's reaction to the dropping of the cask, it will be spilled with feverish relish; and, the greedy who partake will be marked by their actions for

Dickens declares that “The wine was red wine, and it had stained the ground of the narrow street in the suburb of Saint Antoine, in Paris, where it had stained many hands, too, and many faces, and many naked feet, and many wooden shoes. ”(22). A big cask of wine spills through a street in Saint Antoine and the people are all starving so they start to drink the wine in the streets. The wine that covers everyone’s clothes and skin represents the blood of the French Revolution. Dickens words are, “Gentle born and peasant born; all red wine for La Guillotine, all daily brought into light from the dark cellars of the loathsome prisons, and carried through the street to slake her devouring thirst.

In the following chapters, Dickens frequently mentions an approaching storm. The ominously described storm effectively acts as a clue for the nearing mayhem of the revolution and of the lives of those involved. When Sydney Carton states, “it comes surely” (77), he notes the inescapability of the storm and describes the revolution as unable to be subdued. Dickens’ characters understand the great challenge they are about to take part in, yet they remain untroubled. The subsequent description of the Marquis’ stony château reveals his indifference towards others’ suffering. This description: “…a heavy mass of building, that château of Monsieur the Marquis, with a large stone court-yard before it, and two stone sweeps of staircase meeting in a stone terrace before the principal door. A stony business altogether, with heavy balustrades, and stone urns, and stone flowers, and stone faces of men, and stone heads of lions, in all directions” (90), along with the cruel actions of the Marquis, which include refusing to provide a desperate woman with a tombstone for her husband and killing an innocent child with his carriage, craft his detestable portrayal. It is this revolting characterization of the Marquis that allows the readers to foresee the vengeful escapades of the commoners. Unfortunately, for him and for the entire company of nobles who mistreat others, the lower class will not be