A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the
French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the
history of fictional literature.
[2]

The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading
up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former
aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during
the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events. The most notable are
Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a French once-aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate
wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a dissipated British barrister who endeavours
to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife. The 45-chapter novel was published in
31 weekly installments in Dickens' new literary periodical titled All the Year Round. From April 1859 to
November 1859, Dickens also republished the chapters as eight monthly sections in green covers. Dickens'
previous novels had appeared only as monthly installments. The first weekly installment of A Tale of Two Cities
ran in the first issue of All the Year Round on 30 April 1859. The last ran thirty weeks later, on 26 November.
[1]

Plot summary
Book the First: Recalled to Life
The first book of the novel takes place in 1775. Mr. Jarvis Lorry, an employee of Tellson's Bank, is travelling
from England to France to bring Dr. Alexandre Manette to London on his return trip. Before crossing into
France, he meets 17-year-old Miss Lucile Manette at Dover, and reveals to her that her father, Doctor Manette,
is not dead, as she had been told; instead, he was a prisoner in the Bastille for 18 years.
Mr. Jarvis Lorry and Miss Manette travel to Saint Antoine, a suburb of Paris, and meet Monsieur Defarge and
Madame Defarge. The Defarges operate a wine shop they use to lead a clandestine band of revolutionaries; they
refer to each other by the codename "Jacques," which Charles Dickens drew from the Jacobins, an actual French
revolutionary group.
Monsieur Defarge was Doctor Manette's servant before his incarceration, and now has care of him, and he takes
them to see the doctor. Because of his long imprisonment, Doctor Manette entered a form of psychosis and has
become obsessed with making shoes, a trade he had learned whilst he was incarcerated. At first, he does not
recognize his daughter; but he eventually compares her long golden hair with her mother's, which he found on
his sleeve when he was incarcerated and kept, and notices their identical blue eye colour. Mr. Jarvis Lorry and
Miss Manette then take him back to England.
Book the Second: The Golden Thread
"The Golden Thread" redirects here. For the legal judgement, see Golden thread (law).
Five years later, two British spies, John Barsad and Roger Cly, are trying to frame French migr Charles
Darnay for their own gain; and Darnay is on trial for treason at the Old Bailey. They claim, falsely, that Darnay
gave information about British troops in North America to the French. Darnay is acquitted, however, when a
witness who claims he would be able to recognize Darnay anywhere is unable to tell Darnay apart from a
barrister present in court, Sydney Carton, who looks almost identical to him.
In Paris, a wheel on the despised Marquis St. Evremonde's carriage hits and kills the baby of a peasant,
Gaspard. The Marquis throws a coin to Gaspard to compensate him for his loss. Defarge, a witness to the
incident, comforts Gaspard. As the Marquis's coach drives off, the coin thrown to Gaspard is thrown back into
the coach by an unknown hand, probably that of Madame Defarge, enraging the Marquis.
Arriving at his chteau, the Marquis meets with his nephew and heir, Darnay. (Out of disgust with his family,
Darnay shed his real surname and adopted an Anglicised version of his mother's maiden name, D'Aulnais.
[3]
)
The following scene demonstrates the differences between Darnay's personality and his uncle's: Darnay has
sympathy for the peasantry, while the Marquis is cruel and heartless:
"Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend," observed the
Marquis, "will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof," looking up to it, "shuts out the sky."
[4]

