A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities Background

A Tale of Two Cities is Charles Dickens's second and final book of historical fiction. Dickens conducted extensive research on the French Revolution. By his own admission in the preface, he used Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution (1837) as his primary source of material for the factual events. Dickens contacted Carlyle for information and resources. Carlyle responded by famously supplying Dickens with a couple of cartloads of books from the London Library.

Dickens also notes that his inspiration for writing the novel came from a play he acted in called The Frozen Deep (1866) by Wilkie Collins. In it, Dickens played a character who sacrifices himself for his rival, so the latter could marry the woman they both love. This situation is the basis for the love triangle between Lucie, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton. Set in revolutionary France, A Tale of Two Cities is grounded in a historically accurate time period during factual events but is not based on a true story.

A Tale of Two Cities was originally serialized in All the Year Round, a magazine Dickens created himself after a disagreement with his publisher. The novel is separated into three sections. In A Tale of Two Cities, we see Dickens growing and developing his craft.

Fig. 1 - Dickens released A Tale of Two Cities in serial form in his magazine called All the Year Round.

A Tale of Two Cities Summary

A Tale of Two Cities has a strong linear construction. The main idea expressed through the central conflict of Darnay's trials, unfair sentence, and Carton's act of self-sacrifice is that an individual has an opportunity for redemption through unselfish acts. Dickens characterized the individuals within this novel through their actions, rather than what we are told of them through the third-person omniscient narrator.

Section I

The narrative begins in late 1775, as Jarvis Lorry is traveling from England to Paris. With him is a young and beautiful girl of 17 years named Lucie Manette. She has just learned that her father, Doctor Manette, whom she thought was dead, was actually imprisoned in the Bastille for the past 18 years and has been released. She is going to see him.

As the pair arrives, they visit Ernest Defarge. He is a former servant of Doctor Manette. Defarge now owns a wine shop in one of the poorest districts called Saint Antoine. He has been caring for Doctor Manette and leads them to a garret room where Doctor Manette is making shoes. Doctor Manette is pale, thin, and mentally unstable. He does not fully respond to the men, but when Lucie approaches he sees her mother in her and begins to weep. Mr. Lorry and Lucie return to England, taking Doctor Manette with them.

Section II

Five years later, Lorry crosses paths with Doctor Manette and Lucie at the trial of an aristocrat, Charles Darnay. Doctor Manette seems to have fully recovered from the psychological, physical, and emotional damage caused by his 18 years incarcerated. He and Lucie have a close bond, and it is evident that he is a caring and loving father. Darnay is charged with treason against the English crown. If found guilty, he will be put to death. Darnay’s lawyer, Stryver, and his colleague, Sydney Carton, undermine the prosecution’s argument that Darnay is identifiable without error by pointing out the physical resemblance between Darnay and Carton. Darnay is released.

After the proceedings, Darnay, Carton, and Stryver all begin spending time at the Manette household to spend time with Lucie. They are all attracted to her. Carton, a man aware of his drunken habits and embittered attitude toward life, does court her but professes his love. He asserts that he is not good enough for her, but states that he would gladly give his life for her to have her happiness. Even so, Lucie falls in love with Darnay.

The social tension in France is increasing as Darnay’s uncle, the cruel Marquis St. Evrémonde, has run over a child with his coach. Because of his social status, he suffers no real consequences but is then murdered in his sleep by the child's father.

Meanwhile, Lucie and Darnay get married. While Lucie and Darnay are away on a honeymoon, Doctor Manette suffers a relapse. This is triggered by Darnay, who reveals his lineage and family connections to Doctor Manette before the wedding. Dr. Manette again thinks he is a shoe cobbler making shoes in prison.

In July 1789, the revolution begins with the Defarges leading the revolt to storm the Bastille. In 1792, Darnay receives a letter from St. Evrémonde's steward. The revolutionaries have assumed control of France and have taken him as a prisoner. He begs Darnay to travel to France and rescue him. Darnay travels to France but is captured and imprisoned in La Force, with little hope of a trial or sending word for help.

Fig. 2 - A Tale of Two Cities centers around the battles of the French Revolution.

Doctor Manette, Lucie, and Lucie's daughter travel to Paris to meet Lorry. Doctor Manette has credibility with the revolutionaries and is regarded as a hero because he was a Bastille prisoner and survived. He is able to learn Darnay’s whereabouts and negotiates a trial for Darnay. At the trial, Darnay is released because Doctor Manette provides a compelling testimony. Mere hours after his release, the Defarges level new accusations against Darnay. He is again ripped from his family and imprisoned.

The following day, Darnay is tried again. A letter written by Doctor Manette stating St. Evrémonde’s responsibility in the death of Madame Defarge’s family and his own imprisonment is submitted as evidence. Although Darnay has previously rejected his status and connection to his family, the letter is leveraged to show his responsibility and connection to his family. He is sentenced to death. Reeling over the dramatic proceedings and the guilt from his letter sealing his son-in-law's doom, Doctor Manette reverts into a state of mental anguish and dementia.

