Summary of A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities written by, Charles Dickens, was a story depicting life during the French Revolution Era. In 1775, Javis Lorry ventures from London to Paris on a journey for the Tellson’s Bank. Accompanying him was a young girl named, Lucie Manette, who soon finds out that her father is alive. Imprisoned in Paris for 18 years, he was finally released and allowed to see his daughter once more. Arriving at Paris, Javis, and Lucie meets the Doctor’s former servant, Ernest Defarge, who has been tending for him. The Defarge takes Javis and Lucie to meet the Doctor. Those lengthy years at the prison made Doctor Marnette extremely thin and pale. He sat on a bench while intensely making shoes. Javis and Lucie escorted him back to England. A couple of years have passed, and Javis was summoned as a witness for Charles Darnay, a man who allegedly spied for France, and the United States. Doctor and Lucie Marnette also attended the trial of Mister Darnay. If Darnay was found guilty, he would have been punished with a grisly death. The testimonies from John Barsad and Roger Cly seemed confident that Darnay would be found guilty. Luckily, Darnay’s attorney, Mr. Stryver, came to Charles’ defense and said that Barsad and Cly were the actual undercover agent. Suddenly, Sydney Carton, Stryver’s assistant, exclaims how the Darnay and Carton looked alike and nearly clones. The new disclosure throws a monkey wrench into Barsad’s and Cly’s scheme, and the court acquits Mister Darnay. After the intense trial, Darnay, Stryver, and Carton visit the Marnette’s estate. Darnay instantly falls in love with Lucie’s beauty and benevolence; however, not only Darnay appreciate Lucie’s beauty. Stryver and Carton also want to propose to her, but both ultimately reconsider. Sydney Carton also oaths to sacrifice his life for the ones she loved. In time, Charles eventually marries Lucie. While the newlywed couple was on their honeymoon, Doctor Marnette recalls his days of making shoes in the prison and relapses into a fearsome PTSD. Meanwhile, France was in the middle of a revolution. The insurrection began in 1789 with the storming of the Bastille, a military fortress. The Defarges are at the center of the revolutionary movement and lead the people in a wave of anarchy and chaos. By 1792, the revolutionaries have seized control over France and mercilessly beheaded anyone who they viewed as an enemy to the state. Soon, Darnay receives a letter Marquis Evrémonde who requested Darnay’s help to rescue him from Paris. Because of his righteous nature, Darnay sets off to France to rescue him, before getting arrested and thrown into “La Prison.” France at that time had an unfair justice system and anyone who “convicted” a felony was already practically dead. Fortunately, Doctor Marnette, Lucie Marnette, and Darnay’s daughter come to save him. Additionally, Doctor Marnette was seen as a hero due to his past status as a prisoner in the Bastille. They used the Doctor’s name to convince the rebels to at least give Darnay a trial. Doctor’s empowering speech free’s Charles. Despite being only released a couple of minutes ago, Darnay was arrested again due to numerous accusations of treason. The court reviewed an old letter written by the Doctor during his imprisonment. The letter deplored the death of the Evrémondes. Based on this new revelation, the court sentenced Darnay and Doctor to death. Surprisingly, Mister Carton was also in Paris at the time and heard rumors of Darnay’s soon-to-be fate. Additionally, he heard that Lucie and her daughter might also end up on the guillotine. He remembers his vow to save Lucie and the lives of her loved ones. He drugs Charles and swaps places with him because of their nearly identical appearances. Darnay saves the doctor after he wakes up and reunites with his wife and daughter. As they leave France, Carton, who they still presumed was Darnay, was sent to the national razor. Comforted by the fact that he saved Lucie and her family, he faces death without a struggle.
Background Information
The French Revolution was one of the most brutal times in French history. France used to be a powerful, and wealthy nation before running out of money after supporting the American colonies. Bureaucrats tried to solve this problem by heavily taxing the poor working class who made up a majority of France’s population. To add insult to injury, numerous extreme droughts made the peasants extra poor. King Louis the fourteen tried to appease the starving crowd before summoning the Estates-General who haven’t been summoned for 175 years. The Estates-General was France’s advisory council and consisted of the: Clergy, Nobility, and Third Estate. However, the system was ultimately unfair to the Third Estate as each council only had one vote despite being 98 percent of the population. The Third Estate eventually left the Estates-General and made a new governing body known as the National Assembly. The National Assembly was also known as the Jacobin. A couple of years later, many citizens soon started to join the Jacobins due to years of starvation and inequality. Soon, they raided the Bastille of Paris and acquired many new weapons such as guns and gun-powder. Things got out of hand which left King Louis very scared and tried to flee France along with his wife, Anne of Austria. They were soon recaptured and executed. However, this wasn’t the end of the Revolution. It didn’t end until 1799. Ultimately, the Jacobins were overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte who changed France to a dictatorship.
Critical Essay
Madame Defarge, a wine shop owner, resides in Paris. She is the main antagonist in the story. The Defarge’s have suffered greatly because of the rich, wealthy Evermonde brothers. Many years earlier, the Evremonde brothers raped her sister. This led to the death of not only the sister and her unborn child, but also Madame Defarge's brother, brother-in-law, and father. As the victim of these horrific tragedies, Madame Defarge wants revenge, not only to the Evremonde brothers but also towards all French aristocracy. Madame knits in her chair whiling subtly knitting in the name of the people she wants to kill. Her resentment of the Evermonde’s are justified; however, her intense hatred eventually consumes her. Although the irrational revolutionist sees her as a heroine, her wrath made her insane and psychotic. For example, after the downfall of the Bastille, Madame “trodden” on the body of the governor, who was already dead. Her desire for revenge evolved into a merciless murder to anyone against her idea of “Justice”. She became the monster that she dreaded.
The Revolutionists were also hellbent on vengeance against the French Monarchy. France was extremely broke after many years fighting against the English, and the additional support of the American colonies. The nobility and clergy compensated by taxing the poor. After many years of starvation, the peasants and lower classes had enough. They began creating radical groups such as the Jacobin Club. Members of the club wanted to completely remove the king, Louis the Sixteenth, and his monarchy. Eventually, Robespierre, one of the founders of the Jacobin, rose to power. He ruled as a dictator, and sent anyone who was a threat to his reign to the guillotine. Luckily, his reign ended when he claimed that many of his followers were on his next chopping list. They responded by sending Robespierre to the guillotine first. However, the French Revolution didn’t end there, Napoleon rose to power after campaigning in Egypt and Austria. The numerous starvations and mistreatment, caused the revolutionists to go too far extremes. In conclusion, the French Revolution was the product of forgetting to feed its people and numerous radicals.
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