OK, we know that this is a summary and all, but weve just got to quote this opening for you. After all, its probably one of the most well-known opening lines in English literature. Here goes:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the

age of foolishness []" The sentence goes on for awhile, but you get the general picture. There are lots of

opposites at work in the good ol eighteenth century. As our narrator points out, these opposites are also rathersimilar. Confused? Dont be. Your friendly Shmoop team is here to help. Its 1775. This chapter, the greatest of all openings, is a sort of guidebook to the time.

If youre a backpacker, you could think of it as the Lonely Planet for the eighteenth century.

We dont really meet any characters (but dont you worry, theyll be here soon enough). What we do get, however, is a breakdown of the important places in the novel: France

and England.

According to our helpful narrator, things in both countries are going along just as theyve always gone.

In fact, everything is so gosh-darn normal that folks are pretty convinced that things will

stay the same forever.

Thats our first hint that things are going wrong. Anytime anyone says that things are going to stay the same, theres a good chance that things are going to change. A lot. Anyone whos seen movies about high school friends going to college and growing apart knows that.

To get back to our story, though: our narrator gives us a birds-eye view of events in England.

America has just flown the coop. People are pretty upset about that.

(For those of you whod like a refresher course on the American Revolution, check out our Shmoop history notes on the subject. Were sticking to the other side of the water in this novel.)

In France, things arent going so well. The economy is in a bit of a freefall. Protestants are being persecuted (the French royalty, you see, is Catholic).

In case youre thinking that England is a much, much nicer place to be, though, we should warn you: Catholics didnt fare so well in England, either.

Our narrator predicts that trees are growing in the fields of France that will soon be cut

and shaped into scaffolds and guillotines. Lovely.

Back in England, lots of crimes occur on a regular basis. Just about everyone gets

brutally punished, regardless of whether their crime was severe or trifling.

In other words, things may be going along just as always but that sure doesnt mean that theyre going along smoothly.

That about sums up the state of affairs.

Our narrator offers up a foreboding reference to the Woodsman (Fate) and the Farmer

(Death) who will be reaping and sowing their harvest very, very soon.

Yup. Things are about to get ugly.

Our friendly narrator sets the scene: its a Friday night in November. Were on the Dover road.

This should spark some bells for all of you guys who spent the summer traveling around

Europe.

Long, long ago, in the years before the Chunnel was built, people who wanted to travel to

France took a boat from Dover to Calais.

Based on this information, were guessing that were about to see some traveling going on. Its just a hunch.

Anyhow, zoom in on a guy whos supposed to be traveling by mail coach to Dover. A mail coach is a coach that, well, carries mail. And people. Its drawn by horses. We say that hes supposed to be in the coach because, at the moment, hes walking in the

mud alongside it.

In fact, all of the passengers on the coach are walking beside it. In the mud. And no ones all that happy about it.

The horses, you see, have gotten bogged down in the mud.

Since this is long before the time of cars (and long, long before planes or nice, clean

trains), the passengers dont have any choice but to hop out and walk. Besides being muddy, the night is cold and foggy and altogether disgusting.

The longer we think about it, the less we understand why anybody would want to travel

to Dover, at all.

Finally, the coachman manages to push the horses up to the top of the muddy hill. By the

time they climb up it, its almost 10:00. All of a sudden, the coachman (well call him Joe, since that's his name) hears horses

hooves pounding in the distance.

A rider is following them!

Everyone stops and listens as a horse draws up to the carriage.

The rider of the horse asks for Mr. Jarvis Lorry.

A small man answers. He seems to think that the riders name is Jerry. As it turns out, this is because the riders name is Jerry. Were starting to trust this Mr.

Lorry already.

Jerry gives Mr. Lorry a letter.

All of the other passengers eye Jerry suspiciously. Now that Mr. Lorrys got a letter from Jerry, they eye him suspiciously, too.

Mr. Lorry assures Joe that theres nothing the matter. He (Mr. Lorry) is from Tellsons Bank in London.

Mentioning the name of Tellsons seems to do the trick. All of a sudden, everyone trusts Mr. Lorry.

He reads the note that Jerry handed to him, and tells Jerry to ride back to London to

deliver one message: "Recalled to Life."

Sound interesting? Just wait. It is!

The coach starts off again (this time with the passengers on the inside).

As it travels, Joe remarks to Tom (another passenger) that the message Mr. Lorry gave to

Jerry was rather cryptic.

Tom agrees. They puzzle over it for the rest of the journey.

Lets all start with some philosophical reflections, shall we? If you really think about it, do you actually know the people around you? Do you really?

If not, where does that leave you? Sad and lonely? Exactly.

Our narrator starts out this chapter with some cheerful reflections.

You dont know the people you love. Not really. Heck, we dont know the people we love. Every man is an island. Its all very existential.

Actually, its all very good writing, as well. We totally recommend that you check it out. Its only about a paragraph long.

The Shmoop synopsis, though, is this: death sucks so badly because it forces us to realize

how much we dont know about the people around us. Meanwhile, Jerry (the deliverer of the message from the last chapter) is sitting in an

alehouse, puzzling over the meaning of his latest assignment.

He cant figure out the message that hes supposed to deliver, at all. Nonetheless, he decides to set off to London to deliver it.

Meanwhile, the mail coach rattles its way down the road to Dover.

Inside, Mr. Lorry dozes as he thinks. All of the sounds in the mail coach begin to sound

like the sounds he knows so well the sounds of Tellson's bank. Despite the comforting sounds of the bank, however, Mr. Lorry remains uneasy.

Hes uneasy because hes been given a difficult task: hes about to dig up the dead. Ugh!

Isnt that illegal? Well, yes. But thats not the sort of digging were talking about. Well get to that later. For now, though, Mr. Lorry imagines a conversation that he has with the dead.

He asks the dead man if hes been recalled to life; the dead man says that he doesnt know.

He asks the dead man if hed like to see "her." The man has a different answer for each time Mr. Lorry imagines the conversation.

Sometimes hes very happy, other times hes almost angry. Playing the conversation out in his head over and over again, Mr. Lorry finally asks the

dead man how long hes been buried. The answer, "eighteen years," terrifies Mr. Lorry.

Mr. Lorry finally arrives in Dover.

He makes sure that theres a boat that's bound for Calais and leaving the next morning, and then he heads to the inn.

As he comes down from his room for dinner, the landlady and the surrounding guests

observe him: Mr. Lorry is a nice, neatly-dressed little man of around sixty years.

He seems to be completely prim and proper, except for his eyes: they appear to be full of

compassion and emotion.

As our narrator points out, compassion and emotion arent exactly valuable characteristics for a banker to possess.

Its probably safe to assume that Mr. Lorrys worked hard to hide them well from his colleagues.

When Mr. Lorrys breakfast arrives, he informs the landlady that a young woman will soon be arriving. He thinks that shell ask for someone from Tellsons bank, but she wont know Mr. Lorry by name.

Sure enough, the landlady has heard of Tellsons. She and Mr. Lorry have a friendly chat about the wonders of that reputable bank.

Heres the synopsis: Tellsons is very, very reputable. Its been in London for one hundred and fifty years.

It has a branch in Paris, as well, thats been around for nearly as long as the one in London.

The landlady is suitably impressed.

Wandering around the city of Dover, Mr. Lorry spends his day hashing and re-hashing

the imaginary conversation he had with the dead man while he traveled.

Around supper time, however, he returns to the inn.

A young girl arrives just as he does; shes upstairs when he returns. A bit uneasy, Mr. Lorry pulls at his wig.

That doesnt seem to do much good at all, but apparently it makes him feel better. He goes up to the young girls room. By the fire, he sees a slender, young, pretty girl whose eyes are incredibly expressive

and incredibly familiar.

In fact, they look just like the eyes of a young child whom he once carried from Calais to

Dover eighteen years earlier.

Miss Manette (thats the young girls name, by the way) asks Mr. Lorry to be seated. Shes been told that Mr. Lorry has information regarding her late fathers property. He sits and explains that hes been sent to explainsomething. After awkwardly attempting to explain that something for a good while, he finally puts

forth a "hypothetical" story.

Before he begins, however, he makes it absolutely clear that he is a "man of business."

As such, he asks for Miss Manette to listen to a small business matter.

Long ago, a "man of business" was the trustee of a French doctor. This doctor had a small

child.

Ring any bells? It sure does for Miss Manette. Shes turned pale and is listening excitedly.

Mr. Lorry hastens to assure her that he feels nothing. Hes a mere machine of the bank. Funny, the longer he talks, the harder it is for us to believe that.

Miss Manette recognizes the story as being very, very much like that of her fathers.

Mr. Lorry agrees. Theres one difference, however: this doctor is still alive. He urges Miss Manette to think of his story as a mere matter of business, but it doesnt

seem to be working very well.

Finally, he tells her that the mother of the young girl died when the child was two, after

searching for her father for two years.

Her fatherwell, her father has been found. Hes alive. He may not be much more than alive, but at least theyve finally found him. Mr. Lorry proposes that he and Miss Manette go together to Paris to find her father.

Turning completely ashen, Miss Manette murmurs that shes going to see a ghost. She seems to have fainted completely away. Mr. Lorry has no idea what to do.

Suddenly, a wild-looking red-haired woman rushes into the room.

She flies into a fury at Mr. Lorry. How dare he upset her darling in this way?

Ordering Mr. Lorry to fetch some smelling salts, she quickly brings Lucie back to

consciousness.

Mr. Lorry humbly asks if the woman will accompany Lucie to France.

She offers a brusque reply: shes never seen any need to cross the water. For her mistress, however, shell do anything.

Flash back to Paris: in front of a wine-shop, a great big ol barrel of wine has fallen and broken open.

Its like the entire street won the lottery. Everyone dives into the road, heedless of the dirt or of traffic.

They soak up wine with buckets and glasses and their hands and their shirts.

Everything quickly becomes bright red.

Foreshadowing, anyone? Well, yes. Yes, it is. As our narrator intones, this red will all too

soon be replaced by the red of blood flowing in the streets.

In Saint Antoine, the district where the store is, everyones hands will soon become stained with blood, as well.

Hows that for a nifty prediction? Once the wine is all sopped up, however, the absolute poverty of the place is

recognizable again.

People are hungry; shops are barely open; children are thin and undernourished.

The owner of the wine-shop, surveying the street, shrugs his shoulders.

After all, he didnt spill the wine. Its the merchant wholl have to bear the loss of the casket.

Our narrator takes a second to look closely at Defarge.

Since he does, we will, too. Defarge is a bull-necked, barrel-chested sort of guy. Hes not exactly the sort that youd like to meet in a dark alley.

Come to think of it, hes not the sort of guy that youd want to oppose, at all. Defarge walks into his store, where his wife sits knitting.

Shes strong and as steadfast as he seems to be. She sure doesnt stop knitting, for one thing.

She coughs and rolls her eyes.

Defarge seems to know what she means. Apparently they have a secret language worked

out.

He turns and looks at the old man and young woman who have seated themselves in the

corner.

Any guesses as to who they are?

Defarge pretends not to notice them.

He starts up a conversation with other customers. Strangely enough, all of their names

seem to be Jacques.

Either everyones mothers got together and decided to make the city identical, or something fishy is going on...

After some conversation with the Jacqueses, Defarge tells them that the room they all

wanted to see is out back.

The three men all troop out to the back of the shop.

Turning to the old man (Mr. Lorry, in case you missed it), Defarge offers to lead them up

to the doctors room. On the way, Mr. Lorry asks if the doctor has been much changed.

Defarge answers in one word, "Changed!"

Apparently hes not really a man of words. He does hit the walls pretty expressively, though.

Mr. Lorry seems to get his meaning. He gets more and more worried as they ascend the

staircase in the back of the shop.

They go up flights and flights of stairs. Its dark and dingy and rather awful. Mr. Lorry asks why Defarge has to keep the doctor under lock and key. It seems rather

cruel after his imprisonment.

Defarge explains that the doctor has become so accustomed to the sound of a key turning

in a lock that he can no longer exist without knowing that hes under lock and key. Convinced that the doctor might harm himself if hes not kept guarded, Defarge has

locked him into his room.

As they reach the top of the stairs, they run into Jacques one, two, and three.

Apparently the "room" that they were planning to see was also the doctors room. Defarge pushes them out of the way as Lucie looks on, astounded.

When they enter the room, Mr. Lorry turns to Lucie, his eyes wet.

After all, he reminds her, its only business. Lucie, scared to meet the man inside, hesitates at the door frame.

Mr. Lorry sees her fear and helps her through the door.

In the darkness that blankets the room, they can just barely see the figure of a man: hes sitting at a very low bench, making shoes.

Defarge greets the white-haired shoemaker; he responds vaguely.

The very voice of Dr. Manette seems to have shriveled inside of him.

The lesson of this chapter, in case you havent guessed, is that prison is a very, very unhappy place.

Dont go there. Were not kidding. Just look at Dr. Manette. Defarge asks the doctor if he can bear a little more light in the room.

The doctor replies that he must bear it if Defarge chooses to open a window.

Apparently theyre not so into free will and choice and all that good stuff in prison. We repeat: prison is bad.

Its so bad, in fact, that Dr. Manette seems to think that hes never left it. Defarge introduces Mr. Lorry, but Dr. Manette seems to have forgotten him completely.

In fact, when hes asked what his own name is, Dr. Manette replies, "One Hundred and Five, North Tower."

After an awkward pause, Mr. Lorry asks if Dr. Manette has been a shoemaker all his life.

The doctor replies that hes actually learned how to make shoes in prison. Flustered, Mr. Lorry asks if he remembers nothing about a banker from long ago.

For a moment, Dr. Manette thinks he remembers somethingbut its too far off, too long ago.

Lucie moves slowly forward. She stops in front of his workbench.

Startled, he asks who she is. Slowly, he reaches up and touches her golden hair.

(Sigh. Its a tear-jerker, we promise you.) He recognizes the hairits her hair. Slowly, he begins to remember. Lucie puts her arms around him and promises to tell him

some other time who her mother and father were.

For now, though, she promises to take care of him.

France, she declares, is too wicked a country for them to stay in. Theyll return to England, where she can honor the man who is her father properly.

Dr. Manette begins to cry.

Relieved, Defarge and Mr. Lorry begin to prepare for the journey.

As they leave the room, Lucie asks her father if he remembers coming to this place. He

doesnt. In fact, he doesnt remember anything but being in prison. Everything after that is a

blank.

As they pass through the gates of Paris, a guardsman asks for the doctors traveling papers.

Defarge whispers to him as he shows him the papers; the man looks in astonishment at

the doctor.

Rolling away in the carriage, Mr. Lorry remembers again the conversation he imagined

with a dead man. Does the doctor really want to be recalled to life?

First things first: its 1780. Thats five years after the first section (as you might be able to tell from the name of the

volume, "Five Years Later"). We just thought we should point it out.

Tellsons Bank is ugly, old, small, dirty, and in all other ways not a nice place to be. The funny thing is that its also the most respected bank in England. In fact, all of its partners revel in the fact that its small, ugly, old, and dirty. Theyre

small, ugly, and old themselves. They might even be dirty. Were just not going to think about it.

Dickens spends a good deal of time describing the smallness, ugliness, oldness, etc. of the

bank.

Why? Well, Dickenss style tends to focus on the tiny details that construct everyday life in London.

Since most of this novel is set in France, he doesnt have too many opportunities to catalogue life in London. Hes making the most of the chances he has.

In a typically sneaky Dickensian move, the narrator transitions from talking about

Tellsons to meditating on the state of justice in England. As he says, putting people to death is the answer for everything: murders and petty

thieves tend to get the same punishment, regardless of how unjust this seems to be.

Come to think of it, our narrator seems to think that the whole system is pretty darn

unjust.

Were introduced to Jerry Cruncher. Hes the odd-jobs man at Tellsons. When we catch up with him, however, hes not at Tellsons. Hes at home. And hes really, really pissed off. You see, his wife is a religious woman. Shes often on her knees, praying to God. This upsets Mr. Cruncher.

He thinks that his wife is praying against him.

In fact, hes certain that her "flopping" down on her knees is another way for her to undermine his efforts to become a respectable businessman.

He beats up on his wife for a while, and then he lectures his son about the sins of his

mother.

Asking his son to keep a close eye on Mrs. Cruncher in case she starts to "flop" again, he

sits down to eat breakfast.

Around nine, he and his son head to Tellsons. Jerry and Jerry Jr. (thats his son, by the way) look remarkably alike. We just thought we should mention it. Its a handy bit of information that just might

come in useful later.

As soon as they get to Tellsons, someone from the bank calls for a porter. Jerry Jr. gets really excited. It looks like they have a job for the morning.

Jerry Cruncher heads into the bank to figure out what his assignment for the day will be.

An old bank clerk sends him to the courts with a note for Mr. Lorry.

Apparently, Mr. Lorry just wants Jerry to hang around as a messenger for him at the

court.

Interested in the prospect of some excitement at the court, Jerry asks the clerk what sort

of trial will be held today.

Its a trial for treason. That means that the accused will be drawn and quartered. Jerrys pretty excited. We interrupt this summary for a quick history announcement:

Drawing and quartering is the traditional punishment for high treason in the U.K.

Remember the ending of Braveheart? Thats drawing and quartering. For those of you who arent die-hard Mel Gibson fans, however, well explain a bit. First, convicted traitors were hanged until they were almost dead.

Then they were disemboweled.

Then they were beheaded. And their bodies were cut into four parts.

In other words, it wasnt all that pleasant. It wasnt all that much better for women at the time, either. They werent beheaded: they

were burned at the stake.

Back to our story...

Mr. Jerry Cruncher is actually pretty excited about the prospect of a high treason case.

