A Tale of Two Cities~Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens Born in England in 1812 to a lower-middle class

family

Moved at age 10 to a poor area of London because of family’s financial trouble

Worked in a dirty, rat-infested shoe polish factory at age 12 after his father was imprisoned for debt

Acquired a strong sympathy for the poor which is reflected in his novels.

Hard Times in London In the 1850’s, during the Industrial Revolution.

England was full of social and economic inequality. The urban poor was suffering “the worst of times” while the ruling class was enjoying the “best of times”

Dickens feared that a revolution such as the one that shook France could not be avoided.

During this time, Dickens wrote Bleak House (1852, 53), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorritt (1855-57), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

About the novel Dickens called it “The best story I have written.”

This is a stylistic change from his other novels, which feature comic characters and are set mostly in England during his own time.

Many of his characters in this novel are allegorical in nature, representing ideas rather than individuals.

A Tale of Two Cities is one of his two historical novels. Like most of his novels, it was published serially, in two-chapter

monthly magazine installments, and later as a complete book. Why might this be advantageous to an author?

A Tale of Two Cities his twelfth novel of fifteen. Great Expectations was written only a year later.

Setting of A Tale of Two Cities

The action takes place over a period of eighteen years, from 1775 (about ten years before the Revolution) to 1793 (height of Revolution), some of which takes place as a flashback.

Novel is set mostly in London and Paris (the “two cities”).

For the historical background, Dickens relied on The French Revolution, a History (1837) written by his friend Thomas Carlyle. Carlyle wrote with passion and intensity of the events, which seemed relevant to the political turmoil that was currently occurring across Europe.

Themes to Look For Resurrection Honor vs. Dishonor The Effects of Revenge and Violence The Effects of Corruption in the Ruling Class Love and Sacrifice

Also pay attention to doubles, foils, and paradoxes. (Ex. “the best and worst of times…” “two cities”)

Parallelism The balance of two or more words,

phrases, or clauses in grammatically similar ways. This shows that each element of the sentence has the same importance.

EX: “We came, we saw, we conquered.” “We like hiking, swimming, and biking.”

Paradox A statement or group of statements that seems

contradictory but could be analyzed as having some truth. He hears but does not listen Under the surface he is very shallow The more you know, the more you realize how little you

know. The truth is, I lie all the time. There is a method to his madness. “Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy

tales again” ~C.S. Lewis “What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.”

~George Bernard Shaw

Antithesis Contrast of ideas in balanced or parallel

structure Love is an ideal thing; marriage is a real thing. You’re easy on the eyes, hard on the heart. “We must learn to live together as brothers or

perish together as fools.” ~Martin Luther King Jr.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” ~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Juxtaposition Contrasting scenes, ideas, or items placed

close together for the purpose of contrast and/or emotional effect. A love song playing during violent war scenes

in a movie A sweet, high-pitched voice juxtaposed with

hard, heavy metal rock music Romeo’s death juxtaposed with Juliet’s

awakening

Anaphora The repetition of a word or phrase at the

beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines. (what is the impact?)

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.” ~Winston Churchill