By Charles Dickens

Victorian - things and events in the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)

Victorian England saw great expansion of wealth, power, and culture.

Science and technology - modern idea of invention -- the notion that one can create solutions to problems, that man can create new means of bettering himself and his environment.

Religion - a great age of doubt - the first that called into question institutional Christianity on such a large scale o In literature and the other arts, the Victorians attempted to combine

Romantic emphases upon self, emotion, and imagination with Neoclassical ones upon the public role of art and a corollary responsibility of the artist.

Ideology, politics, and society - innovation and changeo Democracy, feminism, unionization of workers, socialism, Marxism,

and other modern movements took form. o This age of Darwin, Marx, and Freud appears to be not only the first

that experienced modern problems but also the first that attempted modern solutions.

Sense of social responsibility - a basic attitude that obviously differentiates the Victorians from their immediate predecessors, the Romantics.

During the 1780s (period in which the novel is set) – England is relatively peaceful and prosperouso National identity caught up in a long war with France –

interrupted by the French Revolution

Ideals of the Revolution imported by Romantic writers

English aristocracy & middle classes feared the possible change from the Revolutiono England had a long history of peaceful social change

Industrial Revolution created a new wealthy classo As well as underclass of laborers

• Ruth Glancy: “Overcrowding, disease, hunger, long hours of work, and mindless, repetitive labor characterized the new life for this new class of urban poor.”

o Underclass scorned & ignored by society• No rights – could not vote in elections or legally form

unions• Upper classes did not want to educate this underclass for

fear of uprising – feared their own Revolution

The feared Revolution never came to England o Successful reform parties

A Tale of Two Cities (TOTC) is about the French Revolutiono Takes place some 70 years before Dickens was writing (1780s)o Presents the French Revolution as the natural or fated

consequence of the social ills of the times. o The growing poverty in which the masses of people lived and

the oppression they suffered at the hands of the aristocracy were the proximate causes for the civil unrest that led to the French Revolution.

Originally serialized in All the Year Roundo Weekly publications – immensely popularo Experimented with characterization, plot and themeo Maintains the suspense and interest by providing cliff-hangers

at the end of many chapters

Dickens’ popularity crossed class lineso His writings were a topic of upper-class drawing room

party conversation, as well as among the factory workers who could afford to buy the weekly serializations

Faulted by critics for sentimentality and relying on unbelievable plot coincidenceso But praised for creating real and moral characters

BTW, Dickens and writers in the 1800’s were looked to as moral examples

Began July 14, 1798

A mob stormed the Bastille, an infamous prison that housed political prisoners sent there by members of the aristocracy.

The French celebrate Bastille Day like we celebrate July 4th

After the government’s overthrow, a revolutionary committee of middle-class citizens governed Paris

During this period, the peasants burned the castles of the lords in order to destroy the papers which contained the records of their manorial rights

1792: royalty abolished and the republic was proclaimed

1793: Reign of Terror begins, thousands of aristocrats killed by guillotine

Oppression of the masses by the aristocracy

Working conditions that were no better than slavery

Unfair taxes that put additional burden on those struggling to survive

Hunger and poverty of the masses in stark contrast to the indulgent life of the aristocracy

Born February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, England

2nd of 8 children

Moved to London when he was 12

Father imprisoned for debts he could not payo Charles forced to work in a factory

• Often felt hungry & abandoned – sister Frances was studying at the Royal Academy of Music

• Felt injustice – possible inspiration for Great Expectations and the essay “Traveling Abroad”

1st love – Maria Beadnello Rejected because of social class differenceso Possible inspiration for Miss Havisham

Married Catherine (Kate) Hogarth, daughter of newspaper editor, in 1836o Had 10 kids then separated in 1858

Mistress - Ellen Ternan (actress and 27 years younger)o Actress and 27 years younger than him

• Age difference possible inspiration for Joe and Biddy from Great Expectations

Descriptions of suffering – chief endearing quality to readerso Realistic and empathetic

Aspect of his life most reflected in TOTC is his personal relationships (wife and mistress)o Depiction of Lucie Manette and the behavior of Sydney