Chances are that the guy will get hanged whether or not hes innocent. Cruncher heads to the court. Mr. Lorrys already there. The court itself is packed to the gills. Apparently everyone loves a treason case as much

as Cruncher does.

Also, everyone loves a good drink. The place reeks of alcohol.

Hmmsounds more like Judge Judy than Law and Order? Well, perhaps. Were not really sure if this is supposed to be a court or a circus.

In the center of all the hubbub is the prisoner.

Hes going to be central to the story, so well spend some time introducing him. Hes about twenty-five. He appears to be a gentleman. Oh, and did we mention that hes

really good looking? Well, he is.

Although he appears to be a little bit shaken to be in the middle of a three-ring circus,

Charles Darnay is, in all other respects, a fine, fine man.

Of course, that doesnt stop the rest of the spectators in the court from mentally hanging, drawing, and quartering the guy before hes even been tried.

everyone, that is, except for a young woman and a distinguished-looking older man. Theyre Lucie and her father, in case you were wondering. As it turns out, they happen to be the key witnesses in the case against Darnay.

What? Dont worry, well explain. It just might take us a chapter or two.

Dickens cuts us right to the heart of the action: Mr. Attorney-General, the head of the

states case against Charles Darnay, is in the middle of his argument. We know that hes in the middle of the argument because every sentence in his argument

begins with "that." In other words, were not exactly hearing him speak. Were overhearing him speak.

Its a neat little trick on Dickenss part: he doesnt want us to agree with Mr. Attorney General, so he uses third-person narration instead of representing his speech.

But back to the speech: Mr. Attorney-General thinks that the prisoner (thats Charles) has been engaging in a very long and treasonous correspondence with the French.

The French? Ack! Gasp!

Hey, waitwhy does the British government care about the French? Well, the French were actually involved in a nifty little battle on the other side of the

Atlantic: the American Revolution.

Anybody that carried information from Britain to France probably had their hands in the

American Revolution, as well.

Thats what the Attorney-General thinks, at least. Hes going to try his damndest to hang Charles.

After Mr. Attorney-General gets done talking, his partner, Mr. Solicitor-General, gets up

to examine the states first witness. John Barsad, a "gentleman," swears that hes not a spy, and that he makes his own living

(although no one seems to know where his money comes from) as an honest man.

He also swears that Charles Darnay hired him as an odd-jobs man once when Darnay was

traveling by boat to France.

Barsad testifies that Darnay carried lists from France to England and from England to

France.

Of course, he doesnt really specify what those lists contained but then, when youre trying a traitor, you dont really need that many details, do you?

The state calls Mr. Jarvis Lorry to the stand.

Mr. Lorry testifies that he traveled to France by boat five years ago.

He did see two other people on the boat, but he cant say that he can identify Charles as one of the two men.

The court calls Miss Manette to the stand.

Lets pause while the entire court checks her out. Sighshes so, so pretty. Apparently, Charles is checking her out, too. She exchanges sympathetic looks with him.

When Lucie begins to testify, its obvious that she doesnt want to say anything that could incriminate Charles.

Lucie says that Darnay helped her father when Doctor Manette fell ill on the boat.

Against her will, she also testifies that Darnay exchanged some papers with Frenchmen

who were aboard the boat.

Apparently, Darnay also made some jokes about George Washington while he and Lucie

were chatting.

It was all in good fun at the time, but now the court doesnt take it so lightly. The court, in fact, seems to think that making jokes about how George Washington might

not be such a bad guy is, in fact, treason.

Lucies testimony, in other words, didnt go all that well for Charles.

Next, its Doctor Manettes turn on the stand. He says that hes been told he was on a ship traveling from France to England, but he

cant remember anything from that time. Another witness gets called to the stand to affirm that Darnay stayed at a hotel about

twelve miles from the coast on the night that he traveled to England.

OK, OK, we know its getting technical. Bear with us for a second, though. While the prisoners lawyer is cross-examining this witness, a man in the court passes the

lawyer a note.

All of a sudden, the lawyer has a new course of attack.

He asks the witness if hes ever seen anyone who could be confused with Darnay. Confused, the witness says no.

Pointing with a dramatic flourish to the other end of the room, the lawyer says, "Not even

that man?"

Gasp!

Mr. Carton (the man in the corner) looks exactly like Mr. Darnay.

A coincidence, you say?

Well, yes. But this is a novel. Anything can happen, folks. Just ride with it.

The court case goes on for awhile as lawyers try and re-try (and re-try) different theories.

Suddenly, however, Sydney Carton points out that Lucie is fainting.

(How does he notice before anyone else? Well, were guessing that hes been staring. Its not polite, we know, but for now were overlooking it.)

By this point, the case is pretty much over.

Cartons appearance has introduced too much doubt into the trial. Darnay is acquitted.

Jerry Cruncher is astonished.

Unfortunately, he doesnt have much time to stay astonished. Mr. Lorry sends him back to the bank with the news.

As Lucie and her father step out of the courtroom, our narrator takes some time to catch

us up on their lives.

Doctor Manette is looking worlds better.

Our narrator is pretty sure that this is all Lucies doing: she's brought him back to life. Everyone congratulates everyone else on Darnays release. Mr. Stryver, Darnays lawyer, seems to be taking most of the credit for the legal

maneuver that saved his life.

Of course, that would be forgetting Cartons role in the affair which our narrator wouldnt want us to do.

Unsurprisingly, pointing out the similarity between Carton and Darnay was Cartons own idea. He was the brains behind the operation.

Mr. Lorry asks if "a man of business" might now approach Charles Darnay.

As we quickly realize, however, anytime Mr. Lorry wants to be a "man of business," it

rarely works well.

Hes soon congratulating Charles just like everyone else. Carton, who still seems pretty cynical about the justice system (hmmwonder why?),

wants to get out of the general area of the court.

He asks Darnay to come out to dinner with him.

Awwa blossoming friendship? Well, not exactly. Darnay cant seem to break through Cartons cynicism. And Cartons

already seen how Darnay looks at Lucie.

In fact, just because Carton seems to like rubbing salt in his own wounds, he gets Darnay

to propose a toast to "Miss Manette!"

After sharing a drink or two together, Cartons pretty sure he doesnt like Darnay. Darnay sure doesnt like Carton. Perhaps they might even get into blows over a girluntil, of course, Darnay realizes that

Carton has just saved his life.

Before they part, however, Darnay wants to know why Carton seems so angry and

depressed.

Muttering that hes a "disappointed drudge," Carton says that hes been worth nothing all this life.

As Darnay leaves, Carton engages in a little bit of existential self-questioning.

Why hasnt he been able to change his own circumstances in life? Why isnt he ever able to change his ways or become a better human being?

Tough questions. And Cartons got no answers.

Folks drank a lot in those days. Were just telling you now. Consider yourself warned. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Stryver drinks a lot. So does Carton.

Heres the difference, though: when Stryver gets drunk, he becomes worthless. Come to think of it, Stryvers often worthless. Sydney, on the other hand, can down a few and still be on top of his game.

For reasons that no one can figure out, Sydney and Stryver are thick as thieves. Theyre BFFs.

OK, theyre not exactly friends: Sydney cant stand the fact that Stryvers a big jerk. Nonetheless, he spends most of his nights solving Stryvers cases for him. Stryver, in the meanwhile, gets very, very drunk and mumbles to himself.

Theres a good reason why Stryver calls Carton "Memory": hes the brains behind all of Stryvers operations.

Dickens starts to have some fun with the relationship between Carton and Stryver.

Stryvers sort of like a lionhes top of the food chain. King of the hill. And if Stryvers a lion, then Carton isa jackal. Lions are hunters. Jackals are scavengers, scooping up the leftovers after animals like

lions bring home the prey.

Hmmdoes something seem off here? For one thing, Stryvers the guy thats getting spoon-fed legal insight from Carton. For anotherwell, the first one was all we had. But you get the picture. The metaphor doesnt quite fit. Could Dickens be using a little bit

of irony here?

Stryver gets pretty happy on his punch and, after awhile, he begins to reminisce about his

past.

And Cartons past, come to think of it. Theyve been together since school. Back in the old days, Carton used to write Stryvers term papers. Now hes writing

Stryvers legal briefs. Some things never change.

As Stryver pours himself another drink, he wants Carton to drink to the "pretty witness"

who came to court today.

Carton gulps for a second, and then he mutters some unpleasant things about Lucie.

OK, theyre not that bad. But he does call her a "golden doll." Stryvers taken aback. He was sure he caught Carton staring at Lucie for most of the day. Carton insists that Lucie means nothing to him. Nothing. Seriously.

Falling back into a drunken stupor, Stryver heads to bed.

Left to himself, Carton ponders why his life is so unhappy.

He imagines love and happiness for a brief moment, but then his masochism sets back in.

He could never win Lucie.

Depressed, he settles back in for another drink.

Doctor Manette and Lucie live in a quiet little corner of Soho.