That night, Gaspard, who followed the Marquis to his chteau by riding on the underside of the carriage, stabs
and kills the Marquis in his sleep. He leaves a note on the knife saying, "Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from
JACQUES."
[5]
After nine months on the lam, he is caught, and hanged above the village's fountain, poisoning
its water, which angers the peasants greatly.
In London, Darnay gets Dr. Manette's permission to wed Lucie; but Carton confesses his love to Lucie as well.
Knowing she will not love him in return, Carton promises to "embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear
to you"
[6]
.
On the morning of the marriage, Darnay reveals his real name and who his family is, a detail which Dr. Manette
had asked him to withhold until then. This unhinges Dr. Manette, who reverts to his obsessive shoemaking. His
sanity is restored before Lucie returns from her honeymoon and the whole incident kept secret from her. To
prevent a further relapse, Lorry and Miss Pross destroy the shoemaking bench and tools, which Dr. Manette had
brought with him from Paris.
It is 14 July 1789. The Defarges help to lead the storming of the Bastille. Defarge enters Dr. Manette's former
cell, "One Hundred and Five, North Tower".
[7]
The reader does not know what Monsieur Defarge is searching
for until Book 3, Chapter 9. It is a statement in which Dr. Manette explains why he was imprisoned.
As time passes in England, Lucie and Charles begin to raise a family, a son (who dies in childhood) and a
daughter, little Lucie. The perennial bachelor Lorry, who believes that such things are beyond "a man of
business", finds a second home and a sort of family with the Darnays. Stryver, who once had intentions to
marry Lucie, marries a rich widow with three children and becomes even more insufferable as his ambitions
begin to be realized. Carton, even though he seldom visits, is accepted as a close friend of the family and
becomes a special favorite of little Lucie.
In the summer of 1792, a letter reaches Tellson's Bank. Mr. Lorry, who is planning to go to Paris to save the
French branch of Tellson's, announces that the letter is addressed to someone named Evrmonde. Nobody in
England knows who this is, because Darnay has kept his real name a secret there. Darnay acquires the letter by
pretending Evrmonde is an acquaintance of his. The letter turns out to be from Gabelle, a tax collector for the
late Marquis. Gabelle has been imprisoned and begs the new Marquis to come to his aid. Darnay, who feels
guilty about relinquishing his title, leaves for Paris to help Gabelle.
Book the Third: The Track of a Storm
In France, Darnay is denounced for emigrating from France and imprisoned in La Force Prison in Paris.
[8]
Dr.
Manette and Luciealong with Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, and "Little Lucie", the daughter of Charles and
Lucie Darnaycome to Paris and meet Mr. Lorry to try to free Darnay. A year and three months pass, and
Darnay is finally tried.
Dr. Manette, who is seen as a hero for his imprisonment in the hated Bastille, is able to have him released; but,
that same evening, Darnay is again arrested. He is put on trial again the following day, under new charges
brought by the Defarges and one "unnamed other". We soon discover that this "other" is Dr. Manette, through
his own account of his imprisonment. Manette did not know that his statement had been found and is horrified
when his words are used to condemn Darnay.
On an errand, Miss Pross is amazed to see her long-lost brother, Solomon Pross; but Solomon does not want to
be recognised. Sydney Carton suddenly steps forward from the shadows much as he had done after Darnay's
first trial in London and identifies Solomon Pross as John Barsad, one of the men who tried to frame Darnay for
treason at the Old Bailey trial. Carton threatens to reveal Solomon's identity as a Briton and an opportunist who
spies for the French or the British as it suits him. If this were revealed, Solomon would surely be executed, so
Carton's hand is strong.
Darnay is confronted at the tribunal by Monsieur Defarge, who identifies Darnay as the Marquis St. Evrmonde
and reads the letter Dr. Manette had hidden in his cell in the Bastille. Defarge can identify Darnay as
Evrmonde because Barsad told him Darnay's identity when Barsad was fishing for information at the Defarges'
wine shop in Book 2, Chapter 16.
The letter describes how Dr. Manette was locked away in the Bastille by Darnay's father and his uncle for trying
to report their crimes against a peasant family. Darnay's uncle had become infatuated with a girl, whom he had
kidnapped and raped. Despite Dr. Manette's attempts to save her, she died. The uncle then killed her husband by
working him to death. Before he died defending the family honor, the brother of the raped peasant had hidden
the last member of the family, his younger sister. The letter also reveals that Dr. Manette was imprisoned
because the Evremonde brothers discovered that they could not bribe him to keep quiet. The paper concludes by
condemning the Evrmondes, "them and their descendants, to the last of their race".
[9]
Dr. Manette is horrified,
but his protests are ignoredhe is not allowed to take back his condemnation. Darnay is sent to the
Conciergerie and sentenced to be guillotined the next day.
Carton wanders into the Defarges' wine shop, where he overhears Madame Defarge talking about her plans to
have the rest of Darnay's family (Lucie and "Little Lucie") condemned. Carton discovers that Madame Defarge
was the surviving sister of the peasant family savaged by the Evrmondes. The only plot detail that might give
one any sympathy for Madame Defarge is the loss of her family and that she has no (family) name. Defarge is
her married name, and Dr. Manette does not know her family name, though he asked her dying sister for it.
[10]

