A Tale of 2 Cities
Analysis
1.
Summary
It is 1775, and Mr. Jarvis Lorry is
traveling to Dover to meet Lucie Manette. He tells her that she is not an
orphan as she had been told from a young age. He now says that he will travel
with her to Paris to meet her father, who has recently been released from the
Bastille. Doctor Manette is housed in the Defarges' wine-shop and has lost his
reason, but he starts to regain it when he meets his daughter and is
transported back to London.
Five years later, Charles Darnay is
tried in London on a charge of treason for providing English secrets to the
French and Americans during the outbreak of the American Revolution. The
dramatic appearance of Mr. Sydney Carton, who looks remarkably like him,
precludes any positive identification and allows Darnay's acquittal. Darnay,
Mr. Carton, and Mr. Stryver all fall in love with Lucie Manette, who was a
tearful, unwilling witness for the prosecution. Although they all make an
attempt to woo her, she favors Charles Darnay and marries him. Carton comes to
her house alone and declares that while he expects no return of his love, he
would do anything for her or for anyone whom she loves. Darnay has ominously
hinted to Doctor Manette of his concealed identity, and he reveals to his
father-in-law on the morning of his wedding that he is a French nobleman who
has renounced his title.
In France, Darnay's uncle,
Monseigneur, has been murdered in his bed for crimes against the French people.
This means that Darnay is next in line to inherit the aristocratic title, but
he tells no one but Doctor Manette. At the urgent request of Monsieur Gabelle,
who has been arbitrarily imprisoned, Darnay returns to Paris. He is arrested as
a nobleman and an emigrant and thrown into jail.
A spy named John Barsad drops into
the Defarges' wine-shop to gather evidence regarding whether they are
revolutionaries. They reveal practically nothing, although Madame Defarge is
knitting a list of those whom she and the other revolutionaries intend to kill.
Doctor Manette, Miss Pross, Lucie,
and her small child follow Darnay to Paris, where the Doctor is almost
successful in using his power among the revolutionaries as a former Bastille
prisoner--like the people, he was oppressed by the ruling regime--to secure
Darnay's release. But Darnay is once again denounced by the Defarges, a charge
which is made even stronger by Monsieur Defarge's revelation of a paper
document that he found in Doctor Manette's former cell in the Bastille. The
document recounts that Manette was arbitrarily imprisoned by the Evrémondes for
having witnessed their rape of a peasant girl and the murder of her brother.
Darnay is brought back to prison and sentenced to death.
Sydney Carton also has traveled to
Paris because of the selfless love that Lucie Manette has inspired in him. He
resolves to sacrifice himself to save her husband's life. He forces the help of
John Barsad, having recognized him as Solomon Pross, the dissolute brother of
Miss Pross. Carton overhears the Defarges discussing a plan to kill Lucie and
her child, and he figures out that Madame Defarge is the surviving sister of
the peasant girl who was raped and of the boy who was stabbed by the Evrémonde
family.
Carton arranges for the Manettes to
leave immediately. He uses his influence with Barsad (Pross), who also works as
a turnkey, to get into Darnay's cell. He drugs Darnay and exchanges places with
him, having Barsad carry Darnay out of the prison to safety.
Madame Defarge knocks on Lucie's door
to arrest her, but the Manettes have already fled to safety. She is instead
confronted with the extremely protective Miss Pross, who comes to blows with
her and accidentally shoots her dead with her own gun. Darnay returns with the
Manettes to London in safety. Carton dies in Darnay's place at the guillotine,
satisfied with the knowledge of his good deed.
2.
Theme
Loyalty-
Miss Pross, Mr. Lorry and many other characters are some of the examples that
Dicken have made to show loyalty. Eventhough war happens, loyalty still persist
in them.
Society
and class- the difference between France and London are shown.
Sacrifice-
The sacrifice of people like Carton and Miss Pross are very significant in the
story.
3.
Point
of View
The narrator speaks in the third person, deftly switching his focus between
cities and among several characters. The narrator is also omniscient—not only
revealing the thoughts, emotions, and motives of the characters, but also
supplying historical context to the events that occur, commenting confidently
upon them.
4. Conflict
-Social Conflict: The story gives us a lot of this conflict, showing in
harrowing detail how the peasants were abuse. While there are plenty of
sympathetic peasants and horrible aristocrats, this story shows us that the
lines between good and bad were not so clear.
-Personal Conflict: Madame Defarge seeks revenge against
Darnay for his relation to Marquis Evremonde. While Carton, Manette, Lucia, and
Jarvis Lorry strive to Darnay from the bloodthistry revolutionaries and the
guillotine.
5. Setting
(time)
· 1775–1793
(place)
· London and its outskirts; Paris and its outskirts
6.
Historical
Background
During the
1780s—the period in which the novel was set— England was a relatively peaceful
and prosperous nation. There were social inequities in England as well as in
France In addition, the country's political leaders were very successful at
uniting all classes of society in the struggle against Revolutionary France and
its successor, the Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte. Despite these successes,
fears of revolutionary rhetoric and struggle persisted in England down to
Dickens's own day. Other changes also embraced the country; the Industrial
Revolution created a new wealthy class and brought a previously unknown
prosperity to England. That same industrialization, however, also created an
underclass of laborers who relied on regular wages to survive.
7.
Character
·
Doctor Alexandre Manette
o
Very tough and persistent man. He really loves his family and never gives up on them.
·
Lucie Manette
o
A beautiful young woman that is very kind and compassionate. She cares her father and remains
devoted to him, eventhough she is married to Charles Damay.
·
Charles
Damay
o
A French
aristocrat. He is a very smart man and a very loyal man to Manette.
·
Sydney Carton
o
Carton is a
sad man who fills his life with fog and alcohol. He dares to sacrifice his life
for Lucy Manette.
·
Mr. Javis
Lorry
o
Lotrry is a
very loyal friend to the Doctor. He helped Dr Manette from the prison.
·
Defarge
o
Defarge
proves an intelligent and committed revolutionary, a natural leader. Although
he remains dedicated to bringing about a better society at any cost, he does
demonstrate a kindness toward Manette
·
Madame
Defarge
o
A cruel
revolutionary whose hatred of the aristocracy fuels her tireless crusade,
Madame Defarge spends her time in the movie knitting a register of everyone who
must die for the revolutionary cause.
·
Miss Pross
o
The servant
who raised Lucie, Miss Pross is brusque, tough, and fiercely loyal to her
mistress. Because she personifies order and loyalty, she provides the perfect
foil to Madame Defarge, who epitomizes the violent chaos of the revolution.
·
CJ Stryver
o
An ambitious
lawyer, Stryver dreams of climbing the social ladder. Unlike his associate,
Sydney Carton, Stryver is bombastic, proud, and foolish.
·
John Barsad
o
Like Roger
Cly, John Barsad is a British spy who swears that patriotism is his only
motive. Barsad falsely claims to be a virtuous man of upstanding reputation.
·
Jerry
Cruncher
o
An odd-job
man for Tellson’s Bank, Cruncher is gruff, short-tempered, superstitious, and
uneducated.
·
St.
Evremonde
o
Charles
Darnay’s uncle, the Marquis Evrémonde is a French aristocrat who embodies an
inhumanly cruel caste system. He shows absolutely no regard for human life and
wishes that the peasants of the world would be exterminated.
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