Abstract This paper looks at how Dickens explored and intertwined the contradictory concepts of justice that collided during the French Revolution ? namely a collective social justice versus an individual's rights and liberties. The paper critically examines Dickens? portrayal of lead characters such as Sydney Carton, Charles Darnay and Monsieur and Madame Defarge, whom Dickens issues as archetypes. These individuals are swept up in the events of the French Revolution, and their choices make them representative figures of the various segments of society who were caught up in the Revolution.
From the Paper "A Tale of Two Cities" was written in 1859, during what is widely considered Dickens? second phase of writing. During this time, the last two decades of his life, Dickens novels moved from humor and satire, and increasingly dealt with themes like cynicism and despair.
In other novels written during this period, Dickens wrote of a girl whose childhood is affected by a father's confinement in debtor's prison (Little Dorrit), the decline of Victorian society due to a rising materialism (Our Mutual Friend)."
Abstract This paper examines how the character of Sydney Carton from Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" is a man who does not even believe in his own life, who drinks to escape reality and lacks any kind of ambition - and succeeds in presenting himself as a suitably plausible hero to the Victorian reader. It looks at how Dickens creates a fascinating but enigmatic character and one whose status as hero is only gradually realised by the reader as Dickens carefully and deliberately constructs Carton's heroic identity.
From the Paper "Superficially, Carton is an unlikely hero, indeed he is often labelled this in criticism of the novel, but one must deconstruct his character to discover that he is merely unexpected, due to the reader (and the other characters in the book) immediately dismissing the possibility that he may become the "hero". In an initial reading of ?A Tale..? one would be forgiven for making the assumption that the "quite self-possessed" (Bk. 2, chap. 2) Charles Darnay is to be the champion of the novel. Indeed, Dickens puts a great deal of effort into encouraging this sentiment in the reader, thus heightening the suspense of the novel's finale - when the predicted hero's death on the guillotine seems inevitable, Dickens has ensured that the reader will have difficulty in guessing who will eventually save him."
Abstract With love and sacrifice as the two main themes of Charles Dickens's novel, "A Tale of Two Cities," an interesting love-related conflict is inevitable. The paper examines the structure of the novel and its narrative style. It examines the conflict involving the love between Lucie, Carton, and Darnay. The paper takes an in-depth look at the three distinctly different sections of the novel and looks at the setting of the novel and its characters, as well as the symbolism involved in the story.
From the Paper "Characters are another very important aspect of the novel as well. Dickens typically used four different types of characters in his story (Long 493). The first type is the innocent child, or Young Jerry Cruncher. Young Jerry Cruncher, Jerry Cruncher's son, resembles his father in appearance and temperament. Young Jerry Cruncher was exposed to the abuse of his father from a very young age. He is often puzzled by the mysteriousness of his father's occupation and the mud on his boots and the rust that is always found on his fingers (Kalil 31). As Moody states in A History of English Literature, the second type is the grotesque foil, a character that is not excited by laughter but by terror (352). Madame Defarge fits this description very well, making her the antagonist of the story."
Abstract This paper offers an analysis of the logical paradox uttered by Sydney Carton as he faces his death in Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."
From the Paper "The final words of Sydney Carton in Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" as he is about to be executed are; "It is afar 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." Like many other expressions in this novel pertaining to English and French history, these lines represent a paradox."