At night, when Dr. Manette returns shattered after spending the day in many failed attempts to save Charles'
life, he has reverted to his obsessive search for his shoemaking implements. Carton urges Lorry to flee Paris
with Lucie, her father, and Little Lucie, "as soon as his, i.e Carton's place in the coach is filled".
That same morning, Carton visits Darnay in prison. Carton drugs Darnay, and Barsad (whom Carton is
blackmailing) has Darnay carried out of the prison. Carton has decided to pretend to be Darnay and to be
executed in his place. He does this out of love for Lucie, recalling his earlier promise to her. Following Carton's
earlier instructions, Darnay's family and Lorry flee Paris and France. In their coach is an unconscious man who
carries Carton's identification papers, but is actually Darnay.
Meanwhile, Madame Defarge, armed with a pistol, goes to the residence of Lucie's family, hoping to catch them
mourning for Darnay, since it was illegal to mourn an enemy of the Republic; however, Lucie and Little Lucie,
Dr. Manette, and Mr. Lorry are already gone. To give them time to escape, Miss Pross confronts Madame
Defarge and they struggle. Pross speaks only English and Defarge speaks only French, so neither can
understand what the other is saying but each instinctively understands the other's intentions. In the struggle,
Madame Defarge's pistol goes off, killing her; the noise of the shot and the shock of Madame Defarge's death
cause Miss Pross to go permanently deaf.
The novel concludes with the guillotining of Sydney Carton. As he is waiting to board the tumbril, he is
approached by a seamstress, also condemned to death, who mistakes him for Darnay but suddenly realizes the
truth. Awed by his unselfish courage and sacrifice, she asks to stay close to him and he agrees. Upon their
arrival at the guillotine, she and Carton are the last two and Carton comforts her, telling her that their ends will
be quick but that there is no Time or Trouble "in the better land where ... [they] will be mercifully sheltered",
and she is able to meet her death in peace. Carton's unspoken last thoughts are prophetic:
[11]
:
"I see Barsad, ... Defarge, The Vengeance [a lieutenant of Madame Defarge], ... long ranks of the new
oppressors who have risen on the destruction of the old, perishing by this retributive instrument, before it shall
cease out of its present use. I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their
struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time
and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing
out.
"I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I
shall see no more. I see Her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name. I see her father, aged and bent,
but otherwise restored, and faithful to all men in his healing office, and at peace. I see the good old man [Mr.
Lorry], so long their friend, in ten years' time enriching them with all he has, and passing tranquilly to his
reward.
"I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. I see
her, an old woman, weeping for me on the anniversary of this day. I see her and her husband, their course done,
lying side by side in their last earthly bed, and I know that each was not more honoured and held sacred in the
other's soul, than I was in the souls of both.
"I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life
which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I
see the blots I threw upon it, faded away. I see him, fore-most of just judges and honoured men, bringing a boy
of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this placethen fair to look upon, with not a trace
of this day's disfigurementand I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and a faltering voice.
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have
ever known."
Lucie and Darnay have a first son earlier in the book who is born and dies within a single paragraph; it seems
likely that this first son appears in the novel so that their later son, named after Carton, can represent another
way in which Carton restores Lucie and Darnay through his sacrifice.
[12]

Analysis
A Tale of Two Cities is one of only two works of historical fiction by Charles Dickens (Barnaby Rudge is the
other one). It has fewer characters and sub-plots than a typical Charles Dickens novel. The author's primary
historical source was The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle: Charles Dickens wrote in his
Preface to Tale that "no one can hope to add anything to the philosophy of Mr. Carlyle's wonderful book".


