1. Thomas Carlyle Charles Dickens Alias Boz A PPT. By Indranil Sarkar Sapatgram College, Sapatgram, Assam Contact-9859945270

2. A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is Dickenss best novel. In the tale, the use of historical technique is quite perfect. Dickens used the elements of history not only to advance the plot, but also to show connections between life in the eighteenth century and the novel. History is also used to show the partnership between evil and history itself. Dickens showed how the people felt about the government, how they acted, and what the end result was. He showed many parallel connections between the novel and history including characters, events, places, and overall feelings. The novel began in England and ended in England but the characters dangled between Paris and London like a pendulum bob. [London>Paris>London>>Paris>>>London] England tried to stay out of all the fuss that was going on in France. A New Historicism of the novel has shown the falsities of History revealing the realities. A Tale of Two Cities is in reality a historiography of Victorian Age not simply a history of the French Revolution. No actual people from the time appeared in the book. Dickens purposefully borrowed only the components of history in his novel. Its a fictionalized history. Carlyles French Revolutionpeeps at every page. 3. Even after 200 years the opening sentence of Dickenss best novel A Tale of Two Cities is considered as an example of classic prose narrative. It reads ----- 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, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other wayin short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever. 4. The Story: Part-1 Dr.Manette, a French doctor has been held in the terrible Bastille prison for 16 years. Marquis de Evermonde did it by manipulating law. This was done because Dr.Mannete came to know the evil acts of murder and rape of a peasant girl and her brother and father by the Evermondes. The story begins following the footsteps of Jarvis Lorry, an old and responsible employee of Tellsons Bank which had branches in Both London and Paris. He was also the trustee of Lucie Mannete, the daughter of Dr.Mannete. Meanwhile Charles Darney, the nephew of that evil Evermonde, fell in love with Lucie without being aware of the story of Dr. Mannete. Mr. Lorry felt it necessary to unite Dr.Mannete with Lucie who was freed after the Storming of the Bastille. He was found half crazy when his daughter and Mr. Lorry met him in Paris. They took him back to London and helped him to improve his health and memory. A Tale of Two Cities Ultra-Condensed by Liz Coppla Doctor released, Marquis deceased, Darnay acquitted, Monarchy submitted, Marriage announced, Darnay denounced, Places are switched, Blades are twitched, Seamstress cries, Carton dies. Darnay marries, The story ends----with dying Cartons claim; At least a son In each of your successive generations Should be named after Carton. 5. Story:Part-2 Five years later Charles Darnay was accused of being a spy but due to his similar appearance with Sydney Carton, the English pleader in the court room, he escaped punishment. Both Carton and Darnay fell in love with Lucie. Darnay proposed Lucie. But, once when he went to France to help the tax collector Gabelle, an earlier servant of their estate. He was arrested. Lucie and Dr. Manate followed him trying to do their best when he was locked in a cell of the prison of La Force. Finally, he was freed and was put in another room next day. This time Charles was put to death. Finding no way to save Darnay, Carton decided to save him by making a sacrifice for his own life. He exchanged position with Darney and was guillotined. Darney returned to London and married Lucie. Dr. Mannete gradually returned to normal life. Carton remained the most popular hero in literature through his act of sacrifice. The End 6. 1757-1794 : The Period represented in A Tale of Two cities. 7. Plot Map of A Tale of Two Cities 8. Storming of the Bastille,14 July 1789. 9. Though A Tale of Two Cities begins in 1770 with Doctor Nanette's release from the Bastille and ends in late 1793 or early 1794, the story as a whole covers a much broader period. In the larger view, the novel begins in 1757 (the year of Doctor Manettes incarceration under the ancient rgime) and its final scene anticipates a post-revolutionary Paris. However, as a historical novel organized around the events of the French Revolution (1789-1794), the major historical features of A Tale of Two Cities are drawn from the major events of the revolutionary period in France the fall of the Bastille (July 14, 1789), the September Massacres (September 2-6, 1792), and the Reign of Terror (1793-1794). 10. DR.Mannate Saint Antoine 11. of Darney Lucie 12. of 13. of Mr..Jarvis Lorry is one of the oldest employees of Tellson's Bank, and he frequently deals with the bank's offices in London and Paris. He is a confirmed bachelor and a man of business. He has served the Manette family since Dr.Alexandre Manette's imprisonment. He takes Lucie Manette to Paris to retrieve her father and is troubled by what they will find on their arrival. All through the novel he acts as a divine angel to the main characters and finally shapes the destiny of Darney and Lucie. He is one of the best character that Dickens had ever created. He is the most important character in the novel. Source:- http://www.ataleof2cities.com/cast- biography & wikipedia.org 14. of 15. of In order to understand the novel properly, a bit of Dickenss personal life is required to be known. A tale of Two cities 'was Dickens last but one and acclaimed as his best novel. He required to make it a perfect piece of literature to recover his lost reputation. He thought of French Revolution and asked his friend Thomas Carlyle to tell something about the Revolution.(He was neither a philosopher nor an intellectual.) Carlyle, it is said, oblized his friends request by sending a cart load of books to Dickens. Of which Dickens picked out only Carlyles French Revolution and kept it in the pocket of his overcoat till he finished the novel. As such A Tale of Two Cities is sometimes called the fictionalized history of the French Revolution. The language of the novel is so poetic that a critic has gone to the extent of calling it Dickens best poem not novel. 16. The significant court room. 17. As John D. Rosenberg observes in his Introduction, The French Revolution is one of the grand poems of [Carlyles] century, yet its poetry consists in being everywhere scrupulously rooted in historical fact.And Dickenss A Tale of Two cities is the fictionalized historicism of The French Revolution. 18. Sydney Carton 19. Robespierre Guillotined 20. September massacre 21. And lastly, one closes the book with the following impression A Tale of Two Cities is a novel that works on several levels. Most study it as social commentary about the French Revolution, but even those not interested in history will find it a book of interest, because it is quite possibly the most romantic love story ever told. ****