Carton and Charles Darnay toward her reflects his attitude toward his mistress

Died of brain aneurysm in June 1870

Requested to be buried at home, but was disregarded due to his fameo Instead, buried in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey

Concerned with events in Paris and London before and during French Revolution

Depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolutiono The corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward

the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolutiono Many unflattering social parallels with life in London

Follows the lives of several protagonists through these eventso Most notable - 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

• Carton is an immoral British barrister who endeavors to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette

While the revolutions in America and France happened earlier, still great social tension in England

Work conditions for the poor were horrid – resulting in strikes and violent clashes between police and workers

TOTC can be considered a warning to British society of mid-19th centuryo Dickens calls attention to the violence of the French

Revolutiono Shows how overthrowing government by violence

leads to more violenceo Revolutionaries often failed to see that Dickens was

more concerned with portraying the death and destruction that accompany revolution than with endorsing a working class revolt

Order and Disordero Ocean imageryo Chaos of Paris – Order of London

Death and Resurrectiono Prisons = grave

Memory and Reminiscenceo Takes place approx. 70 years before it

was writteno Memory is a trap

• Possible force for redemption

Settingo England and France

Antithesiso “It was the best of times, it was the worst

of times…”o Characters mirror and oppose each other

Doppelgangero Charles Darnay & Sydney Carton –

psychologically two sides of the same psyche?

Trumbils of the Revolution - These carts were used to transport the prisoners to the guillotine.

Guillotine - The guillotine is a supposedly painless form of execution named after Dr. Guillotin, who first proposed it.

Letres de cachet - These are referred to in the novel as “blank forms of consignment,” warrants for imprisonment used by nobles to sentence their enemies to prison.

The Reign of Terror - Beginning in 1793, this is the period when Marie Antoinette, thousands of other aristocrats, and suspected anti-revolutionaries are executed.

The Law of the Suspected - This law permitted the revolutionaries a wide range of excuses for ordering executions.

Carmagnole - This is a dance done to a revolutionary song and used to work the mob into a frenzy before the executions.

Continental Congress - In America, in 1775, the Continental Congress sent a list of grievances to the British government.

Madame Veto avait promis, Madame Veto had promised Madame Veto avait promis. Madame Veto had promised. de faire égorger tout Paris, To cut everyone's throat in Paris. de faire égorger tout Paris. To cut everyone's throat in Paris. Mais son coup a manqué But she failed to do this, grâce à nos canonniers. Thanks to our cannon-bearers.

Refrain : Refrain: Dansons la Carmagnole Let us dance the Carmagnole Vive le son, Long live the sound Vive le son. Long live the sound Dansons la Carmagnole Let us dance the Carmagnole Vive le son du canon. Long live the sound of the cannons.

Monsieur Veto avait promis (bis) Mr. Veto had promised (repeat) D'être fidèle à son pays, (bis) To be loyal to his country, (repeat) Mais il y a manqué, But he failed to be, Ne faisons plus quartier. Let us show no mercy. Refrain

Antoinette avait résolu (bis) Antoinette had decided (repeat) De nous faire tomber sur le cul; (bis) To drop us on our arses ; (repeat) Mais le coup a manqué But the plan was foiled Elle a le nez cassé. And she fell on her face.

Refrain Son Mari se croyant vainqueur, (bis) Her husband, thinking he was victorious, (repeat) Connaissait peu notre valeur, (bis) Little did he know our value, (repeat) Va, Louis, gros paour, Go, Louis, big crybaby, Du Temple dans la tour. From the Temple into the tower. Refrain Les Suisses avaient promis, (bis) The Swiss had promised, (repeat) Qu'ils feraient feu sur nos amis, (bis) That they would fire on our friends, (repeat) Mais comme ils ont sauté! But how they jumped! Comme ils ont tous dansé! How they all danced! Refrain Quand Antoinette vit la tour, (bis) When Antoinette saw the tower, (repeat) Elle voulut faire demi-tour, (bis) She wanted to turn back, (repeat) Elle avait mal au coeur She is sick at heart De se voir sans honneur To see herself without honor.

Historical Novel Caricature Irony

o Dramatic Ironyo Structural Ironyo Verbal Irony

Parallelism

Personification Symbol Theme Foreshadowing Paradox Epithet Hyperbole