A Tale of Two cities - Critical Analysis

A detailed Summary of A Tale of Two cities - Critical Analysis

A Tale of Two Cities - Critical Analysis

In 1859, Charles Dickens wrote the book A Tale of Two Cities. In A Tale, Dickens writes about the French Revolution, and relates the events in the lives of two families, one French and one English. In addition to writing about a very interesting fiction plot, Dickens also tied in a wide variety of important themes and sub plots that keep the reader interested as well as portraying very valuable lessons for us even today. He chose very archetypical characters for the book, all strengthening or portraying one of the themes. The main themes are revenge, courage and sacrifice, and resurrection.

One theme involves revenge; the evil effects of revenge bring out one's bad side. Although it occurs many times in A Tale, Madame Defarge is the main character representing this theme. Her sister and mother were assaulted by the brothers Evremonde. After this, she vows to herself that all members of the Evremonde family will die. She turns into a ruthless killer because she must get revenge. When her husband tells her to stop, she replies, "tell the wind and fire to stop, not me" (pg 338). We now see that she is a person teeming with hatred. Revenge is so powerful. When she found out Charles Dar

Often when reading a book, the individual tends to draw parallels in the literature. One parallel often used is the difference between the beginning and ending of the book. A Tale of Two Cities began and ended with a journey. In the second chapter of the novel, Jarvis Lorry travels to recall Dr Manette to life. In the end of the book, Sydney Carton is taken to his death, because of Defarge's revenge. He saved his friends life. Lorry began with the theme of resurrection, and Carton finished off with the theme of sacrifice, dying because of revenge.

"The Doctor was in his best condition, and looked especially young. The resemblance between him and Lucie was very strong at such times, and as they sat side by side, she leaning on his shoulder, and he resting his arm on the back of her chair, it was very agreeable to trace the likeness" (pg 73).

Another key theme in the novel has to do with courage and sacrifice. There were many sacrifices in this novel by many different characters. Charles Darnay went back into the war-torn France from his safe house and family in England to save his former servant Gabelle from the hands of the rebels. He did this, for the simple reason that he gave his promise, many months ago. Also, Dr Manette 'sacrifices' his love for her for her love to Darnay. After the wedding, we see how much Lucie means to Dr Manette in his return to cobbling shoes.

Throughout the novel, Dr. Manette has gone through several mentally tragic episodes. Every time he goes into a relapse, Lucie is the only one that can help him regain normalcy. Darnay also took a part in this theme of resurrection. Charles Darnay's soul had been spiritually resurrected and saved from being killed. Due to being an Evremonde and fo

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sydney Carton, Dr Manette, Darnay Evremonde, French English, Madame Defarge, Ms Pross, Charles Darnay, Dr Manette's, Lucie Manette, North Tower, dr manette, sydney carton, tale cities, book tale, book tale cities, theme resurrection, courage sacrifice, guillotine carton, charles darnay, spiritually resurrected, life life,

Approximate Word count = 1170
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels