Dickens is always keeping people on their toes. He used the tool of ambiguity to show that humans can’t be perfectly one or the other. He knew this as his job as a muckraker and as a novelist. It is exceptionally intelligent to want to show each side from a non-bias standpoint when humans are naturally biased. It made you think more than just read a story.…
1. How does the idea of good versus evil come into play in this story? Use examples from the text to explain your answer. The idea of good versus evil can be seen within the characters.…
He wanted to show his audience that people living in poverty could be good people, by using the archetype of a poor but happy family. Dickens desired to change this perception to encourage the audience of the time to be more generous and kind to the…
The motif of darkness assists the context in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens whilst directing to the inscrutable quality of human nature, the foreboding mystery in its setting, and the overbearing obscurity over clarity. First, Dickens conveys the motif of darkness through the characters’ reactions and sentiments. For instance, Dickens portrays the dehumanizing nature of society through relevant characters when he illustrates, “Those who had been greedy with the staves of the cask, had acquired a tigerish smear about the mouth; and one tall joker so besmirched, his head more out of a long squalid bag of a night-cap than in it, scrawled upon a wall with his finger dipped in muddy wine-less –BLOOD” (Dickens 32). This is intriguing as it displays the savage-like features the civilization had acquired as they yearned for a revolution that would act upon…
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” (Dickens 2). This notable quote started off the novel, with lots of meaning behind it. It compares the two major cities in the novel, London, and Paris. One of the major themes throughout the book was the rise of the revolution.…
Charles Dickens is utterly a famous author. He has written over fifteen literary works. One of which in “A Tale of Two Cities” and it takes place during the time of the French revolution. In this novel, a man by the name of Dr. Manette has been incarcerated for almost two decades. When he is discharged, he is mentally unstable, a friend of the family finds his daughter and the two reunite.…
Dickens’s thrilling novel A Tale of Two Cities effectively informs the reader of the barbaric events of the French Revolution whilst expressing his increased sympathy toward the French…
Many characters in novels are metaphorically, physically, or emotionally brought back to life to portray the author’s main point of redemption and resurrection. In A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, almost every character experienced or had a role in the resurrection of another. To truly undergo resurrection, one is required to have died, and then rise from the dead. In the Dickens novel, a few characters experienced true resurrection, however, the idea of figurative resurrection within individuals is exemplified even more in the plot. Dickens uses this concept of resurrection to elaborate on his main idea that everyone could experience redemption and recovery if they deserved it.…
With these important details, it is shown that Charles Dickens did sympathize with the upper class citizens of the novel. To contradict this thesis, there are many examples from the first two books, ‘Recalled to Life’ and ‘The Golden Thread.’ The aristocrats are depicted as awful people…
No one can deny the dangers of wielding gluttony in your heart as it contains the capability to corrupt even the kindest of souls. We witness a tremendous amount of greed in Charles Dickens’…
Dickens continuously bridges symbolism and religious undertones to expose the horror of…
When discussing his popular work the Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens explains the main theme that “Death may beget life, but oppression can beget nothing other than itself” (Dickens). Death and oppression often go together, with oppression resulting in death or death resulting in oppression. However, they differ in that death can result in something positive, such as the life of another person being saved while oppression only results in more oppression. Specifically, in The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, the character Madame Defarge evinces this point because her childhood trauma affects her decisions as an adult. Like Madame Defarge, Queen Mary I of England, the mistreated and unwanted child of King Henry VIII, also emphasizes…
Dickens purposefully evokes emotion throughout his literature in order for the reader to truly understand the life of a person living through such a revolutionary time in morality, values, technology, and family…
The characterization used in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities does not detract from the novel’s ability to speak to the human condition for some characters while it does detract from the novel’s ability to speak…
Brendon Kenney Dr. Hansen BLS 301 27 April 2015 What does it Matter? In Hard Times, Charles Dickens explores several themes that he believed adversely affected both the individual in particular and society in general in Victorian England. Following what Thomas Carlyle had termed the “Condition of England Question,” Dickens focuses on the physical, mental, and spiritual oppression of the people, both wealthy and poor, as a result of the prevailing philosophy of the era, Utilitarianism. This philosophy, in turn, influenced the educational system of England at the time, resulting in an education built upon the strict foundation of knowledge of hard facts while denying the importance of fancy or the development of imagination.…