Chapter Two

Dr Manette, a round character in A Tale of Two Cities, is a very dynamic role player who, through his sacrifice and struggles with the help of his daughter is able to persevere. At the start of the novel Mr. Manette is a crazy doctor who is in prison, making shoes to occupy and help coax him through the trauma of prison. Manette, through the novel is seen as a not only a round character but also a dynamic character. Manette over the course of the novel, undergoes drastic change. He is…

In Breton’s the Court and Country, we are witness to a passionate debate between two men from different walks of life. Both the Courtier and the Countryman list the fantastic qualities of their home, while rebuking that of the other’s. The crux of Courtier’s argument is that the city brings joy and a higher quality of life: “[. . .] for knowledge, we have . . . the deciphering of characters [. . .] which are such delights of the spirit [. . .]” (Breton 374-375). While the Countryman argues that…

Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities remains the most popular cautionary tale of the Realistic time period. Written to warn against the dangers of the Industrial Revolution, Dickens’ novel uses strong characterization and historical context to demonstrate the cycle of oppression that occurs throughout any social reformation. Sydney Carton, one of his most complex characters, represents Dickens’s desire to break this cycle; a desire explicitly expressed in Sydney’s final speech. Sydney Carton…

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” (Dickens 1). Charles Dickens describes the time period of the novel A Tale of Two Cities using only superlatives, as people lived in extreme wealth or extreme poverty, with nothing inbetween. In England, unfair law and order wrought mass crime upon the people. Depending on the jury’s mood on a given day, they could sentenced the accused to minor punishment, such as branding, or drawing…

In the novel Old Goriot by Honoré de Balzac discusses societal interactions in France in the early 1800s. Balzac investigates the jostling for power in different social classes. This novel is set after the French Revolution, where there was an increase in the fluidity between classes. This fluidity was caused by the restoration of the aristocracy, after it was mostly destroyed in the revolution. Rastignac is a young student, who is just becoming an adult in the real world. He wants to become a…

People are often times judged too quickly. Most times they are perceived as someone they are not. One needs to look beyond what is said or seen and take the time to get to know others for who they really are. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, a character named Sydney Carton is judged too quickly and suffers because other characters do not take the time to get to know him for who he really is. Sydney Carton is a misunderstood man who everyone, including himself, proclaims as…

author, had a very intricate and clever way of writing. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities he creates the sense that San Antoine, the slums of Paris, is an active character in the novel. He does this by describing the people of San Antoine as a single mass, showing how they become crazed and animal like when food is present, and personifying the suburb to create an image of a character in the mind. At the beginning of chapter five, The Wine-shop, a casket of wine ruptures on the cobbles and…

really wants to show his disapproval of mobs because of the way that they went from being so angry and then changed so quickly. He is pointing to the dangerous changeability of the mobs. Dickens is very clear on his opinion of mobs in A Tale of Two Cities because of his portrayal of them throughout the book. He points out their bloodthirsty behavior when the wine casket breaks. He notes their true danger during the funeral procession for Cly, and he shows the reader how changeable a mob is…

William Shakespeare is one of the most fascinating English poets ever known. He wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets (Rentz). One of his plays that he wrote is called, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.” This play was believed to be written between 1589 and 1593 (“Two”). According to “The Two Gentlemen of Verona play by Shakespeare,” the script was first printed in 1623 in the First Folio, but Shakespeare did not want his work published. Details of the play would have to be noted or often pirated without…

“Recalled to life” are the words from the character of Mr. Lorry in Charles Dickens’ a Tale of Two Cities when he reads the message brought to him by Jerry, the messenger of the bank where Mr. Lorry is employed. Many critics have said the book is mainly about sacrificial love, but forget that the book is also about new beginnings and chances. The book is filled with struggles the characters must face in order to achieve their overall goal. The phrase “recalled to life” becomes a distinctive…