![]() ![]() But, this sentence points out, his contemporary Victorian readers aren’t the first to think that way. Looking back on a turbulent era of history, Dickens is aware that we all tend to claim our current era is the most difficult, the most unsettled, the most interesting. But A Tale of Two Cities is one of his only works of historical fiction, and that awareness definitely informs the novel’s first sentence. ![]() ![]() ![]() Like all Dickens novels, A Tale of Two Cities explores the societal conditions that lead to collapse, immorality, and ruin, and the individuals struggling against forces larger than themselves. Two different men fall in love with Lucie, and this triangle has long-lasting consequences as political intrigue spirals out of control in France, leading to a revolution that catches our characters in its grip. When he’s released, he moves to England to be with his daughter, Lucie-whom he’s never even met. Set around the time of the French Revolution, moving between London and Paris, the novel follows a French doctor who was imprisoned for years in the Bastille. Here’s a quick summary of the novel before we get into that. Maybe you’ve never read A Tale of Two Cities, but you are probably familiar with the phrase “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” because it’s become a popular idiom. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |