Tale Of Two Cities Analysis

Time. It may seem insignificant to literature, yet it has a tremendous impact on a novel. A novel is simply a compilation of pages, so the introduction of time, and the suspension or acceleration of it can sometimes detract from the novel, causing confusion or boredom. However, in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, time is used not only as a symbol for the state of society during the French Revolution, but also as a technique to set various paces throughout and to emphasize the confounded conclusion of the novel.

Juxtaposition is the comparison of two things put close together. It is evident that the stylistic element of juxtaposition plays a pivotal role in Charles Dickens’ world renowned novel, A Tale of Two Cities. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens utilizes juxtaposition to add a depth of meaning, specifically to illuminate socioeconomic disparities and unrest during the French Revolution, which is evident through the first chapter, the excessiveness aristocrats and the anguish of the peasants, and Madame Defarge casting darkness and Lucie casting light.

In a Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens juxtapositions suspense and humor in an intricate tale of love and loyalty.

Story-truth, these are the truths that cannot be seen but are known to exist. These connect with a person on an empathetic level. Tim uses his storytelling ability to highlight that even when a story is not true that it can be truer than a story that is founded in happening-truth. In a Tale of Two Cities a story truth can be seen in Chapter XV “Knitting”. The man who killed the Marquis is placed in a series of horrible tortures to atone for his crime. The ultimate result is an expounding of fact within the town nearby. The revolutionists of France use this story to portray the absolute horridness of the aristocracy. The “mender of roads”, who claims to have witnessed the whole event, states:

In the literature art of “A Tale Of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, a loyalty to warfare, causes suffering to family and social class. A theme that is dominant in the feel and the writing style of the novel. Charles Dickens is excellent at providing a deep and personal meaning to fictional based characters; make you feel for them, sometimes more than these in real life.

This wasted potential is emphasized when both Darnay and Carton fall in love with Lucie Manette. Darnay, as the typical charming hero, is chosen over desperate, brooding Carton. As a result, Carton finds himself channeling his love and his physical advantage of being Darnay’s double into keeping Lucie safe and happy by way of rescuing Darnay from the guillotine. Thus, Carton is able to become the proverbial “good guy,” a role he saw for himself in his counterpart, Darnay. He also managed to thwart the Defarges’ plot to murder all those connected to the aristocracy in any way. In this way, Dickens is able to use the comparisons and contrasts between the two men to show how love is capable of victory over violence and vengeance.

Sydney Carton, “one of Dickens’s most loved and best-remembered characters” (Stout 29), is not just another two-dimensional character; he seems to fly off the pages and into real life throughout all the trials and tribulations he experiences. He touches many hearts, and he even saves the life of Charles Darnay, a man who looks surprisingly similar to him. In Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton is a selfish man of habit, a cynic, a self-loathing drunk, and an incorrigible barrister until he meets Lucie Manette; throughout the novel Sydney is overcome by his noble love for Lucie and transforms from a cynic to a hero as he accomplishes one of the most selfless acts a man can carry out.

Sydney Carton proved that his life was purposeless since he is always drunk and lazy, but he wants to make right decisions that would help others since he doesn’t really care about himself. Sydney finally tells Lucie Manette that he loves her bye he say’s, sorrow and repentance, blight you, disgrace you, pull you down with him”. Sydney say’s that he is not worth it and it will bring her down too.“For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything . . . I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you” (Dickens 156). Even though Sydney is lost and hopeless, he promises Lucie that he will be ready to give his life for her happiness. Sydney Carton comes a long way where it is hard for him to find it’s true potential. Sydney’s words are so fragile but later these words help him find freedom for himself and leave a mark, so people remember him.

Being a horrible drunk, Carton knows that he is not worthy of Lucie’s affection, but he loves her nevertheless. Not expecting any kind of affection in return, he still confesses his love to her when he says, “Think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you!” (Dickens 117). Knowing he will never earn Lucie for himself, that he has made too many mistakes in his past, Carton puts her happiness above his own by saying that he wouldn’t only put his life on the line for Lucie, but also for anyone she loves, even Darnay, who is his ‘competition’ for her love. This foreshadows what happens at the end of the book, when Darnay, Lucie’s husband, is about to be sent to the Guillotine. Since Darnay and Carton look similar, Carton knocks Darnay out and takes his place for the sole purpose of making Lucie happy. Right before he is taken up the stairs to the Guillotine, he imagines Lucie and Darnay growing old together and naming their child Carton, and he knows, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done: it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known” (Dickens 293). As Carton gives up his life for Lucie’s happiness, he becomes a wise, selfless person. In Lucie’s crisis, Carton transitioned from a self loathing drunk to a person he can be proud of by taking care of the woman he loves the most.

Carton loves Lucie just as much as Charles except Carton will do anything for her even sacrifice his life for her. The love is present and Carton makes it clear by meeting with Lucie before she marries Charles. Carton then expresses his love for Lucie but instead of asking for her love back he says all he wants is to make an impact on her life. “For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything. I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you. And when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you” (Dickens 156). Carton seems to have found his purpose and that is Lucie. During the meeting with Lucie, Carton explains that he is beyond repair and how he cannot be saved by her. By saying Carton would “embrace any sacrifice” he alluding to his purpose and legacy. Carton feels so bad about himself that he wants no one to feel the way he feels. He has discovered his purpose. Sydney Carton will trade places with Charles Darnay and be sacrificed for the greater good of Lucie. When Carton learns what has to be done he walks and thinks about the resurrection. “I am the resurrection and the life, saith the lord: that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. This allusion to Jesus gives Carton life. By saying “I am the resurrection and I am the life” Carton is saying that he is the resurrection to Lucie and Charles but also the life because even though he will be sacrificed he will live through the spirits of Lucie and Charles giving him a new life. :In a single movement at once actual and symbolic, Cartons spiritual self, “The life within him” disguised by mortality, imprisoned by the mundane world, is liberated through

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.

Charles Dickens’ own father was in debtor’s prison when Dickens was a young boy. Dickens left his family to work in a factory so that his father could be liberated. Dickens did this out of the love he had for his father; however, he sacrificed living with his family for living on his own to work. The parallels between sacrifice and love are one of many of the reoccurring themes throughout Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens shows that the power of love exceeds violence and hatred in life through the sacrifices made out of love from Miss Pross, Dr. Manette, and Mr. Carton.

In the sociopolitical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens analyzes the events of one of the bloodiest revolutions in history, the French Revolution, characterized by its violence after no less than 40,000 people were sentenced to death. The violence of the revolution put irreversible change into motion, helping to bring greater equality between French citizens as a result of the upheaval, and causing political changes that affected millions. Through his changing tone, Dickens conveys that rebellion is necessary to amend the ever-growing divide between the social classes, but the mindless nature of the violence, as a result of mob mentality, is excessive, and blood is unnecessarily spilled.

Out of all the compelling characters in this story, Lucie Manette and Jarvis Lorry are the two that are most interesting to me. In the beginning of the story, they were strangers. However, as the plot develops, we find out they have actually met before. When Lucie became an orphan, Lorry took her to England to be raised. This action shows that Lorry cared for Lucie and wanted what was best for her. They meet again when he takes Lucie to her father. Throughout the story, they grow a strong bond.

Sacrifice, even when it comes to one’s ultimate end, is crucial in order to survive as a productive race. In the book Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, he illustrates the hardships of the early-nineteenth-century lifestyles. With the resurrection of an evicted man, the novel sprouts from a broken family recovering and growing. This novel incorporates many grand gestures and adventures, such as the French Revolution, treason trials, and the sacrifice of one’s own life in the name of love.