A Tale of Two Cities

First Estate

Clergy

Second Estate

Nobility

Third Estate

Commoners and Peasants

Book the First: Date

1775

Book the Second: Start Date

1780

Book the Second: End Date

1789-1792

Book the Third: Date

1792

Start of Revolution/Storming of Bastille

July 14, 1789

Causes of the French Revolution

-Hail storms had ruined the year’s harvest (raising food prices and causing widespread hunger)

-The King still looked well-fed

-Intellectuals were wondering if G-D should/could save the King

-Nobles and clergy never paid taxes

-France (1789) was severely in debt

-King Louis XVI was also spending half the national budget to service federal debt

-King Louis XVI looked wealthy and still lived in Versailles

Bastille (location)

A “remorseless sea” of angry peasants take Bastille which was a fortress used to hold prisoners. It is where Dr Manette was kept. It is the start of the revolution and represents the beginning of ‘freedom’ for the French people.

Château (location)

Marquis St. Evremonde lived there before it is set on fire. The Château is imposing with opulent rooms fitting of a luxurious noble and stone in all directions.

Tellson’s Bank (in London and Paris) (location)

Tellson’s bank is an old-fashioned place -- very small, very dark, very ugly, very incommodious (causes discomfort), and not morally sound

Guillotine (location)

Filled with crowds of bloodthirsty peasants, who no longer care whether or not they are killing someone who ‘deserves’ to die. It is filled with a frenzied (and fearful in the case of the prisoners) atmosphere.

Soho (location)

A calm, quiet, and comforting place — reminiscent of the country and very empty. It is where the Manette apartment is located.

Stryver’s Office (location)

A dingy location with a mess of papers

Defarge’s Wine Shop (location)

The center of the revolution. The location itself is a hub of revolutionary ideas though the atmosphere comes off as subdued in comparison to the dominating personalities of the Defarges.

St. Antoine (location)

Near Bastille, the slums of Paris. It is full of hunger, disease, and poverty. It has a “pervading stench”

Dover Road (location)

Where the Dover Mail Carriage is going to bring its passengers. Lorry talks to Jerry Cruncher on this road and gives the message “Recalled to Life.”

La Force (location)

A prison, originally a hotel before being converted into a prison that was meant to house debtors. “Dark and filthy, and with a horrible smell of foul sleep in it.”

Conciergerie (location)

A prison in the Palais de Justice where many prisoners sentenced to die by the guillotine spent their last days. It is a desperate place.

The Woodman (symbol)

Fate. He marks the trees that will be made into guillotines.

The Farmer (symbol)

Death. Sets apart the “tumbrils” (farming carts) to be used for the revolution (carting people to the guillotine)

Wine (symbol)

The desperation and poverty people face — bloodshed.

Gorgon/Stone faces (symbol)

A symbol of the Marquis’ death. They are immovable also representing the institution of the nobility and how they believe themselves to be everlasting — before they are destroyed (set on fire).

St. Antoine (symbol)

Intoxication fueling revolution in France

Jackal (symbol)

Carton. Jackals help lions (Stryver) with their kills while lions get all the glory.

Lion (symbol)

Stryver. Lions get all the glory for kills that jackals (Carton) help with.

Golden Thread (symbol)

Lucie Manette. She weaves people together and guides her father into a better future — creating a community.

Scarecrows (symbol)

The peasants/lower-class people

Birds of fine song and feathers (symbol)

The nobility

Knitting (symbol)

Fate. The future that awaits the French nobility at the hands of the vengeful revolutionaries

Sea (symbol)

The French Revolution and the revolutionaries rising anger

Madame Defarge (symbol)

The ruthlessness of the revolution and its inevitability. Fate — because she knits to remember every aristocrat she wants to die.

The Vengeance (symbol)

The revenge the peasants enact upon French nobility

Shoe Bench (symbol)

The trauma Dr Manette experienced and the long lasting effects of captivity

Fire (symbol)

The rapid spread of the revolution

Fountain (symbol)

The inhumanity of the aristocracy to the peasant class

Blue Flies (symbol)

The people’s bloodlust

Grindstone (symbol)

Maniacal bloodthirstiness of the revolutionaries

Footsteps (symbol)

Fate. Precursor to mobs.

Shadows (symbol)

Obscuring people. Mood of grave foreboding.

“Recalled to life” (theme/motif)

Resurrection and the revival of someone or something. Initially about Dr Manette but applied to other characters such as Darnay (trial) and Carton (zest for life before execution). And the purpose of the revolution.

Doubles (theme/motif)

Twin cities (England and France), the Peasant Class and the Aristocracy (Rich and Poor), Darnay and Carton (One lives a happy fulfilling life and one is depressed, dies), Lucie and Madame Defarge (Kind, weak and unforgiving, strong), the duality of life

Mobs (theme/motif)

Causes chaos and anarchy to change how society is run. Ex: the storming of the Bastille, the beheading of the governor after he was dead, and the imprisonment of Charles Darnay

Knitting (theme/motif)

Stealthy, cold-blooding vengefulness of the revolutionaries. Madame Defarge knits the name of nobles she wants to die

Oppression/Compassion (theme/motif)

The oppression of the lower class as opposed to the compassion shown to the main characters in the story driving them forward despite the difference in classes. (Darnay is a noble who shows compassion toward the oppressed lower class, Madame Defarge leads the bloodthirsty revolution in compassion for the feelings of oppression)

Vengeance (theme/motif)

Those that have a desire for revenge often go about it the wrong way (Gaspard wants revenge for his child's death, the revolutionaries want revenge for their suppression, and Madame Defarge wants revenge for her dead family)

Sacrifice (theme/motif)

Sydney Carton's decision to take Charles Darnay's place, even though doing so means being executed

Social injustice (theme/motif)

The excessive luxury, a clear distinction between classes, and the irrationality of the government system — a criticism by Charles Dickens

Shadows/Light/Dark (theme/motif)

The shadows obscure people and motives. Light vs. Dark is used as a representation of good vs. evil (moral vs immoral)

Imprisonment (theme/motif)

Mental and physical. Darnay, Carton, and Dr Manette fight are subject to the idea of physical imprisonment while Dr Manette eventually becomes mentally imprisoned within his mine from his experiences. Imprisoned can also relate to feeling like you don’t have agency — Lucie not being able to save her husband.

Footsteps/Echoes (theme/motif)

The echo of the footsteps symbolizes the path people are set on and foreshadows further violence or protests.

Storm/Fire (theme/motif)

While fire represents the spread of the revolution, the storm represents that the revolution is present (it is also a state of frenzy that the mob heavily leans into)

Sea (theme/motif)

The water symbolizes a rebirth and foreshadows a future where one may need to grow and change.