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Critical analysis of a TALE OF TWO CITIES
A tale of two cities thematic essay
Critical analysis of a TALE OF TWO CITIES
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Sacrifice, even when it comes to one’s ultimate end, is crucial in order to survive as a productive race. In the book Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, he illustrates the hardships of the early-nineteenth-century lifestyles. With the resurrection of an evicted man, the novel sprouts from a broken family recovering and growing. This novel incorporates many grand gestures and adventures, such as the French Revolution, treason trials, and the sacrifice of one’s own life in the name of love.
In the beginning of the book, Jarvis Lorry and Miss Lucie Manette meet and travel together to rescue Lucie’s father, Doctor Manette. The book jumps ahead to a time when Lucie has revived her dad, and the two are witnessing a trial against Charles Darnay, who is accused of treason. Sydney Carton, a goofy drunkard, saves Darnay from being convicted. Charles’ uncle, Marquis Evremonde, is killed by Revolutionaries in France going by the name “Jacques”. A year later, the two men profess their love for Lucie, but she marries Charles. Charles then admits to Mr. Manette that he is the descendant of those who imprisoned him, and Mr. Manette has a breakdown, but quickly recovers. Darnay travels to Paris and is arrested for emigration by the Revolutionaries, to then be rescued and re-arrested for the wrongs of his father and uncle—who killed a man and raped a woman, then blamed Mr. Manette, causing his imprisonment—once he is free. Awaiting the death of her husband, Lucie waits sadly in an inn when Sydney hears Madame Defarge plotting to kill the daughter of Luce and Lucie herself. In a desperate act of love for his friends, Sydney plans a course of action to save his friends: he planned an escape from the inn for the Manettes via carriage, then he ...
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... gives up literally everything—including his own life—for the sake of keeping a family together. Another example of said theme is when Defarge is obligated to give up his loyalty to Manette when he must further his involvement in the Revolution. This theme of sacrifice is utilizing the idea that one must give up minor things for the greater good, even if it hurts to do so.
A Tale of Two Cities is the adventure of a loving family in search of happiness, but is ultimately stuck in the challenges of freeing everyone from the unfortunate mistakes Darnay’s family committed. This novel is a whirlwind of twists and shocks as characters begin to develop and the French Revolution gets underway. The Manette family grows greatly throughout the book, finding true happiness.
Works Cited
Dickens , Charles. Tale of Two Cities. London: Chapman and Hall, 1859. Kindle ebook file.
Dickens used his great talent by describing the city London were he mostly spent his time. By doing this Dickens permits readers to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the aged city, London. This ability to show the readers how it was then, how ...
Charles loved to incorporate prisons and peasants in his writing, reflecting the life of the lower class and his father, John Dickens. He wrote with a realistic genre, portraying everything exactly the way it should be without much elaboration. While writing the book A Tale of Two Cities, Charles read Thomas Carlyle’s history of the French Revolution, which he incorporated in the plot of the novel. Charles Dickens focused mainly on the motifs of prisons, self-sacrifice, rebirth, and the mystery of love in his works. These motifs came from his lifetime experiences. (Karen
In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens explores the concept of rebirth (physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally) through the exploits of Doctor Manette, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton. Some major keys in his ideas of being resurrected are physical and mental recovery, escaping an unworthy past for a worthy cause, and the nobility of sacrifice.
A Tale of Two Cities Essay Throughout history, the powers of love and hate have constantly been engaged in a battle for superiority. Time and time again, love has proven to be stronger than hate, and has been able to overcome all of the obstacles that have stood in the way of it reaching its goal. On certain occasions, though, hate has been a viable foe and defeated love when they clash. In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents several different power struggles between love and hate.
A Tale of Two Cities In every great novel, there is a theme that is constant throughout the story. One of the better known themes portrays the fight of good verses evil. Different authors portray this in different ways. Some use colors, while others use seasons to show the contrast. Still, others go for the obvious and use characters.
The French Revolution was a time when many people sacrificed their lives for their beliefs. As the French Revolution moved on, more people joined the movement and risked their lives. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is set during this time. Many people who sacrificed their lives for the Revolution felt like it was their fate to do this. This idea of fate is described many times in Dickens’ novel to magnify the story. The theme of fate is prevalent in the novel through the lives of many characters. This theme is used to show how a person is unable to escape their fate because it is already decided. The metaphors and symbols in the novel are greatly used to contribute to the theme of fate through the symbols of knitting, the fountain and water, and the wine.
