A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 532 Words

A Tale of Two Cities has several recurring themes, including the failure of the French Revolution. In the book, the peasants defeated the aristocrats by imprisoning and murdering them. Although many of the imprisonments and executions were unjust, the peasants had gain complete power. The peasants’ revolution did not end the tyranny that existed with the aristocrats ruling, but created a new tyranny with lack of justice and mercy. Dickens uses the evil Monsieur the Marquis to represent the tyrannical French aristocracy. The Marquis recklessly runs over and kills a peasant child. Dickens shows his lack of any sympathy and mercy for the peasants at this scene by stating, â€Å"Monsieur the Marquis ran his eyes over them all, as if they had been mere rats come out of their holes.† He thinks of the peasants as nothing more than rats as do the entire French aristocracy. However, the revolution does not result in any positive change. After the peasants obtained power, they have the same lack of sympathy and mercy toward the aristocracy or enemies of the Republic. In Lucie’s conversation with the Wood-Sawyer, we see he is no better than Monsieur the Marquis, as he takes joy in the execution of aristocrat children. â€Å"I call myself the Samson of the firewood guillotine. See here again! Loo, loo, loo; Loo, loo, loo! And off HER head comes! Now, a child. Tickle, tickle; Pickle, pickle! And off IT S head comes. All the family!† Dickens uses symbols and motifs to support his theme ofShow MoreRelatedA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens1420 Words   |  6 Pageshistory – the best of times and the worst of times. The violence enacted by the citizens of French on their fellow countrymen set a gruesome scene in the cities and country sides of France. Charles Dickens uses a palate of storm, wine, and blood imagery in A Tale of Two Cities to paint exactly how tremendously brutal this period of time was. Dickens use of storm imagery throughout his novel illustrates to the reader the tremulous, fierce, and explosive time period in which the course of events takesRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1024 Words   |  5 PagesAt the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens writes, â€Å"every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other (14).† Throughout the novel, Dickens incorporates the theme of secrets to connect characters and add mystery to the story. The three characters with the significant secrets are Charles Darnay, Alexandre Manette, and Madame Defarge. Darnay, Manette, and Defarge are all of French blood, living in either France or England in the heat of the FrenchRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1704 Words   |  7 PagesA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a novel set during the time of the French Revolution in England and France. The Revolution is a time of great danger and constant change. Dickens’ novel expresses the theme of fate through metaphors in many different ways. These metaphors connect the fates of Dickens’ characters that are intertwined in some way whether they are aware of how they are connected or not. Charles Dickens illustrates to his readers that fate is predetermined as shown throughRead MoreCharles Dickens Tale Of Two Cities1079 Words   |  5 PagesFated Coincidences Charles Dickens was a distinguished writer during the 1800s and was inspired by Thomas Carlyle’s book French Revolution. Dickens was influenced by this book to write his novel Tale of Two Cities. Even though he wrote the book seventy years after the French Revolution, he studied many different books from two wagons from Carlyle which he sent as a joke. Throughout the book Tale of Two Cities, Dickens has a recurring theme of fate. Dickens illustrates that everyone’s lives areRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1831 Words   |  8 Pagesthese horrific acts, there was a revival of French spirit after the Revolution had ended, in the sense that the French are resurging after being an inch from death. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens shows the reader that the general idea of resurrection can occur at any given point of time. The novel is set in two cities, London and Paris, during the French Revolution. The story begins with Mr. Lorry, an official from Tellson’s Bank in London, and Lucie Manette as they make their way to ParisRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens987 Words   |  4 PagesIn a Tale of Two cities. Dickens juxtapositions suspense and humor in a intricate tale of love and loyalty. The book takes place in the late 18th century, during the french revolution. the book is set in England and France, more specifically London and Paris. These are the two cities that the book centers around. In the city of London, the neighborhood of SoHo, and Paris, the french countryside, and city of Dover. b city houses, palace of Versailles. The house in Paris where the Darnay s stayedRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1363 Words   |  6 PagesTale of Two Cities A Tale of Two Cities is a 19th century novel that conveys the terror of the French Revolution through the story of the Manette and Darnay family. Charles Dickens intertwined characters throughout the novel to convey the equivocal viewpoint of the citizens throughout England. The ambiguous characters of Charles Darnay, Madame Defarge, and Mr. Carton, work to show both the innocence and savagery of the revolution. Charles Darnay spent the early years of his life as nobilityRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1426 Words   |  6 Pagesanxiety, and misery, the French Revolution was a trying time for all involved, even the characters crafted by Charles Dickens’ imagination. Charles Dickens’ strongly enforces the hardships of this arduous era in his remarkable novel, A Tale of Two Cities, while exhibiting his keen ability to leave hints for the readers, allowing them to predict upcoming events in his skillfully fashioned plot. Dickens utilizes vivid imagery to construct menacing settings. He presents his characters as impulsive to indicateRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens1398 Words   |  6 PagesHuman Cruelty is a Result of Hatred Charles Dickens is a very famous novelist, who was born on February 7, 1812, in his home of Portsmouth, England. He was a very dedicated man with a great imagination, and he shows his writing skills in his book A Tale of Two Cities, a historical fiction that focuses on the French Revolution. In this book Dickens uses both atmosphere and imagery to describe how brutal and inhumane men can be to each other. He uses scenes of a man’s need for tyranny, a man’s needRead MoreA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens1381 Words   |  6 PagesOf the extraordinary amount of literary devices available to authors, Charles Dickens uses quite a few in his novel A Tale of Two Cities, which is set during the French Revolution. One of his more distinctive devices is character foils. The five sets of foils are Carton and Darnay, Carton and Stryver, Darnay and the Marquis de Evremonde, Madame Defarge, and Mr. Lorry and Jerry Cruncher. Dickens uses foil characters to highlight the virtu es of several major characters in order to show the theme of