Back in the 1700s, Soho wasnt the center of London. Nope, its a nice, quiet spot of country. On Sunday afternoons, Mr. Lorry walks from the center of town out towards Soho.

Everything there seems sunny and happy and all-around peachy keen.

Its just like those television shows from the '50s. Happy people, happy places. Happy happy happy.

It looks like things have turned around for Doctor Manette.

Hes even started to take in a few patients; as it turns out, he was once a nationally-renowned doctor.

Doctor Manettes practice is on the ground floor of their home; they live on the second floor.

A mysterious man whom nobody has ever seen lives on the third floor. Dont worry hes not important.

The Manettes dont have loads of money, but Lucie has managed to make their home veryhomey.

Mr. Lorry breathes a sigh of relief as soon as he steps inside the door.

Once hes inside, a wild-looking red-haired woman greets him. Shes Miss Pross. Once upon a time she was Lucies landlady/governess, but now she lives with the

Manettes.

Shes very, very devoted to Lucie. Oh, and she calls Lucie "Ladybird." We wish we could tell you a reason for this, but we

really cant. At the moment, shes also extremely upset. As she informs Mr. Lorry, ever since he interfered in Ladybirds life, hundreds of people

have been beating down her door.

Hundreds? Wasnt it just one personand wasnt he her father? Well, yes. Miss Pross might be exaggerating slightly.

There have been more visitors to the house than she would like, however: Charles

Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Mr. Stryver have all been making regular appearances at the

Manette house.

While the two wait for the Manettes to return, Miss Pross tells Mr. Lorry that the doctor

has been up at night, pacing back and forth in his room. Only Lucie can calm him down

and get him to go to sleep.

Eventually the Manettes return. They sit down to dinner with Mr. Lorry.

After dinner, Mr. Darnay stops by. Making conversation, he asks Doctor Manette if hes seen the Tower.

A brief Shmoop historical interruption:The Tower of London is probably the tower to

which Mr. Lorrys referring. It was the place that the British held political prisoners. In other words, it was sort of the British equivalent of the Bastille, where Dr. Manette was

held. By the time that Dickens was writing A Tale of Two Cities (and even by the time

that the events in the novel were supposed to have occurred) the tower wasnt really much of a prison anymore. Instead, it housed the Crown Jewels, which made it a nifty

place to visit. You can still visit it, in fact. Click here to learn how.

Back to our story, though

Mr. Darnay says that folks were restoring the Tower and happened to find, in the top-

most room, a hidden letter buried by a former prisoner.

For no apparent reason, Dr. Manette seems violently upset by this news.

Well, we have a hunch as to why hes so upset. During Tea-time, Sydney Carton stops by.

It begins to rain really heavily, so everyone has to stay at the Manettes for a long time.

Were back in France. Getting whiplash yet? Just wait Our narrator describes the way that Monseigneur, a member of the French aristocracy,

makes his hot chocolate in the morning.

Actually, Monseigneur would never dream of making his own chocolate.

He has servants to do that for him. Four servants, to be precise.

Mocking the excess that this sort of lifestyle needs, our narrator talks about

Monseigneurs life in very broad strokes. Monseigneur remains convinced that the world has been created for Monseigneur and his

pleasures.

Anything that doesnt concern Monseigneurs pleasure is something about which Monseigneur will never be interested.

Wait, who is this Monseigneur guy, exactly?

Well, hes sort of a conglomerate of all the aristocrats. See, the more we read, the less he seems like a real guy, at all.

For one thing, he doesnt have any other name than Monseigneur. For another, hes absolutely detestableand hes described in such vague terms that he

seems to be standing in for an entire class, not a single person.

OK, he is also an individual character, but we dont learn that until later. For now, just think of him as Aristocrat X.

In Monseigneurs house, everyone dresses exquisitely. Gold and masques and wigs and silk stockings abound.

Thats all well and good, but when you compare all that shiny, fancy, expensive stuff with the rags that the poor people wear...well, you get the picture.

Also, everyone seems to be pandering to Monseigneur all the time. Doctors, lawyers,

government officials, and other forms of "high society" meet in his house to tell him how

wonderful he is.

Tonight Monseigneur heads to the opera.

While hes there, a man appears. No one seems to like the man very much. Hes cold, with a face "like a fine mask." Even Monseigneur seems to want to ignore him.

He leaves the opera and gets into his carriage, where he orders his driver to speed through

the streets.

The driver is as ruthless as Monsieur le Marquis (thats the guy). They fly through Paris. Suddenly, however, they come to a lurching halt.

The Marquis carriage has run over a small child. The father of the child, wild with grief, charges at the carriage.

Some people pull him back in time.

Monsieur le Marquis looks at him in disgust. He cant figure out what all the trouble is about.

He throws the man a coin to pay for his dead child.

One of the men in the crowd comforts the grieving father by saying that, had the child

lived, it wouldnt have had a very good life anyway. Monsieur le Marquis asks the name of this "philosopher."

Defarge (the owner of the wine shop, remember?) tells him his name.

As the Marquis carriage drives off, he throws Defarge another coin. Defarge throws it back.

Furious, the Marquis calls the poor people dogs. Hed run over all of them, if he had his choice in the matter.

The Marquis carriage heads out into the country. As he drives, our narrator gives us a description of the land. Its parched and almost dead. All the crops that can be wrung out of the land have been grown and are slowly dying

like the poor people who farm them.

Heading into the village, the carriage pauses.

Our narrator takes this time to explain why the village looks so crummy, as well.

See, the Marquis has been taxing his villagers within an inch of their lives.

They dont have the money to buy food or care for their children because theyre sending all of their money to the Marquis.

In the village, the Marquis pulls aside a man that he passed on the road.

Understandably, the guys a bit nervous. The Marquis isnt exactly known for his generosity around here.

The Marquis demands to know what the guy was staring at when the carriage passed him

by a few minutes before.

Gulping, the man says that he was staring at another man who was riding below the

carriage as a stowaway.

Angry and astonished, the Marquis demands to know more.

The peasant describes the stowaway as a tall, thin, white-faced man.

Gabelle, the town tax collector and postmaster, steps forward to take charge of a hunt for

the mysterious man.

The Marquis carriage heads out of town. Theyve almost reached the Marquis country estate when a single woman stops them on the road.

Shes poor and desperate. Her husband has just died, their farm yields no money, and now her children are starving.

Shes not asking for food, however. Shed just like money to build a small tombstone for her husband.

See, the woman is about to die, as well and shes very upset at the thought that the townspeople wont be able to bury her beside her husband.

Right now theres nothing to mark his grave. Without a headstone, no one will know where he was buried.

Any guesses as to what the Marquis will do?

Exactly. He rides away without listening to another word.

Just in case you were wondering, this is exhibit B in the case Dickens is building.

Case? What case?

Well, well call it the "Why the Marquis is a heartless monster" case for now. Hmmkilling a small child and ignoring the pleas of a desperate woman. Sounds like

the Marquis is a monster after all.

Luckily for him, he doesnt care. His carriage pulls up at a magnificent country mansion.

As the Marquis gets out, he asks if Monsieur Charles has arrived yet.

Hang on a seconddont we already know a Charles? Whats going on here? Just waititll be clear in no time at all.

The chateau of the Marquis is a pretty great place.

"Chateau," by the way, is a French word for an estate or manor house of the nobility.

This particular chateau seems very stony.

Its got stone walls and stone battlements and stone lions on top of the stone battlements. "Stone" is the word of the day. At the very least, its the word of this chapter. The Marquis asks if his nephew has arrived. He hasnt. Asking for his supper to be laid, the Marquis stares out the window for a time.

Finally, as hes coming in to supper, the servants announce the arrival of his nephew. And his nephew is...Charles Darnay.

We sort of knew that was coming.

The two greet each other, but they dont exactly seem happy to be reunited. Charles apologizes for being late. Hes been detained bybusiness. Ever the gentleman, the Marquis accepts his apology.

Charles says that his task carried him into great danger even possible death. Were guessing that hes referring to the trial for treason here. Moreover, he suspects that the Marquis was actually trying to support the accusations

against him.

Ever the gentleman, the Marquis doesnt say anything. Charles suspects that the only reason he wasnt locked up forever in France is that the

Marquis has been out of favor with the court for awhile.

In other words, his meddling in Charles business probably wouldnt have worked out the way the Marquis intended.

Lamenting that the family name has fallen into such low regard, the Marquis suggests

that people hate him because hes so much better than they are. Charles doesnt exactly agree. Declaring that hes renounced his relationship with the family, Charles begs his uncle to

repair some of the damage that the family has done to those around them.

Charles says that his mothers dying wish was that the family would right some of the wrongs theyve caused.

The Marquis laughs at this folly.

Angry, Charles declares that he gives up his rights to the family land.

Hes got a life in England now. The Marquis asks if Charles has ever met a former patriot in England a doctor with a

young daughter.

Charles says he has.