The Pickwick Papers
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (also known as The Pickwick Papers) is the first novel by
Charles Dickens. After the publication, the widow of the illustrator Robert Seymour claimed that the idea for
the novel was originally her husband's; however, in his preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens strenuously denied
any specific input, writing that "Mr Seymour never originated or suggested an incident, a phrase, or a word, to
be found in the book."
Dickens was asked to contribute to the project as an up and coming writer following the success of Sketches by
Boz, published in 1836 (most of Dickens' novels were issued in shilling instalments before being published in
the complete volume). Dickens (still writing under the pseudonym of Boz) increasingly took over the
unsuccessful monthly publication after Seymour had committed suicide.
With the introduction of Sam Weller in chapter 10, the book became the first real publishing phenomenon, with
bootleg copies, theatrical performances, Sam Weller joke books, and other merchandise.
Background
Dickens was a young man, 25 years old, who had hitherto written nothing more than a group of sketches
dealing mainly with London life. A firm of London publishers, Messrs. Chapman and Hall, was then projecting
a series of cockney sporting plates by illustrator Robert Seymour. There was to be a club, the members of
which were to be sent on hunting and fishing expeditions into the country. Their guns were to go off by
accident; fishhooks were to get caught in their hats and trousers. All these and other misadventures were to be
depicted in Seymour's comic plates.
[1]

At this juncture, Charles Dickens was called in to supply the letterpress that is, the description necessary to
explain the plates and connect them into a sort of picture novel such as was then the fashion. Though protesting
that he knew nothing of sport, Dickens nevertheless accepted the commission; he consented to the machinery of
a club, and in accordance with the original design sketched Mr Winkle who aims at a sparrow only to miss it.
[1]

Only in a few instances did Dickens adjust his narrative to plates that had been prepared for him. Typically, he
himself led the way with an instalment of his story, and the artist was compelled to illustrate what Dickens had
already written. The story thus became the prime source of interest, and the illustrations merely of secondary
importance. By this reversal of interest, Dickens transformed, at a stroke, a current type of fiction, consisting
mostly of pictures, into a novel of contemporary London life. Simple as the process may appear, others who had
tried the plan had all failed. Pierce Egan partially succeeded in his Tom and Jerry, a novel in which the pictures
and the letterpress are held in even balance. Dickens won a complete triumph.
[1]

Summary
Written for publication as a serial, The Pickwick Papers is a sequence of loosely-related adventures. The action
is given as occurring 18278, though critics have noted some seeming anachronisms.
[2]
The novel's main
character, Samuel Pickwick, Esquire, is a kind and wealthy old gentleman, and the founder and perpetual
president of the Pickwick Club. To extend his researches into the quaint and curious phenomena of life, he
suggests that he and three other "Pickwickians" (Mr Nathaniel Winkle, Mr Augustus Snodgrass, and Mr Tracy
Tupman) should make journeys to remote places from London and report on their findings to the other members
of the club. Their travels throughout the English countryside by coach provide the chief theme of the novel. A
distinctive and valuable feature of the work is the generally accurate descriptions of the old coaching inns of
England.
[3]

Its main literary value and appeal is formed by its numerous memorable characters. Each character in The
Pickwick Papers, as in many other Dickens novels, is drawn comically, often with exaggerated personalities.
Alfred Jingle, who joins the cast in chapter two, provides an aura of comic villainy. His devious tricks
repeatedly land the Pickwickians in trouble. These include Jingle's nearly-successful attempted elopement with
the spinster Rachael Wardle of Dingley Dell manor, misadventures with Dr Slammer, and others.
Further humour is provided when the comic cockney Sam Weller makes his advent in chapter 10 of the novel.
First seen working at the White Hart Inn in The Borough, Weller is taken on by Mr Pickwick as a personal
servant and companion on his travels and provides his own oblique ongoing narrative on the proceedings. The
relationship between the idealistic and unworldly Pickwick and the astute cockney Weller has been likened to
that between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
[4]

