2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
Charles Dickens is the most famous English novelist of the 19th century in our country. One of the most interesting historical works of the writer was the novel "A Tale of Two Cities". The article will be devoted to this artistic creation. We will review the summary of the novel and also present a small analysis.
About the book
The novel was first published in 1859. It describes the events of the French Revolution. Very soon, the novel became the bestseller of its time and the most popular work of the writer.
The idea of the novel was suggested to Dickens by a letter from W. Collins, where he told a story about a young man who sacrificed himself for his beloved and the man she had chosen. Gradually, thoughts about the French Revolution, which the writer learned while reading historical books, were superimposed on this plot.
Summary
The action of the work "A Tale of Two Cities" develops in the XVIII century. high-ranking bankingan employee goes on an errand to France. He has to tell Lucy Monette, the daughter of a bank customer, that her supposedly deceased father is alive.
Dr. Mannet spent eighteen years in the Bastille. And all these years, his family did not hear anything about him. Lucy was absolutely sure that her father had long been dead. The news brought by the employees startled her. The girl decides to follow her father.
Dr. Manette was in a state of severe emotional distress and does not realize that he has been released. After the release of the former prisoner, his old servant sheltered him. Lucy is taken by Manette and they go to England. Gradually, the girl manages to restore her father's mind. Dr. Manette remembers well that he endured terrible agony, but now all his trials are over.
Five years later
The events of the novel "A Tale of Two Cities" continue five years after the return of the doctor. The Manette family has to participate in legal proceedings. Accused of treason, Charles Darnay is a friend of the Manettes. The heroes have to resort to the help of Carton's lawyer, thanks to whose efforts Derney was completely acquitted and released from prison. While the process was going on, Lucy and Charles became close and realized that they had fallen in love. The wedding soon followed.
Charles lives in England. He hides under a false name, as he has an aristocratic French origin. Now Charles is trying in every possible way to hide it. To do this, he even refuses the inheritance. The fact is that the French genus, fromwhich it takes place, since ancient times was famous for its cruel attitude towards the common people. His uncle, the Marquis, had already suffered from the patriots, the future revolutionaries, who killed him. They also sentenced the entire Charles family to destruction.
Dr. Manette accidentally learns that the Marquis is Charles' uncle. This leads to the fact that he has a new blow. It turns out that the Marquis is to blame for the fact that Dr. Manette ended up in the Bastille.
The start of the revolution
A Tale of Two Cities is primarily a historical novel, which is why Dickens details the beginning of the French Revolution. Power seizes the people. Real chaos begins in the country, the king is captured by the revolutionaries, the aristocrats flee, the old laws are repealed and new ones are proclaimed. A new life is built on violence and the destruction of those who have oppressed the common people for many centuries.
Charles knows the situation in his country and the danger in which his family found themselves. After considering everything, he decides to go to Paris to save his manager from certain death.
The historical novel by Charles Dickens describes the return of a French aristocrat to his homeland when a revolution is raging there. Darnay is immediately arrested and thrown into prison as a representative of the bourgeoisie. Immediately, Charles's family arrives in Paris, hoping to save him from reprisal.
Dr. Manette was unexpectedly held in high esteem by the revolutionaries because of his prison past. This helped him launch a stormy activity and set many people up infavor Darnay.
The legal battle has been going on for two years. Finally, Charles is found not guilty and released. However, on the same day, he is again arrested. He was denounced by three people: the old servant Manette, who sheltered his master after returning from prison, his vindictive wife and some unknown person.
New Court
The book "A Tale of Two Cities" continues to describe the events. Charles is back in the dock. It turns out that the third person who denounced Darnay is Lucy's father. It turned out that after the end of the storming of the Bastille, the old servant entered the prison, found the former cell of his master and searched it. As a result, the diary of Dr. Manette fell into his hands. Among other things, it described the abuse of uncle and father Charles against a peasant family - a pregnant woman was raped, her husband was tortured to death, the poor woman's brother was seriously injured, and her sister went missing.
Manette as a doctor was once invited to the Marquis to monitor the he alth of a raped woman and her brother. During the inspection, the peasants spoke about the atrocities that the masters had done to them. Then Manette decided to report everything to the minister, but his report did not reach. And soon the doctor himself was in the Bastille. In his diary, Manette cursed the whole family of the marquis. When these terms were read out in the courtroom, it became clear that there would be no salvation for Charles - he was unanimously found guilty and sentenced to death.
Salvation
The climax of A Tale of Two Cities arrives. Charles prepares to die. Manette can do nothing to help him, which causes a new attack of unconsciousness in the old doctor. But then lawyer Carton appears on the scene. He has long been in love with Lucy and is ready to do anything for her and her family, without demanding anything in return.
Carton manages to save Charles. Taking advantage of the fact that he looks similar to Darnay, the lawyer changes places with him in prison, which allows Charles to escape. Thanks to this selfless act, Darnay and the Manette family safely leave France. And Carton will be executed instead of Charles.
Decoupling
The Tale of Two Cities, a summary of which we present, is coming to an end. It becomes clear why the wife of the old servant decided to inform on Charles - she was the sister of the same peasant woman who suffered at the hands of her father and uncle Darnay. Now she is obsessed with only one desire - to exterminate the whole family of her sister's offenders. However, all her plans were ruined: when the teacher Lucy found out about everything, she killed the offender of the hostess.
Historical romance ends with a description of the outcome of the French Revolution. The revolutionaries themselves now find themselves on the guillotine, who not so long ago executed objectionable people on it. As for Charles and Lucy, they had a child, whom they named after Carton. And the story of the lawyer's heroic act was decided to be passed on to posterity.
Analysis
In Englishcountries has long become a textbook novel "A Tale of Two Cities". Charles Dickens, in his characteristic manner, was able not only to tell an exciting love story against the backdrop of an unfolding revolution, but also to depict a variety of social classes. The work covers the entire era, there are descriptions of both peasants and aristocrats.
The writer's characters face a difficult moral choice. They are guided by both religious motives and their own benefit. However, the writer himself is sure that a worthy person will readily sacrifice himself for the sake of people dear to him.
Perhaps that is why A Tale of Two Cities remains popular today. Reader reviews regarding the work are mostly positive. Many admire Dickens's ability to depict historical events, although the beginning seems a little drawn out. Others note the art with which the characters are depicted. In addition, the very historical atmosphere that the writer creates is admirable.
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