As Charles leaves for the night, the Marquis mutters that hed like to see him burned in his bed.

Silence descends on the house.

As the sun rises, terror grips the house.

The Marquis has been stabbed in the night.

Back in England, Charles Darnay, ex-French aristocrat, is making a decent living as a

tutor.

What does he teach? French, of course.

Everythings coming up roses for him. Sure, its not as lucrative as a decades-old title, but hes making honest pay for an honest

days work. Also, hes madly in love with Lucie. Thats whats top on his mind as he heads over to Soho to the Manettes house. The doctor is at home.

His life has only continued to improve. Hes working all the time, which makes him pretty happy.

He hasnt relapsed into depression or memory loss in a long time. Charles walks into the room, and Dr. Manette greets him happily.

They havent seen each other in a few days: Charles has been busy working with his students, and the doctor has his patients.

The doctor remarks that its unfortunate that Lucie isnt around to greet him, as well. Charles cuts him short. He knew that Lucie wasnt in. Sensing that this will be a conversation that he wont like, Dr. Manette asks Charles to

remember how essential Lucie is to his well-being.

Charles says he understands. He wouldnt mention her name but he loves her too much to keep quiet any longer.

Doctor Manette already knows this.

He asks Charles if Charles has said anything about his love to Lucie.

Charles says that hed never approach Lucie without telling Doctor Manette first. In fact, thats why hes here.

Awwwhat a gentleman, huh? Explaining that he understands how important Lucie is in Doctor Manettes life, Charles

says that hell never do anything that would jeopardize their relationship. In fact, if he married Lucie, hed want to move in with them.

That way, their house would be disrupted as little as possible.

Doctor Manette asks if Charles wants him to say anything to Lucie about this

conversation.

Charles immediately refuses.

He knows how much Doctor Manettes opinion matters to Lucie. If he told her to jump, shed ask "How high?" OK, thats not actually in the book. But if he told her to think about Charles, shed marry him without thinking about

whether or not she loved him.

Charles doesnt want this. He asks Doctor Manette not to say anything. What he does ask, however, is that Doctor Manette will agree to tell Lucie of this

conversation if she comes to her father to talk about Charles.

In the interests of full disclosure, Charles also wants to tell Doctor Manette about his

pastin France. Doctor Manette seems startled. He immediately shuts Charles down.

He doesnt want to know about Charles history.

OK, OK: if Lucie and Charles get married, then Charles can tell him about his past. But

thats a big if. Charles leaves, happy with their conversation.

A few hours later, Lucie returns from her shopping trip.

Miss Pross meets her at the door.

Shes frantic. Ever since Charles left, Dr. Manette has been up in his room, pacing the way that he used to. And hes been working at making shoes again.

He wont come down. In fact, he doesnt seem to hear her when she calls. Lucie runs upstairs.

Their voices are heard upstairs. Eventually the two come down; she convinces her father

to fall asleep.

Its late at night. Sydney Carton is working. Stryver is drinking. Hes so happy about drinking, in fact, that he asks Sydney to make another bowl of punch

for the two of them

He has news.

Stryver, it seems, has decided to marry.

Sydney knows Stryver pretty well. He asks if the woman has money.

Stryver takes Sydney to task for being such a cynic. Hes actually fallen in love this time. In fact, Stryvers a bit worried that Sydney wont like his choice of a bride. Once upon a time, Sydney spoke slightingly of the woman whom Stryver has decided to

make the happiest woman on earth.

Sydney starts a little bit. Could Stryver mean Yes. Stryver means to marry Lucie.

Apparently, Stryvers willing to overlook her poverty. Hes pretty magnanimous about the whole thing. Lucie will benefit a lot from the

marriage, he thinks, but hes willing to take her, anyway. We just want to put our opinion on the record: Stryvers a pompous fool. Sydney thinks so, too.

While Stryver tells Carton about his plans, he also tries to dispense some free advice on

how he thinks Carton should lead his own life.

Perhaps Sydney could find someone likelike Lucie to marry. Lucie?

Carton jumps uncomfortably.

Stryver continues to offer unwelcome advice about Sydneys love life. Luckily, Sydney chooses to ignore him.

Mr. Stryvers decided to bestow his magnanimous offer on Lucie. We want to vomit just thinking of it.

He offers to take her out twice. Unaccountably, she refuses.

Not to worry, though. Stryvers sure that hes going to win her over. Hes on his way to Soho to visit Doctor Manette (and to have a little word with Lucie),

when he happens to walk by Tellsons. Since he knows that Mr. Lorry is a good friend of the Manettes, he drops by to share the

good news.

Mr. Lorry doesnt really like the fact that Mr. Stryver is too loud and too brazen to fit in well at Tellsons.

In fact, the guy sort of sticks out like a sore thumb.

Mr. Lorry tries to get Stryver to tone it down a bit, but Stryver doesnt seem to get the message.

Glibly unaware of how arrogant he sounds, Stryver tells Mr. Lorry that he plans to marry

Lucie.

Mr. Lorrys upset. He knows exactly what the Manettes think of Stryver.

Unsurprisingly, they dont think too much of him. He gently tries to break this to Stryver.

Stryvers not the brightest kid in class. He keeps telling Mr. Lorry how perfect a suitor he is.

After all, hes a prosperous lawyer. Hes respectable and even well-off. Who wouldnt love him? In fact, after telling Mr. Lorry all about himself, Stryvers pretty sure that he should

march right over to the Manettes and propose.

Mr. Lorry disagrees.

Hes fairly certain that the whole thing will turn outwell, it wont be pretty. Stryver cant understand why this would be the case. After a bit of heated conversation, Mr. Lorry manages to get Stryver to agree to postpone

proposing to Lucie right away.

He tries to warn Stryver that Lucie might not think that Stryver is the amazing man that

Stryver thinks he is.

Instead, Mr. Lorry offers to head over to the Manette house to test the waters for Stryver.

Hes pretty sure that he knows what the answer will be, but he wants to save Stryver (and Lucie) from the embarrassment of a proposal.

Stryver agrees to wait for a day until Mr. Lorry returns.

After all, he follows Cartons lead on everything else. Why wouldnt he follow Mr. Lorrys lead on this?

Thats what Mr. Lorrys banking on. He heads over to the Manette house immediately.

Mr. Stryver stretches out on the couch in Mr. Lorrys office and waits for him to return with an answer.

Sydney Cartons not exactly a man with a lot of charm. Any charm he does have, however, he never displays when he goes to visit the Manettes.

Today, for some reason, his feet seem to find their way to the Manettes of their own accord.

He finds Lucie there alone.

When she sees him, she immediately notices that hes even less well than he usually is. Thats not saying much. She asks Sydney what the matter is.

He responds that his life is miserable and hopeless.

She asks why he cant change. We know, we know its a useless question. Someone had to ask it, though. Sydney doesnt answer directly. Instead, he begins one of the strangest love scenes in all

of Dickenss novels. Were not even really sure that its a love scene. See, Sydney knows that Lucie couldnt love a man like him. In fact, thats exactly what he tells her. Dismayed, Lucie doesnt know what to say. Sure, she feels badly for Carton. She even cares about him. But the saddest thing in this

whole deal is that hes right and they both know it. True to her good-natured self, though, Lucie asks if theres anything that she can do to

help him without promising to love him.

Carton says that if anyone could have reformed him, she could have.

It looks like hes past saving, then. Just like he thought he was.

Apparently, Sydney just dropped by to unburden himselfsort of like a very, very painful self-help session.

Distraught, Lucie asks again if theres no way that she could be a force for good in his life.

Sydney seems to have moved past this, however.

He begs her to keep this conversation confidential; its the last time hell ever confide in anyone, and hed like to remember that it ended well.

Seeing that Lucie seems upset, he entreats her not to be troubled by his sorrows.

More than anything, he wants her to be happy.

In fact, hes so committed to her happiness that he begs her to remember (once she gets married) that he would give his own life to keep those that she loves safe.

Bidding Lucie farewell, Sydney rushes out the door.

Jerry and his son (also Jerry) are sitting outside of Tellsons Bank late one afternoon. All of a sudden, a small crowd of people pass by the bank.

Jerry (the elder) sternly informs his son that what theyre about to see is "a buryin." In other words, the crowd is a funeral procession.

Young Jerrys pretty psyched about the prospect of a little bit of entertainment. He cheers for the oncoming funeral. He father promptly boxes his ears.

A funeral may be exciting, after all, but one should still respect the dead.

As it turns out, theres only one person whos officially mourning the dead body. All of the rest of the crowd is just there to cheer that person on.

Cmon, there werent movies back then. What else are you supposed to do on a long, boring afternoon?

As the crowd gets closer, the Crunchers realize that they arent exactly cheering the mourner on.

In fact, theyre booing the dead guy. They seem to think that the dead guy was a spy. Nobody likes spies.

Come to think of it, the crowd hates spies more than most other people.