Section III

Quietly, a still in love Carton arrives in Paris, learning of Darnay’s impending execution and a plan to send Lucie and her daughter to the guillotine after Darnay’s execution. In an act of self-sacrifice and to secure a future for the woman he loves, he sneaks into Darnay’s cell with the help of Barsad, a spy. Carton drugs Darnay, then uses their resemblance to save his life for a second time. He switches clothing with the still unconscious Darnay and has Darnay taken out of the cell in disguise as he sits and awaits the execution in Darnay’s stead. The physical resemblance between the men is so similar that no one questions their identities. As Lorry helps Lucie, her daughter, her father, and Darnay flee France, Carton is executed. At the guillotine, Carton is redeemed and dies comforted, knowing he has saved the woman he loves and her family.

Fig. 3 - Guillotines were commonly used to execute people during the French Revolution.

A Tale of Two Cities Characters

A Tale of Two Cities Quotes

A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens's shortest novels but is often one of his most quoted. Dickens shows an incredible ability to balance his diction and ideas within the piece, making the contents memorable and even musical. Still a relevant read hundreds of years after it was written, A Tale of Two Cities is quoted in contemporary times.

The famous first line in A Tale of Two Cities represents a conflict in ideas. Dickens uses anaphora to show the balanced importance of each idea and to give the opening narrative a poetic cadence pervasive in much of his writing. The line explores the polarizing conditions in England and France while offering a perspective on the current societal conditions in which Dickens is writing. Dickens uses the paradox to reveal the disparity in the situation.

Sydney Carton professes his love and devotion to Lucie Manette, despite knowing that he is not an adequate match for her. His admission is heart-wrenching and foreshadows the climactic ending, where he sacrifices his life for her husband's life and to ensure her happiness. This helps to create a tense and dramatic plot but also reveals Carton's strength of character despite his shortcomings.

This last line of A Tale of Two Cities is expressed from Carton's perspective before his execution. It expresses his comfort in knowing that his life, or rather his death, is not in vain. His existence holds meaning, and his sacrifice is valued. Dickens uses parallelism to show a balance between the ideas' importance. It is also a way to bring the story full circle and remind the reader of the start of the novel.

A Tale of Two Cities Symbols

A Tale of Two Cities is a short novel brimming over with historically accurate details and poignant social commentary on the atrocities and evils that exist in life. An analysis of central symbols in the novel allows the reader to better understand the novel's central themes.

Wine

The flowing wine in the streets is symbolic of several things. The color is emblematic of the blood that flows from the innocent, the executed, and the needless deaths. The wine foreshadows the atrocities committed by the revolutionaries, where blood is spilled in the streets. The novel draws a distinct parallel between blood and wine. The Defarges both literally and symbolically have blood on their hands.

Wine also represents the wasteful aristocracy, who thoughtlessly squanders resources and lives in excess while the impoverished struggle to live and get their basic needs met. As the wine spills on the filthy streets, the poor scramble to drink the spilled beverage from the streets. Their desperation, hunger, and extreme state of misery are expressed in their willingness to take the wine from the ground.

Lucie Manette

Lucie Manette, whose name is reminiscent of the word “light,” is a beacon of hope and love within the novel. Her presence and face, illuminated by her golden hair and blue eyes, are able to pull her father from the depths of despair and dementia. She effectively resurrects her father from his figurative death. She exudes youth and beauty, giving birth to a little girl as a symbol of the future. Lucie is kind and devout, generous and patient, with an inexhaustible ability to show compassion, even in the face of the most intolerable cruelties. Lucie is representative of unconditional love and inspires the most selfless act in the novel.

A Tale of Two Cities Themes

Although many themes are dominant within Dickens's historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, some themes are revealed to be most compelling. While parallels between the state of the poor and the excess of the wealthy are present in England during the time Dickens is writing and at the time of the French Revolution, themes of redemption, love, and sacrifice are universal and speak to many readers.

Redemption and Love

A Tale of Two Cities speaks to the human condition deals and the ability of humankind to transform and transcend to a better state of existence on both the individual and societal levels. Although Doctor Manette suffered for 18 years while incarcerated, he was inspired by love, by Lucie, to ascend out of his dementia and lead a better life. Carton, although portrayed as an unworthy character and a drunk, is redeemed through his act of self-sacrifice to secure a future for a woman he loves, who will never love him back.

Sacrifice

The first book of the novel, “Recalled to Life”, introduces the idea of resurrection and redemption that links the novel together. Ironically, Sydney Carton finds redemption and character resurrection through his death. His death serves to give others life and ensures that his inspiration, Lucie, leads the life he knows she deserves. His act of selflessness and death immortalizes him, gaining him the love and admiration from Lucie he sought in life.