“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” So begins Charles Dickens’s fantastic novel, A Tale of Two Cities. The book was published in 1859, and has since grown to become one of the most famous books of all time. It was Dickens’s aspiration, when writing the tale, to chronicle the events of the French Revolution in an enjoyable way. But when he finished, the Revolution wasn’t the only theme of the book. There is one recurring theme, which can be described in the phrase“recalled to life.” The entire tale practically revolves around this theme. In fact, the book begins and ends with it- in the recalling to life of a scarred, half- dead prisoner, and in the recalling to life of an uncaring, miserable man.
The events described in the book take place in the European cities of
London and
Paris, during the years of 1775-1795. While the two bustling cities are the major settings of the book, there are many smaller, equally important places, such as Defarge’s wine shop, where most of the Paris plot is set; Tellson’s Bank, the ancient, dusty bank which provides a central setting, both in London and Paris; and the Manette home, where many of the characters either live or spend their time.
The time period of this book was a cruel and trying one. The bloody French Revolution plays a large part of the book, although most of the tale takes place in the years beforehand- years of pomp, pageantry, and poverty in Paris, and years of crime and disorder in London. Dickens describes their situations in these words: “There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France… France, less favored on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness downhill, making paper money and spending it… In England, there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting.” It is obvious that Franceand Englandare rapidly failing. Disorder is beginning to rear its ugly head, and discontent is slowly overrunning the people. In fact, in one grim paragraph, Dickens gives us a prophetic glimpse of what the future will hold for the two cities: death. This is essential to the book’s central theme, for without death, how can one be recalled to life?
Just as there are many settings in the tale, there are many characters. Most, such as Jerry Cruncher or Miss Pross, have relatively small roles, while others, such as Charles Darnay, a.k.a. the Marquis St. Evremonde, the good and decent husband of Lucie Manette; Mr. Jarvis Lorry, the business- minded yet kindhearted Tellson banker; and Monsieur Defarge, the French wine shop keeper / revolution leader, play larger roles. But the character who seems to stand out above the rest is Sydney Carton, a brilliant lawyer from London. As we learn when he is first introduced, Carton is almost identical in appearance to Charles Darnay, although in personality they are completely different. While Darnay is good, kind, honest, decent, and hardworking, Carton is lazy, untidy, drinks often, hates himself, and stubbornly refuses to change his ways. At one point in the story, he states, almost boasting, “I care for no man, and no man cares for me.”
In describing Carton’s hopelessness, Dickens writes, “Waste forces within him, and a desert all around, this man stood still on his way across a silent terrace, and saw for a moment, lying in the wilderness before him, a mirage of honorable ambition, self- denial, and perseverance. In the fair city of this vision, there were airy galleries from which the loves and graces looked upon him, gardens in which the fruits of life hung ripening, waters of Hope that sparkled in his sight. A moment, and it was gone. Climbing to a high chamber in a well of houses, he threw himself down in his clothes on a neglected bed, and its pillow was wet with wasted tears. Sadly, sadly the sun rose; it rose upon no sadder sight that the man of good abilities and good emotion, 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 away.” But as the tale goes on, it becomes apparent that Carton is changing, forsaking his apathetic attitude and exchanging it for a determined, caring one. His only motivation is the love and kindness of Lucie Manette, Darnay’s wife. It is obvious that Carton loves Lucie, and he tells her that he would give even his life to keep her and those she loves happy.
This contributes to the book’s central theme in that Carton, at the beginning of the book, can be considered“dead.” He is living with no purpose or direction or motivation. But Carton is willing to sacrifice even his life to make Lucie happy, which he eventually does, and in his death, he is recalled back to life, love, peace, and happiness.
When Dickens first wrote A Tale of Two Cities, it wasn’t as a novel. He wrote the story in short installments, which were published weekly in a magazine. The installments were eventually bound together in book form, and were then further divided into three segments entitled Recalled to Life, The Golden Thread, and The Track of a Storm. The first segment, Recalled to Life, mainly tells of the rescue of Dr. Manette, a French doctor who has just been released from the Bastille after eighteen years of imprisonment. His aid comes in the form of an old acquaintance, Mr. Jarvis Lorry, who arrives in Paristo take the Doctor back to the safety of London. The second part, The Golden Thread,is the longest segment of the book. It includes many important parts of the plot, including Darnay’s salvation from being executed as a spy, Darnay and Lucie Manette’s marriage, and the storming of the Bastille in France. At the very end of The Golden Thread, Darnay receives a letter from an old servant who has been imprisoned in Paris, and he sets off to rescue him. The third section of the book, The Track of the Storm, picks up right where part two left off. Darnay has been imprisoned in Parisbecause of his aristocratic rank, and the other main characters set off to rescue him. It is Dr. Manette who finally succeeds in freeing his son- in- law, but the family’s celebration is short- lived. Darnay is arrested soon after his release, and this time his execution is certain. But in a surprising twist, Carton makes good on his promise to Lucie, and, secretly switching places with Darnay, is executed in his stead. The tale ends happily, with the rest of the protagonist characters fleeing to Londonwhere they will, presumably, live happily ever after.
Every good story has a main conflict. It is that familiar struggle between good and evil, between morality and sin, and even sometimes between pomp and poverty. In the case of A Tale of Two Cities, the main conflict is between the belligerent peasants and the neglectful aristocrats of Paris. Dickens creatively described Francespredicament in this way: “Across the streets, at wide intervals, one clumsy lamp was slung by a rope and pullet; at night, when the lamplighter had let these down, and lighted, and hoisted them again, a feeble grove of dim wicks swung in a sickly manner overhead, as if they were at sea. Indeed they were at sea, and the ship and crew were in peril of tempest. For, the time was to come, when the gaunt scarecrows of that region should have watched the lamplighter, in their idleness and hunger, so long, as to conceive the idea of improving on his method, and hauling up men by those ropes and pulleys, to flare upon the darkness of their condition. But, the time was not come yet; and every wind that blew over Franceshook the rags of the scarecrows in vain, for the birds, fine of song and feather, took no warning.”
At this point in the book, the French Revolution has not yet begun. It is only an idea, the impossible dream of a few starving, desperate, poverty- ridden peasants. But it is coming. Death is just over the horizon. It will not be long before the streets of Paris are made into a living hell, stained with innocent blood, ruled only by the twisted justice of “La Guillotine.” Yet there is still hope for Paris. In the moments before his death, Carton prophesies, “I see… long ranks of the new oppressors who have risen on the destruction of the old, perishing by this retributive instrument, before it shall cease out of its present use. I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation [atonement] for itself and wearing out.” In other words, Pariswill one day be recalled to life.
In every part of this book, in every main conflict, in every main character, there is the recurring issue of recalling to life. Dr. Manette is recalled to life at the beginning of the book. Darnay is recalled to life from his near- execution. Carton is recalled to life at the end of the book. Even Jerry Cruncher, the errand man for Tellson’s Bank, is a resurrection man. I, being a Christian, take a delight in this message, for I as well have been recalled to life. In the words of my Lord, “I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” I would definitely recommend this book to people who are old enough to handle the old English style and the graphic, bloody scenes the take place in the middle of the book. It is an old classic, well written, and well worth the time spent reading it.
***(Please, note, this is a project for school I wrote my senior year of high school... But it also gives a good summary of one of my favorite books!)
