More handpicked essays just for you.
Critical analysis of A Tale of Two Cities
Analysis of a tale of two cities
Critical analysis a tale of two cities
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Katie Mecca
Mrs. Eggleston
English 1 Honors
23 October 2014
A Tale Of Two Cities The setting is in the year 1775, England and France are undergoing a period of social cataclysm and mayhem. The forces that are advancing to revolution in France are colliding with a circle of people in England, causing their futures to be irreversibly intertwined. Many of the characters fight internal struggles as well as battling hardships that originate from the revolution.
From being recalled to life, to leaving footprints, to being stained with blood, Dickens uses literary devices to help the reader become more connected with the story. In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens uses devices such as motifs, metaphors, symbols, and foreshadowing to give us a mind-
…show more content…
In A Tale of Two Cities, we also see Sydney Carton’s footsteps, which are the most memorable footsteps of them all. Throughout the book, Carton impacts Lucie’s life. He tells her, “I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul.” (Dickens, 149). He aches to give her a life she loves, hoping it would redeem his. In Chapter 15, “The Footsteps Die Out Forever”, Dickens uses this title to reflect the one last impact Sydney Carton has for Lucie. He hopes to make his footprints pure, by washing his sins away through death for the ones he loves. Carton died to protect Lucie from a corrupted life, without the burden of death and sin. He protects Lucie by breaking the never ending cycle of revenge. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18. This is symbolic of the story of Christ and the unconditional love he has for us all. He would die to make footsteps clean, and to be able to clean our feet from sin. In Carton’s last moments, he sees the chaotic footsteps of Paris dying down, “A beautiful city and a brilliant people will rise from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats…the evil of this time and the previous expiation for itself and wear out.” (Dickens, 371-372). Dickens has compared footsteps and the action of the revolution to a great storm. During any storm, it is disastrous and sometimes horrifying, but it always will die down and leave new soil to rebuild upon. Sometimes, storms can even leave a
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 Dickens uses an unusual method of serialization that resembles that used by daytime soaps. After covering several plot developments of several characters, usually primary ones, he switches to a series of subplots involving other characters, usually secondary ones. For example, after Dickens covers the adventure of the Marquis St. Evremonde, he jumps back to Darnay. The effect is a narrative hook that encourages the readers to go on. This leads to suspense and, of course, a successful tale.
To most, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is that book about the poor people and the French Revolution that isn’t Les Miserables where he ravages the rich people, calling them “tigerish,” (Dickens 33) following the lord “ignorancem” (Dickens 33) and saying that they “held life as of no account,” (Dickens 221) right? Wrong. Yes, A Tale of Two Cities is a book by Dickens mostly about the poor people and the French Revolution (that isn’t Les Miserables) wherein he makes metaphorically eviscerates the rich people, but these are all references to the poor, the downtrodden, the little guy, in short, the people we and Dickens are supposed to root for. Dickens, for a genuine friend of the poor, as shown in his books A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, and Oliver Twist, and as someone who wrote to the masses, disparages the poor quite a bit in A Tale of Two Cities. In the words of Frederick Busch “[Dickens] fears revolution, … the downtrodden in revolt become, to Dickens, downright revolting.” It is not that the gentry in A Tale of Two Cities are the protagonists; rather, that the poor are antagonists as well. To sum, when blood rains from the sky, no one’s hands are clean.
Power can allow one to make decisions for others than will benefit them, but too much power can cause one to become corrupt. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, the author, Charles Dickens, views power as a way in which corruption arises. Throughout the novel, Dickens speaks about three characters who starts to abuse their power as time passes in the novel. Dickens portrays the characters of the Monseigneur, the Marquis of Evermonde, and the revolutionaries as characters who goes through a change as a result of power.
By using the innovative metaphors of a storm, knitting, and water to convey the theme of fate in his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens is a famous and well-known writer. The storm representing the French Revolution comes down to simply social classes. The hit list that Madame Defarge knitted comes down to simply who dies and who does not. The flowing water comes down to simply the flow of life. Throughout the wondrous and enticing novel, the metaphors turn into symbols that relate to the theme of fate in a variety of ways.