In fact, they hate spies so much that they turn into a mob. The plan, it seems, is to

overturn the funeral carriage, take the body out, and derail the parade.

Luckily, this plan doesnt work so well. Instead, the mob decides to become part of the funeral procession. They all load into the

carriage (which begins to smell strongly of alcohol) and head off towards the graveyard

together.

Oh, and did we mention that the dead guy (or the dead spy, if you will) was named Roger

Cly? Hmm. We didnt really mean to rhyme that well. Were just too good. Cruncher and Son (or Jerry and Jerry) stick around after the funeral to chat a bit with the

undertaker.

When they get back to the bank, its closed. Accordingly, they set out towards home.

Arriving just in time for tea, the Crunchers meet up with Mrs. Cruncher on the road.

Jerry immediately tells his wife that if his business ventures as an "honest tradesman" go

wrong tonight, hell know it was because she was "flopping" against him Flopping = praying, remember?

Hmmwhat do business ventures have to do with funerals? This is all very mysterious. Mr. Cruncher announces that hes going out tonight. Hes going fishing. Jerry (the younger) immediately points out that his fathers fishing rod is pretty rusty,

which is strange, considering all the times that its supposedly used. His father doesnt answer. Late that night, Young Jerry waits until his father leaves the house.

He slips on his boots and follows his father down the road.

Mr. Cruncher meets with two other men; they head down towardsthe graveyard. Jerry waits breathlessly as the three head into the graveyard.

When theyve gone in, he creeps up to the gate. Watching through a crack in the wall, Young Jerry sees the three men begin to "fish."

Funnily enough, though, theyre not using fishing rods. In fact, theyre using spades.

And theyre digging up the grave. Astonished, Jerry jumps up and runs down the road. He doesnt stop until he reaches his

home.

In the morning, Young Jerry awakens to the sound of his father beating his mothers head against the table.

Lovely. Just lovely.

Apparently, something went wrong the night before.

Mr. Cruncher, of course, blames his wife for the failure.

As Jerry Cruncher and Young Jerry walk to Tellsons, Young Jerry asks his father what a "Resurrection-Man" is.

Startled, Mr. Cruncher stops abruptly in the middle of the street.

After thinking for a minute, he tells Jerry that a resurrection man is a tradesman.

Young Jerry ponders this information over for awhile.

Finally, he declares that hed like to be a tradesman when he grows up. Relieved, Mr. Cruncher says that with hard work and a bit of luck, Young Jerry might

just turn out to be a decent adult, after all.

Folks are coming into the Defarges wine shop as early as six in the morning today.

Our narrator reflects that it cant be because of the wine (which is watered down and sour).

There must be something else going on.

In fact, there is. Monsieur Defarge walks into his shop, where everyone is drinking quietly.

Once he greets his customers, however, the entire shop erupts into conversations.

Defarge saunters over to a table where a man from the country sits silently.

Pulling his wife over to the table, he announces that the man is a mender of roads from the country.

Defarge calls the man "Jacques." We all know what that means.

Soon the man is headed out towards the back of the shop, ostensibly to visit an apartment that the Defarges can lease to him.

Once hes outside, Defarge calls the other three Jacques. They all follow the mender of roads into the garret where Doctor Manette stayed when he was in Paris.

Nervous, the mender of roads asks Defarge where he should begin his tale.

Defarge tells him to start at the very beginning. Its a very good place to start.

The mender of roads tells the assembled men that, a year ago, he was working on the road when he saw the Marquis carriage pass by.

That wasnt too unusual. What was unusual, however, was that a man was hanging off of the bottom of the carriage.

Later, the Marquis asked the mender of roads what the man looked like. The mender recounts that he answered truthfully, saying that the man was tall as a ghost.

The Jacques group scoffs at the honestly of the mender of roads.

They would have lied to the Marquis.

OK, OK. Enough interruptions already. Back to the menders story:

Later the next day, the mender of roads was working on roads again.

(His titles pretty descriptive, huh?)

While he was working, he saw the same stowaway.

This time, however, the tall man was a prisoner. Six guards hauled him down the road in chains.

Describing the way that the soldiers tortured the prisoner, the mender of roads finally says that the prisoner was sent to the jail.

He didnt remain there long, though.

Before the mender of roads continues with the story of the prisoner, he spends some time discussing the way that rumors about the prisoners fate circled through the village.

Execution? An official stay of execution? Life imprisonment? No one knew what his fate was going to be.

After a few days, the prisoner was dragged into the village.

The guards hanged him at midday.

The gallows was erected over the town well. Because official orders insisted that the body remain where it was hung, the town well is now polluted.

Telling his tale, the mender of roads seems to disgust and anger himself all over again.

He erupts in a violent declaration of anger at the injustice of this hanging and the injustice of polluting the well.

Defarge pauses for a second, then asks the Jacques group what they think.

They agree that the perpetrators of this crime should be "registered" in their records as people who should be destroyed.

Jacques Two pauses to ask if anyone will ever be able to steal the groups register.

Defarge scoffs. Madame Defarge keeps the register in her knitting.

No one could decipher it, even if they knew what it was supposed to be.

Defarge announces that the mender of roads plans to stay in Paris for a few days.

Apparently he wants to see the King and Queen.

The rest of the group is aghast. The mender of roads is a fan of royalty? How can he be trusted?

Defarge calms the group down. Give the man a little taste of the way the royals behave, he reminds the Jacques group, and hell be a fierce soldier against them in the future.

The next day, the mender of roads and the Defarges head over to the royal procession.

The mender cheers wildly as the King and Queen pass.

Defarge mutters in Madame Defarges ear that this man is exactly the sort of peasant they need around.

Hell convince the King and Queen that their reign will last forever.

That way, theyll be all the more surprised when revolution comes

Madame Defarge and her husband return to their shop after the procession.

Meanwhile, the mender of roads makes his way back into the country.

The country folk seem to have changed as a result of the hanging in the village. Their

faces are harder; their eyes have become full of vengeance.

Sounds to us like a storms a-brewin. OK, but lets head back to Paris for now, shall we? Madame Defarge is quizzing her husband about the news that hes just heard from a

Jacques thats on the police force. Apparently, the police have hired a new spy to ferret out revolutionaries (or Jacqueses, as

we like to call them).

This new spy is English. His name is Barsad.

Madame Defarge says that hell need to be registered in her knitting. Defarge describes the guys physical appearance. Nodding, Madame Defarge takes it all down. Shes pretty pleased at her husbands ability

to get such good information.

As the two enter the empty wine shop, Madame Defarge asks her husband why he seems

so down and out.

Defarge sighs, then says that change seems to take such a long time. Too long, perhaps.

Madame Defarge stares at him sternly. Then she begins to lecture him.

In case we havent mentioned it, shes something of a force of nature. She manages to slap him back into shape pretty quickly.

OK, she doesnt actually slap him. But she does point out that hes being feeble and just a bit cowardly.

Sure, revolution takes a long time to prepare. But theyll have helped bring it about even if theyre not alive to see its effects.

The next morning, Madame Defarge sits at her seat.

Shes knitting. Of course. Beside her knitting lies a rose. A man walks into the shop.

Madame Defarge picks up the rose and slides it into her cap.

As if someones issued a secret sign, the shop falls silent. People slink out the back exits as the new customer comes up to the counter.

A secret sign? Really? Wonder what it could be Madame Defarge makes polite conversation with the newcomer.

The guys eyes dart everywhere, but he cant seem to come up with anything out of the ordinary.

Madame Defarge thinks to herself that the man should stay around another minute longer.

That way, shell be able to knit his entire name, John Barsad, into her register. Defarge walks in. He glances at his wife, then greets the new customer.

The new man hails him cheerfully as "Jacques."

Defarge looks confused. His name is Ernest, not Jacques. He would thank the visitor to

use his name. Its more than enough for him. The spy (hes a spy, in case you havent figured it out) is getting more and more

confused.

He tries to draw both the Defarges into conversation about the woes of the people, but

they say that they spend all their time running the wine shop.

Theres just no time to pay attention to the populace and its discontents.

The spy does manage to get one good blow in, though. He mentions Doctor Manette.

Defarge immediately jumps a little bit.

Madame Defarge quickly says that they never see nor hear from the doctor.

Smiling, the spy says he knows. In fact, the doctor is in England.

Interestingly, his daughter is about to marry a man whose original name iswell, not Darnay.

In fact, hes taken his mothers name. In French, it would be DAulnais. Defarge gasps.

His wife knits ferociously.

When the spy asks if anything is the matter, she says that it would be better for the

daughter of Doctor Manette if her husband-to-be never returned to France.

The spy leaves.

Silence descends on the house.

Defarge hesitates, then asks Madame Defarge if it wouldnt be a horrible thing that the son-in-law of Doctor Manette were registered alongside the spy.

Apparently, she doesnt think that that would be a bad thing, at all. Saddened, Defarge leaves. As he goes upstairs, he thinks about what a "frightfully" grand

woman his wife is.