Lucie Manette Darnay played an important and symbolic role in the novel. Dickens described her as “the golden thread” of the novel, weaving its good throughout the plot. Along with her good nature, she was also young and attractive. Dickens described her as having:
In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens’ choice of sentimental expression had an excellent effect on the readers’ responses to the characters. The use of exaggerated sentimentality helped create a clear picture of the story’s issues in the readers’ minds; it gave a feel for the spirit of the times, and made it easier to understand the characters’ points of view. It was this very sentimentality that Dickens strived to achieve.
Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens repeats a number of symbols and motifs. By employing these two literary devices throughout the duration of the story, Dickens is working to emphasize the importance of these specific components of the story. Motifs and symbols represent repeating ideas that help the reader to understand, as well as highlight the author’s central idea. Dickens employs the usage of symbols and motifs, such that by using both he adds a layer of significance and deeper meaning to actions, people, as well as objects. Additionally, by using symbols and motifs, Dickens is able to create a story in which both the characters, and the plot are interwoven.
Over the centuries there have been stories of two people who meet and find out they have similar physical features. At that point of time they find they have both received polar opposite lifestyles than the other. Sometimes they decide to even switch their lives for the other, but in other cases one person is instead redeemed. Such a case as this is found in Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens uses three main characters to showcase his theme of redemption, even redemption from a Christian standpoint, throughout the book.
My favorite scene in A Tale of Two Cities is one of the last scenes, when Sydney Carton is about to go to the guillotine. It takes place in Paris, near a prison, and many people have gathered to watch french aristocrats be beheaded. The atmosphere is tense and chaotic; Sydney, however, remains calm, even though he is about to be killed. Sydney is holding the hand of a young girl who is given no name other than a "poor little seamstress". Sydney and the seamstress, who are both being wrongfully killed, comfort each other just before they reach the guillotine, and they seem to have an instant romantic connection with each other. I loved this scene because it showed that Sydney Carton had finally found someone who could love him, as he could love them, but it saddened me that he had found her just before their deaths.
Then, Sydney Carton, a man said to look very similar Darnay, decided to put his plan to action. He knew a guard in the prison where Darnay was being held. So he used that guard to sneak in and drug Darnay. He swapped clothes with Darnay and had him write a letter to Lucie for Carton. He saved Charles and gave him another chance by trading places with him in prison and taking the punishment of Darnay’s sentence.
Charles Darnay plays a pivotal role in the movie A Tale of Two Cities. His actions and eventual consequences drive the plot of the story. He is the nephew of the French aristocrat Monseigneur a.k.a. Marquis Evremonde. In the story, he marries Lucie Manette and therefore becomes the son-in-law of Doctor Manette. He is also an acquaintance of Sydney Carton, who is a friend of his wife. Charles Darnay is an interesting person to study because of the content of his character. He came across as an extraordinarily honest and good individual, but he has a certain complexity to him, making it enjoyable to learn more about him.
Certain character’s love for one another in A Tale of Two Cities causes physical and emotional struggles in their lives. These struggles ultimately lead to a variation of sacrifices. Death, humility, and devotion are the key sacrifices made throughout the novel. Sacrifice plays an important role in the lives, beliefs, and behavior of the characters in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
Charles Dickens is a talented author who wrote many notable novels, including A Tale of Two Cities. Barbara Hardy notes that at a young age Dickens’ father was imprisoned for debt, leaving young Charles to support himself and his family alone (47). Dickens strongly disliked prisons, which shows as a motif in A Tale of Two Cities. Many of his interests contributed to the formulation of the novel. In the essay “Introduction” from the book, Charles Dickens, Harold Bloom claims Dickens hoped “to add something to the popular and picturesque means of understanding [the] terrible time” of the Revolution (20). Dickens’ reading and “extraordinary reliance upon Carlyle’s bizarre but effective French Revolution” may have motivated him to write the novel (Bloom 21). Sir James Fitzjames Stephen believed that Dickens was “on the look-out for a subject, determined off-hand to write a novel about [French Revolution]” (Bloom 20). In Brown’s book Dickens in his Time, Dickens guided the writing of the play Frozen Deep where two rivals share the same love, and one ultimately sacrifices himself for...