Other notable adventures include Mr Pickwick's attempts to defend a lawsuit brought by his landlady, Mrs
Bardell, who (through an apparent misunderstanding on her part) is suing him for the breach of promise to
marry her. Another is Mr Pickwick's incarceration at Fleet prison for his stubborn refusal to pay the
compensation to her because he doesn't want to give a penny to Mrs Bardell's lawyers, the unscrupulous firm of
Dodson and Fogg. The general humorous tone is here briefly replaced by biting social satire (including against
the legal establishment) and foreshadows major themes in Dickens' later books. Mr Pickwick, Sam Weller, and
Weller Senior also appear in Dickens's serial, Master Humphrey's Clock.
Characters
Central characters
Sam Weller and his father Tony Weller(The Valentine)
Samuel Pickwick the main protagonist and founder of the Pickwick Club. Following his description in the text,
Pickwick is usually portrayed by illustrators as a round-faced, clean-shaven, portly gentleman wearing
spectacles.
Nathaniel Winkle a young friend of Pickwick's and his travelling companion; he considers himself a sportsman,
though he turns out to be dangerously inept when handling horses and guns.
Augustus Snodgrass another young friend and companion; he considers himself a poet, though there is no
mention of any of his own poetry in the novel.
Tracy Tupman the third travelling companion, a fat and elderly man who nevertheless considers himself a
romantic lover.
Sam Weller Mr Pickwick's valet, and a source of idiosyncratic proverbs and advice.
Alfred Jingle a strolling actor and charlatan, noted for telling bizarre anecdotes in a distinctively extravagant,
disjointed style.
[5]

Supporting characters
Joe the "fat boy" who consumes great quantities of food and constantly falls asleep in any situation at any
time of day; Joe's sleep problem is the origin of the medical term Pickwickian syndrome which ultimately led to
the subsequent description of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome.
Job Trotter Mr Jingle's wily servant, whose true slyness is only ever seen in the first few lines of a scene,
before he adopts his usual pretence of meekness.
Mr Wardle owner of a farm in Dingley Dell. Pickwick's friend. Joe is his servant.
Rachael Wardle the spinster aunt who tries in vain to elope with the unscrupulous Jingle
Mr Perker an attorney of Mr Pickwick
Mary "a well-shaped female servant" and Sam Weller's "Valentine"
Mrs Bardell Mr Pickwick's widowed landlady
Emily Wardle one of Mr Wardle's daughters
Arabella Allen a friend of Emily Wardle
Ben Allen Arabella's brother, a dissipated medical student
Bob Sawyer Ben Allen's friend and fellow student
Mr Serjeant Buzfuz Mrs Bardell's lawyer in legal dealings with Mr Pickwick
Other adaptations
The novel has been filmed at least four times:
1913 a silent short starring John Bunny as Pickwick and H. P. Owen as Sam Weller
1921 The Adventures of Mr Pickwick, silent, lost, starring Frederick Volpe and Hubert Woodward
1936 - On November 13, 1936 (less than two weeks after the BBC began regularly scheduled television
broadcasts) The British Music Drama Opera Company under the direction of Vladimir Rosing presented the
world's first televised opera: Pickwick by Albert Coates.
[6]

1938 - 'The Pickwick Papers', Orson Welles' Mercury Theater on the Air (November 20, 1938)
[7]