London. The night before Lucies wedding. Lucie sits by her fathers side underneath a tree in their yard. Shes very, very happy. She worries, however, that her father will be made unhappy by

her upcoming marriage.

Asking to be reassured that nothing will be changed by her marriage, she begs her father

to tell her if he will be at all unhappy in the future.

Doctor Manette assures Lucie that he will be happier if shes fully happy. After all, he realizes that shes devoted herself to him. He wouldnt want her life to be

spent completely in tending for an old man.

As he sits looking at the moon, Doctor Manette remembers the times that the moon was

the only thing he could see from his prison window.

He tells Lucie that he used to look at the moon and dream of the child which hed abandoned when he was sent to prison.

Imagining that shed forgotten him completely, the doctor used to think that the child would grow up without any thought of him troubling her mind.

Lucie interrupts him. Shes troubled by the thought that he could imagine her to be uncaring.

Doctor Manette gently stops her.

At other times, he explains, he would imagine his daughter leading him out of his prison

cell into the world.

This vision, he insisted, was a spectre.

Lucie struggles to understand all of this.

Continuing, the Doctor says that, at other times, he imagined his child with a full and

happy life one that he came into when he left prison. That, Lucie recognizes, was his dream of her.

The next day, Lucie will get married.

No one is invited to the ceremony but Mr. Lorry. Miss Pross will be there, as well.

That night, Miss Pross, Lucie, and the doctor have a cheerful supper together.

After the doctor goes to bed, Lucie creeps into his room to check on him.

Hes sleeping soundly. Relieved, she goes to sleep herself.

Its the day of the wedding. Everyone is ready to head to the church.

Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross chat amicably together. By now, theyre actually pretty good friends.

Charles is in the doctors room, having a last-minute discussion before the wedding. Suddenly, the doctor emerges from his room. Hes white as a sheet. Nothing else seems to be the matter, however. He doesnt say anything. Lucie takes his arm. Together, they head to the church.

After the wedding, Lucie and Charles leave for their honeymoon. Doctor Manette helps

Lucie into the carriage, and then the three older people walk back to the Manettes house. Mr. Lorry glances worriedly at the doctor. The old scared look has returned to his face.

Advising Miss Pross to leave the doctor in peace for the time being, Mr. Lorry decides

that hell return later in the night to check on the doctor. Sure enough, when he comes back later that evening, Doctor Manette is holed up in his

room, working furiously at making shoes.

When Mr. Lorry tries to call out to him, the doctor doesnt even recognize his old friend. Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry hold a hurried conference.

They dont want to disturb Lucie on her honeymoon, so they send her a letter supposedly written by her father.

They also agree to keep a constant watch on the doctor for a few days.

Maybe hell snap out of it. On the first night, however, that doesnt happen. Doctor Manette takes food when its given to him, but otherwise he just works at his

bench.

He doesnt recognize anyone. The same thing happens the next day.

And the next.

Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross try to talk to the doctor. He listensbut he never replies. After nine days, the doctor hasnt shaken out of his relapse. If anything, hes gotten more and more skillful at making shoes. With growing terror, Mr. Lorry watches his old friend regress further and further into his

prison-identity.

Its the tenth day after Lucies wedding. Mr. Lorry enters the doctors bedroom and finds the doctor sitting by his window,

reading.

Hes a bit pale, sure, but otherwise he seems to be completely back to normal. The change is so drastic, in fact, that Mr. Lorry begins to doubt his own eyes.

When Miss Pross arrives, shes equally astonished. Doctor Manette seems to have healed himself completely overnight.

Because the doctor doesnt make any reference to his scary relapse, Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry decide not to mention it immediately, either.

They all head down to breakfast.

While theyre sitting down, Mr. Lorry tells Dr. Manette that he needs an experts opinion in a hypothetical case.

We all know how much Mr. Lorry loves "hypothetical" cases.

Asking the doctor how good friends should deal with the case of a man who relapsed for

nine days, Mr. Lorry tries to gauge how much the doctor actually remembers of his

relapse.

As it turns out, the doctor doesnt remember anything. He quickly catches on to Mr. Lorrys ruse; finally, he asks if the daughter of this

hypothetical man has been told of his illness.

When Mr. Lorry says that the daughter hasnt been told of her fathers condition, Dr. Manette breathes a huge sigh of relief.

Actually, he says, the man probably has been expecting a relapse of this sort for some

time.

Puzzled, Mr. Lorry asks why.

Dr. Manette pauses for a bit before replying.

He finally says that the man had probably been anticipating some information from

someone he knew well.

Actually, anticipating is too nice a word. Hed been dreading the information. When it finally came, his mind crumbled entirely.

Surprised, Mr. Lorry asks what the information was.

The doctor, of course, cant say. After all, its a hypothetical case. He does reassure Mr. Lorry that another relapse seems highly unlikely.

After all, there are no more big shocks in store. Thank goodness.

Now comes the tricky part: Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross have come up with a plan.

Theyre pretty sure that the doctor wont like it at all. Nevertheless, they decide to give it a go.

Mr. Lorry gently tells the doctor that the case theyd been discussing also involved some tools: the man who relapsed began working again at shoemaking.

The doctor seems more disturbed than before.

Mr. Lorry asks if it wouldnt be best for friends of the man to take the shoe-making bench away.

After all, couldnt the very presence of the bench in the mans room help to incite another relapse?

Pained by this thought, the doctor explains that the bench was once the only thing which

kept him sane.

He worked with his hands (making shoes) so that he wouldnt go crazy while he was in prison.

In some ways, then, the bench symbolizes his strength, not his weakness.

Mr. Lorry understands this, but he still presses the doctor to get rid of the bench.

Finally, the doctor agrees that if the bench could be taken away while the man was out of

the house, it might be OK.

Accordingly, a few days later the doctor heads out to the country to meet up with Darnay

and Lucie.

As soon as he leaves, Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry dismantle his workbench and bury the

tools in the yard.

The first person to visit Lucie and Charles after they get married is Sydney Carton.

Are you really surprised?

Charles is. Hes even more surprised when Sydney makes a rather strange request: he wants to be Charles friend.

Theres not exactly a ton of love lost between the two men, remember? Nonetheless, Sydney wants to be pals.

More specifically, he wants to be able to pop over to their house without any warning,

just like an old family friend would.

Charles doesnt seem especially inclined to agree, but Sydney reminds him of how Sydney saved Charles life in court.

OK, hes got Charles there. Charles agrees to be friends.

That doesnt mean, however, that he has to like it. Later in the day, he grumbles to Lucie about Cartons strange request. Astonishingly, Lucie gets a bit angry at him for saying mean things about Carton.

She tells Charles to remember that theyre very, very happy together and that Carton is very, very unhappy.

As she says, its hard for happy people to judge unhappy people. It just doesnt seem fair. Charles seems pretty wowed by the wonderfulness of his wife.

That, my friends, is alliteration. See all those "w"s in the line above? The fancy technical

term for phrases that have several words which start with the same letter is "alliteration."

But thats beside the point. We were discussing Lucie and Charles: The two newlyweds agree to always be kind to poor old Sydney.

Lucie kisses Charles and thanks him for his kindness.

Charles kisses Lucie and blesses her for her compassion.

Life, in other words, is pretty perfect.

The years pass.

Lucie has a baby girl. Shes also named Lucie. She also has a small baby boy who dies when hes just a few years old. Surprisingly, Sydney Carton has become a much-loved uncle to the children.

His footsteps continually sound on the Manettes doorstep. Even more frequently, theyre heard pacing in the streets and alleys around the Manettes

house.

Get it? Footsteps? Its just like the title of the chapter. When Lucies son dies, his last words are about Sydney. He asks his mother and sister to

give Sydney a kiss for him.

Mr. Stryver, our least favorite lawyer, has gotten richer and fatter as the years have

passed.

He marries a rich, pudgy wife. They have three chubby, annoying children.

OK, so Dickens isnt so nice about peoples weight. Nonetheless, the Stryvers arent that great.

Stryver, in his extreme beneficence, wants Charles to tutor his kids.

Unsurprisingly, Charles declines to do so.

Stryvers a bit pissed. He contents himself, however, with telling his wife stories about how Lucie once was desperate to marry him.

Ah, memory can play funny tricks on us, huh?

Throughout this whole time, Lucies been the angel in the Manette house. See Lucies "Character Analysis" for more analysis of this. She manages to be everywhere all the time and helps everybody all the time.

Its pretty amazing, actually. Maybe even impossible. By the time little Lucie gets to be six, things in the Manette house have adjusted into

smooth, well-ordered happiness.

Things in France, however, arent going so swimmingly. The footsteps which sound in Saint Antoine are fast and furious.

They race through the night, gathering weapons and spreading news.

Defarges wine shop remains the center of all the revolutionary activity. As all the Jacqueses get ready to go to war, Madame Defarge rallies the women.

Together, they storm the Bastille.

The Bastille, you remember, is the prison where the French government kept its political

prisoners.

