He was secretly in prison because of Marquis and the Evremonde brothers. While Doctor Manette was in prison, he wrote a letter to the authorities in which he described the crimes that the Evremonde brothers committed. Charles Darnay, who used to be Charles Saint Evremonde, got married to Lucie, and they had a daughter. Charles was put on trial for treason, and the letter that Doctor Manette wrote years prior to the trial was used as evidence. Charles got convicted and was sentenced to be executed.…
Charles Dickens, the author of A Tale of Two Cities, shows a pitiful attitude towards his character Sydney Carton, and uses pathetic fallacy and juxtaposition to demonstrate this. At first sight, Sydney Carton was intended to be an insolent alcoholic and brilliant lawyer who was appropriately nicknamed “the jackal” because of how he gets no recognition whenever he wins court cases. Carton’s irresponsible habits are exemplified when he drinks excessively after he helps save Charles Darnay from imminent execution, demonstrating his lack of concern for anything other than a stock of wine. He is a man who describes himself as a “man who died young”.…
The two major themes in this novel are death and man vs man. The theme of death is spread throughout the entire novel and can be seen when Kate states, “I’d seen quite a lot of corpses by then. Now a new image crept into my growing collection and summoned yet another intimacy with the dead. The cemetery’s pleasant lawn of greenery and trees was but a carpet that hid bones and varying states of…
One theme explored throughout the whole novel is death. Death is all around us the way we respond to it defines us. Because this book is based around a murder trial this theme becomes very evident. and respected. Carl was found in his fishing net as presumed to be murdered because of the replacement battery that was not made for his boat.…
One particular debate that has bedeviled humanity since its inception is the question of the nature of human morality. We as humans argue about the source of morality: most religious fundamentalists argue that morality comes from a deity, whereas secularists tend to argue that morality comes from within and is subjective. We also argue about its objectivity, and many will attest that their moral code is a paragon above all others. Morality is a code by which most sane humans live their lives; it would seem logical that such a dominant force in human interaction would foster such discourse. Amongst all the uncertainty in the nature of morality, however, there is but one certainty: morality is based entirely on perspective.…
Over a few years the man becomes stable again and is now working as a doctor. The daughter goes by the name of Lucie. A gentleman by the name of Charles Darnay falls in love with Lucie, however, another man, Sydney Carton, also admires Lucie, although he believes that he could never remain well-intentioned for Lucie, and avoids her. In the conclusion, Darnay marries Lucie. On the day of the wedding, Dr. Manette learns that Darnay is a French nobleman, it…
When Darnay first enters the court room the crowd shouts “’Take of his head!’...’an enemy to the Republic!’”(375). They are a very angry crowd and will seemingly stop at nothing for Darnay to get what he deserves- to be killed. However when it was shown that Darnay was related to Dr. Manette and was acquitted the crowd quickly switched the motives and many rushed towards him and gave him hugs. However Darnay “knew very well, that the very same people, carried by another current, would have rushed at him with the very same intensity, to rend him to pieces and strew him over the streets” (379). This a scene where I think Dickens really wants to show his disapproval of mobs because of the way that they went from being so angry and then changed so quickly.…
In A Tale of Two Cities, Foullon is a real French aristocrat who told the starving citizens of Saint Antoine to eat grass. As a consequence, they decapitated him and stuffed his head with hay. Foullon was not put to justice by the people of Saint Antoine, because the definition of justice was disregarded, petty words affected them, and they took revenge themselves instead of waiting for God to do so. Firstly, the citizens of Saint Antoine did not meet the criteria of ‘justice’ which is defined as, “the quality of being just, impartial, or fair” (Merriam Webster). Foullon likely would not have been murdered in such a brutal way if he had not jeered at them, showing how they were partial and wanted him to suffer for what he said.…
Dr. Manette, a mysterious man with an intense past, is able to be resurrected back into society when his daughter, Lucie, discovers that he is alive. When the Doctor and his daughter were reunited, Lucie Manette was “trembling with eagerness to lay the spectral face upon her warm young breast, and love it back to life and hope…” (Dickens 41). This presence of a revival of hope and faith demonstrated Doctor Manette’s resurrection to the real world again, after being locked up for years. However, although the “spectral face” was extremely prevalent at this point, it soon faded.…
“She was the golden thread that united him to a Past beyond his misery, and to a Present beyond his misery: and the sound of her voice, the light of her face, the touch of her hand, had a strong beneficial influence with him almost always”. Lucie is the Sunshine in Dr. Manette's life. She cures him of his misery and brings him to a calm yet stable mindset which allows Dr. Manette's character to really “shine”. “Three more birthdays of Little lucie had been woven by the golden thread into the peaceful tissue of the life of her home”. This shows that little Lucie is becoming like her mother in the sense of how perfect she is.…
Dr.Manette had been imprisoned in the Bastille for eighteen years and had lost any hope for him returning to his former self. For a while, all he would do is repeat the address of the Bastille, get memorized by his shoemaking bench and return to shoemaking. Manette had been apart from his daughter ever since she was a baby. He was imprisoned unfairly by Darnay’s father and uncle because he was going to reveal their sin. Basically, he was sent to prison without having done anything wrong and he was giving a second chance to be recalled back to life and make up for all the lost time between him and his daughter.…
Alexandre Manette was "recalled to life" in book 1 chapter 6 he appeared to be a weak old and unstable man after eighteen years of imprisonment. When Mr.Lorry and Lucie found him on a shoe cobbler's bench, he was asked if he recognized Mr.Lorry from years ago and if he can recall his name. Dr.Manette did not remember the banker and referred to him as "One Hundred and Five, North Tower." Which seemed to be a repetitive answer from Dr.Manette, it was apparent the author wanted this character to appear unstable and solely be able to focus on one task only. Manette was recalled to life, but just over…
While on trial as a suspected spy, Charles Darnay meets his doppelgänger, Sydney Carton. These men both appear as successful and well off. Both men show their willingness to sacrifice, with Darnay giving up a lavish lifestyle in order to flee to England, and Carton deciding to give up a life he perceives to be worthless in order to save the husband of the woman he loves.…
The Ultimate Sacrifice Death and loss are the ultimate sacrifice. When reading a novel like A Tale of Two Cities, a lot of characters have to sacrifice things for the people they love unwillingly. Many characters in the novel have had troubling pasts that lead them to conflict which will ultimately end in a sacrifice. Charles Darnay, an impacting character, is related to the aristocracy, as learned when the reader finds out his real last name is Evremonde. Charles Darnay being related to the aristocracy is one of the main sources of conflict that leads to the ultimate sacrifice of death and loss for many characters.…
Darnay’s caring for Dr. Manette is soon seen again when he wishes to marry Lucie. He soon develops a close relationship to Dr. Manette telling him that “I thank you with all my heart, and will open all my heart— or nearly so” as long as Lucie loves Darnay back (Dickens 103).Next, Manette’s relapse when talking to Darnay on the day of the wedding foreshadows the striking truth behind the doctor’s imprisonment. After hearing the truth of Darnay’s real name, Dr. Manette suffers a tragic relapse lasting for nine days. As seen later in the book, Dickens reveals that Dr. Manette was imprisoned a family name of Evrémonde. Tied in with another element of foreshadow, a scrap of paper is discovered in the Tower of London.…