1952 starring James Hayter, Nigel Patrick, Alexander Gauge and Harry Fowler (the first sound version)
There have also been BBC radio and television adaptations. The first TV adaptation was by Constance Cox. In
1985 BBC released a 12-part 350-minute production starring Nigel Stock, Alan Parnaby, Clive Swift and
Patrick Malahide
There was also a London stage musical version entitled Pickwick, by Cyril Ornadel, Wolf Mankowitz, and
Leslie Bricusse. It starred Harry Secombe, later to become more famous as Mr Bumble in the film version of
Oliver!. But Pickwick (the musical) was not a success in the United States when it opened there in 1965, and the
show was never filmed. It did feature the song If I Ruled the World, which became a modest hit.
Part of the Pickwick Papers featured in Charles Dickens' Ghost Stories, a 60 minute animation made by
Emerald City Films (1987). Including The Ghost in the Wardrobe, The Mail Coach Ghosts, and The Goblin and
the Gravedigger.
Publication
The novel was published in 19 issues over 20 months; the last was double-length and cost two shillings. In
mourning for his sister-in-law Mary Hogarth, Dickens missed a deadline and consequently there was no number
issued in May 1837. Numbers were typically issued on the last day of its given month:
I March 1836 (chapters 12);
II April 1836 (chapters 35);
III May 1836 (chapters 68);
IV June 1836 (chapters 9-11);
V July 1836 (chapters 1214);
VI August 1836 (chapters 1517);
VII September 1836 (chapters 1820);
VIII October 1836 (chapters 2123);
IX November 1836 (chapters 2426);
X December 1836 (chapters 2728);
XI January 1837 (chapters 2931);
XII February 1837 (chapters 3233);
XIII March 1837 (chapters 3436);
XIV April 1837 (chapters 3739);
XV June 1837 (chapters 4042);
XVI July 1837 (chapters 4345);
XVII August 1837 (chapters 4648);
XVIII September 1837 (chapters 4951);
XIX-XX October 1837 (chapters 5257);
It is interesting to keep the number divisions and dates in mind while reading the novel, especially in the early
parts. The Pickwick Papers, as Charles Dickens's first novel, is particularly chaotic: the first two numbers
featured four illustrations by Robert Seymour and 24 pages of text. Seymour killed himself and was replaced by
R W Buss for the third number; the format was changed to feature two illustrations and 32 pages of text per
issue. Buss didn't work out as an illustrator and was replaced by H K Phiz Browne for the fourth issue; Phiz
continued to work for Dickens for 23 years (he last illustrated A Tale of Two Cities in 1859).
As a testament to the book's popularity, many other artists, beyond the three official illustrators, created
drawings without the approval of the author or publisher, sometimes for bootleg copies or hoping that Extra
Plates for the original issue would be included in later issues. The artists included William Heath, Alfred Henry
Forrester ("Alfred Crowquill"), Thomas Onwhyn (who sometimes signed as "Sam Weller") and Thomas Sibson.
In 1899 Joseph Grego collected 350 Pickwick Paper illustrations, including portraits based on stage adaptations,
with other notes and commentary in Pictorial Pickwickiania
[8]

The Pic-Nic Papers
In 1841 the three-volume anthology titled The Pic-Nic Papers
[9]
was published composed of miscellaneous
pieces by various authors. It was originated by Dickens to benefit the widow and children of 28-year old
publisher John Macrone, who died suddenly in 1837. Dickens had begun soliciting submissions in 1838, and he
eventually contributed the "Introduction" and one short story "The Lamplighter's Story". Other contributors
included William Harrison Ainsworth, Thomas Moore, Leitch Ritchie and Agnes Strickland. Macrone's widow
eventually received 450 pounds from this charitable publication.
[10]

Models
Mary Weller, Charles Dickens's nurse, recalling her famous charge's occupations as a child, said: "Little Charles
was a terrible boy to read."
"In the young Charles Dickens's reading we have in some ways the very core of his novels...the young Charles
came upon the great picaresque novels of the eighteenth century Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle,
Humphrey Clinker, Tom Jones, The Vicar of Wakefield, their French counterpart Gil Blas, and their great
predecessor Don Quixote. Don Quixote's connection with Mr Pickwick, as Dostoevsky saw, is basic. With Don
Quixote, of course, goes Sancho Panza, who with the reinforcement of the faithful, shrewd, worldly servants of
the young heroes Tom Jones, Peregrine Pickle, Roderick Random and the rest, goes to make up Sam Weller."
[11]