The characters in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, despite the criticism of others, are fully developed at the completion of the novel. At the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, the characters are somewhat nebulous, not really formed, and it is often hard to see how these characters could possibly play pivotal roles in the novels. For example, Sydney Carton the resident town drunk and wastrel, was illustrated quite negatively at the beginning of the novel, “this one man sat leaning back, with his torn gown half off him, his untidy wig put on just as it happened to light on his head after its removal, his hands in his pockets, and his eyes on the ceiling as they had been all day. Something especially reckless in his demeanor, not only gave him a disreputable look…” (57). However, at the end of the novel Sydney is held as the quintessential human, after all, “man hath no greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friend.” The critics most likely have a problem with the way Dickens brings a character to the forefront, only for them to slip away from view and return a hun...
In the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, he compares many characters by including similar and contrasting characteristics between a minor character and a major character. Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton are characters who exemplify this comparison because at the beginning of the novel Carton is portrayed as a drunken, careless man while Darnay on the other hand is the example of what Carton should to be, successful, polite and respectable. While Darnay is considered a major character, he would not be anything if it wasn’t for the physically alike but characteristically different Carton.
In literature, motifs are used constantly to provide a separate meaning to an idea, which ultimately results in a better comprehension of the text and the themes. Charles Dickens illustrates this by manipulating a strong force of nature to portray the events that created a large turning point in the history of France- the French Revolution. In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens creates the descriptive motif of the sea to describe the widespread anger and destruction of the revolutionaries, and to portray a large feeling of anticipation leading up to the event.
“Constant goodness and purity can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, love and compassion bring people together, and often transform them.” –Albert Schweitzer. It is a central idea in our world that when an individual sows love and compassion for mankind, their actions will positively impact those around them, and they will most certainly reap the benefits. Although a person of this magnitude seems rare in our society today, in Charles Dickens’, A Tale of Two Cities, Lucie Manette is the embodiment of compassion for those around her. In the novel, those whom encounter Lucie view her as pure, noble, strong and loving, and through her endeavors as a compassionate young woman she brings her father peace, transforms various characters in the novel, and in return receives protection and devotion. Lucie’s acts of kindness drive characters to do great things, all the while she keeps both friends and family together and justly remains the “golden thread” that benevolently unites characters in the story. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens portrays the character of Lucie Manette as a pillar of purity, nobility, compassion, and love which in turn allows her to transform those she encounters, revive them back to life, and do great things on her behalf.
...he will do anything for her, even die for someone she loves. Lucie recalls Sydney by opening him up to doing something with his life. He later uses this new mindset to save Charles’s life. After Sydney is inspired to make something of his life he vows to do something good. To do this, he dies for Charles Darnay to show his love for Lucie. This is how Sydney Carton is recalled to life.
The French Revolution was a chaotic, destructive time. This is clearly illustrated in the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. In this novel, there are many examples of inhumanity, especially during the revolutionaries’ attacks against anyone who was believed to be treasonous or aristocratic. Men were very cruel to their fellow men, even creating the monstrous guillotine to kill people faster and more efficiently. Charles Dickens portrays such violence from the French Revolution very well with the symbols of the blue-flies, the storm, and red wine.
In A Tale of Two Cities author Charles Dickens uses literary techniques throughout the novel such as doubling and repetition. One way Dickens utilizes doubling is through the characters such as Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge who are complete opposites. Dickens choice to create doubling among characters not only creates opposites throughout the novel, it also reveals many hidden patterns the eventually unravel to readers as the novel progresses. An example of these hidden connections is revealed with Madame Defarge’s vengeance towards Darnay and his family.
The Range of Devices Charles Dickens Uses to Engage the Interest of the Reader in the Opening Chapters of Great Expectations
History has not only been important in our lives today, but it has also impacted the classic literature that we read. Charles Dickens has used history as an element of success in many of his works. This has been one of the keys to achievement in his career. Even though it may seem like it, Phillip Allingham lets us know that A Tale of Two Cities is not a history of the French Revolution. This is because no actual people from the time appear in the book (Allingham). Dickens has many different reasons for using the component of history in his novel. John Forster, a historian, tells us that one of these reasons is to advance the plot and to strengthen our understanding of the novel (27). Charles Dickens understood these strategies and could use them to his advantage.
Winning critical acclaim, A Tale of Two Cities occupies a central place in the cannon of Charles Dickens’ work. A Tale of Two Cities, published in serial form starting on April 30, 1859, is a historical fiction novel. A dominant theme in this historical novel is the duality found in many of Dickens’ characters. Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is somewhat autobiographical; emphasizes the key elements of theme, plot, and character; and has received extensive criticism.