Its also the place where Dr. Manette spent a good bit of his life. On July 14, 1789, the revolutionaries take over the fortress.

FYI: this actually happened. See our "Setting" analysis for more information.

Our narrator goes a little crazy describing the sights, sounds, and noises of the attack on

the Bastille.

Cannons boom, women shriek, and blood runs everywhere.

Soon the revolutionaries are running through the halls of the Bastille, crying out for the

prisoners and the records that the Bastille still stores.

Defarge grabs a man in the prison and demands to be shown to the North Tower.

Why is he so insistent? Well, for one thing, Dr. Manette was a prisoner in the North

Tower.

Taking Jacques Three along with him, he heads up the stairs to cell One Hundred and

Five.

Once in the cell, he asks Jacques Three to run a torch along the wall.

Sure enough, he eventually finds the initials "A. M." etched in the wall.

A.M. stands for Alexandre Manette.

Thats Doctor Manette to us. Defarge suddenly orders the men with him to rip apart the room.

Hes looking for something Eventually, he orders the men to set all the fragments of furniture on fire.

Delighted to have more to destroy, they immediately follow orders.

Outside, the crowd has captured the governor who defended the Bastille.

Theyre supposed to wait for Defarge to emerge so that the can march the governor back to the wine shop.

As the guy passes through the crowd, however, he gets beaten and knifed.

Soon he falls over, dead of his wounds.

Madame Defarge, shouting triumphantly, steps on him and cuts off his head.

Looks like hes not going back to the wine shop, after all. The mobs from Saint Antoine decide to behead some guards and hoist their heads onto

pikes.

Thats exactly what they do. Seven prisoners were released; seven other mens heads stand on pikes. Fairs fair, right?

A week after the Storming of the Bastille, Madame Defarge sits at the counter of her

shop.

Another woman, the short, plump wife of the grocer, sits with her.

In the past week, this woman has taken on a new name: shes now called "The Vengeance." Were guessing its not because shes all that friendly.

Defarge enters the shop.

Immediately, everyone quiets down to hear what he has to say.

Luckily, he actually does have something to say: Foulon, an old aristocrat who once told

the peasants that they could eat grass, has been imprisoned.

Hes on his way to Paris now, escorted by a revolutionary guard. Defarge pauses, then asks if the "patriots" are ready for action.

Madame Defarge grabs her knife. The Vengeance begins to shriek.

They run to different houses in the area with the news.

Soon an entire crowd has gathered outside the house where Foulon has been taken.

Madame Defarge rushes into the house to see the old man bound up in ropes.

She begins to clap as if shes just seen a great play. Defarge rushes up to Foulon and "folds him in a deadly embrace."

Were guessing that means he kills the guy. Madame Defarge tries to strangle him with his ropes.

The Vengeance and Jacques Three drag the body out into the streets.

Hoards of people scream at the sight. They begin to stuff the dead mans pockets with grass.

Poetic justice, eh?

Once his head and heart are set on pikes, however, the crowd begins to disperse.

After all, theyre still poor and miserable. They all head to the bread lines to beg for some loaves of bread.

As Monsieur Defarge returns to his wine shop, he remarks to his wife that the revolution

seems to have come at last.

Were back in the French countryside. Its just about as dismal as when we left it: theres no food, the crops are withered, and

the people are in about the same condition as the crops.

Despite this, things seem to have changed somehow.

For years, Monseigneur (as a class) has squeezed and starved the poor of the village.

Now, however, the faces of the poor have a new look. Its one that Monseigneur cant quite figure out.

Our old friend, the mender of roads, is out mending roads.

After all, what else would he be doing?

A man walks up to him, greets him as Jacques, and the two sit down to eat together.

The mender of roads asks if its happening tonight. What? Whats happening? Just waitwell find out soon enough. The traveler wants to take a nap. He asks the mender of roads to wake him at sunset.

Its now sunset. The mender of roads wakes the traveler. Hey, we told you it was going to happen.

They shake hands. The traveler asks a cryptic question: is it two leagues away?

The answer is yes.

Later that night, the chateau on the hill begins to burn.

Vast clouds of smoke and flame can be seen from the town.

Monsieur Gabelle, the guy whos in charge of the town, awakens to find a rider at his door.

Frantic, the rider asks Monsieur Gabelle to send village folk up to the chateau.

Everyone in the village looks at each other. Amazingly enough, no one wants to help put

out the fire.

The chateau burns.

After the blazes die down a little bit, folks start to remember that the Marquis wasnt the only aristocrat in town.

Gabelle was the one who collected the Marquis taxes. OK, so hes not really an aristocrat. But hes close enough, isnt he? That seems to be the general consensus.

People start to beat down Gabelles door. He takes the advice of his friends and puts a heavy bolt on the door.

As night descends, we leave Gabelle praying that he wont get strung up on a pike.

Its August. 1792. Monseigneur, that amazing man who stands in for all French aristocrats, has decided that

France is not the safest place to be hanging out.

Hes now fleeing across the ocean, headed for countries that are a bit more friendly than his own.

But were not concerned with Monseigneur right now. Were back in London. At Tellsons, to be specific. Tellsons, in case you were wondering, is as dark and dingy and cramped as it ever was.

Thats just the way that Mr. Lorry likes it. At the moment, Charles is trying to talk Mr. Lorry out of going to France on business.

Its too dangerous in France at the moment especially for an elderly man. Mr. Lorry agrees, but business is business. Tellsons has many French customers, and

someone has to look after their property, even during times of strife.

As it turns out, Mr. Lorry happens to be one of the youngest members of Tellsons. If anyone could brave war and revolution, itd be him. Thats what he thinks, at any rate. Charles remains unconvinced.

Mr. Lorry assures him that hell bring Jerry Cruncher along as a bodyguard. Between the two of them, they should be able to stop any mischief that people might

intend towards the bank or the banks property. Charles and Mr. Lorry stand in a corner of the bank, talking together.

Gradually, another conversation in the bank catches their attention.

Our good old friend, Mr. Stryver, has brought a letter to the bank. Its addressed to a Marquis St. Evrmonde, care of Tellsons Bank.

Our narrator quickly informs us that Doctor Manette made Charles promise never to

reveal his real identity.

Perhaps thats why Charles starts when he sees the letter but he doesnt say a word. Luckily, Stryver has more than enough words for the entire office.

He explains that the new Marquis is a craven coward. He abandoned his lands before the

old Marquis died.

Charles steps into the conversation and says that he knows the Marquis. He can deliver

the letter.

Puzzled, Mr. Lorry hands it to him.

Charles quickly leaves. As he walks out, he opens the letter.

Its from Monsieur Gabelle, the steward of his uncles lands. Gabelle has been taken prisoner, merely because he did what the Marquis ordered him to

do.

Now he begs the new Marquis (Charles) to come back and take responsibility for his own

lands.

Charles puts down the letter and begins some serious thinking.

Sure, he once believed that it would be better for him to abandon his inheritance entirely.

Starting life over in England was a bit hard, but at least he wasnt the cause of other peoples pain.

Now, however, he sees that inaction can be as morally corrupt as bad actions.

Quickly, Charles comes to a conclusion: he must return to France.

With this decided, Charles sets about planning a "business" trip. He tells Lucie that hell be gone for a few days.

Then he writes a letter explaining his real situation and leaves it for her to find once hes left.

He also writes to the doctor, asking him to take care of the family until he returns.

In the dead of the night, Charles sets out for Paris.

Were not sure, but we really dont have a very good feeling about this...

In 1792, traveling through France is pretty slow going.

OK, OK: traveling in the 1700s was pretty slow all the time. We know that. But now its extra-slow. Even slower than before. Sloooooooow.

Charles, of course, happens to be traveling in 1792.

Hes not getting too far. Everywhere he goes, hes stopped. People have to check his papers. Then they have to re-

check them.

Meanwhile, Charles waits for several hours.

This happens over and over. And over.

Finally, in the middle of the night, hes taken prisoner by a group of patriots. They deliver him to the local authorities, who decide that hes an emigrant and must be

sent to Paris immediately.

When Charles tries to protest, he gets smacked around for a while. Apparently folks have

figured out that hes an aristocrat. Needless to say, theyre not too happy about the news. Bundled into a carriage, Charles begins the halting, slow journey to the capital.

The patriots force him to pay for an armed escort into the capital. After all, anything

could happen to him on the road.

On the way, a man screams out that a decree has been passed: the property of all

emigrants can be confiscated by the Republic.

Charles begins to realize that his trip might just be a bit more complicated than hed planned.

The crowds arent all that pleased to see him pass. Some even threaten to kill the aristocrat. Others mutter that hell be judged when he gets

to Paris.

Friendly country, huh?

At the gates of the city, a guardsman asks for the papers of the prisoner.

Charles isnt too excited about the fact that hes gone from being a traveler to an emigrant to a prisoner.

Sure enough, hes taken to the prison. Defarge is there. He identifies Charles as "Citizen Evrmon