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Tale Of Two Cities Passage Analysis

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Throughout Chapter 21, in A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens utilizes literary techniques in order to efficiently portray the characters emotions in response to the current happenings in London and France. During this time, Lucie Manette gives birth to a baby girl named Lucie and a son who died at only a few years old. Outside of Lucie’s life, France is on the edge of a major Revolution and has a vast effect on the daily lives of the individuals living there. Dickens conveys people’s emotions and daily occurrences through, motifs, metaphors and juxtaposition, to allow the reader to fully comprehend the lasting impact that these current events had on several characters, specifically, Lucie. At the very beginning of this chapter, Dickens opens with the sentence, “A wonderful corner for echoes.” (page 161) Dickens mentions echos several times throughout this passage and serves as a motif to hint at the gradual chaos that was about to take place. Often times, Lucie would sit in the corner of the parlour and analyze the sound …show more content…

He does this by introducing the idea of the “golden thread.” In the context of this passage, this thread symbolizes the knot of purity and love that ties Lucie and her family together. Dickens first introduces the golden thread by saying, “Ever busily winding the golden thread which bound her husband, her father and herself.” (page 161) By including this line, the reader is able to decipher that this golden thread has a great amount of meaning associated with Lucie’s life. During this time, there was so much uncertainty regarding the French Revolution and the repercussions they would face. The one dependable factor of Lucie’s life was her family and the stable connections she felt with them. Dickens compares the loved ones in Lucie’s life to gold because that is how valuable they are to

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In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens presents the idea of joy and happiness as central themes in the novel. Through the character of Ebenezer Scrooge, the author explores the concept that true happiness is not found in material possessions, but rather in human connection and empathy. The context of the novel is important to consider, as it was written during a time of great social and economic change in England. Industrialization and urbanization had led to a growing divide between the rich and poor, and Dickens was a strong advocate for social reform.

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A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, surrounds the cities of Paris and London during the late 1700’s. The novel takes place during the French Revolution, a period of social and political upheaval in France and England. While peasants died in the streets from hunger, aristocrats had more money and power than they knew what to do with. A Tale of Two Cities describes, in detail, the poverty of the time period, as well as the struggle of a people able to overcome oppression. The novel is largely based off of occurrences Dickens experienced during his childhood.

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This heightens the impacts of the more vivid descriptions that follow, when Dickens describes the children as “wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable.” The juxtaposition of these terms to the traditional view of children as vulnerable creates a sense of shock in the reader. Furthermore, the use of asyndetic listing alongside the negative adjectives creates a semantic field of horror. In this way, the description of Ignorance and Want as children is used by Dickens to increase the atmosphere of pessimism.

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Dickens’ use of the water motif greatly enhances the story and aids the reader’s understanding of when change occurs.

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Once he married his wife, Lucie, and joined the Mannette family, he quickly found a joyful, fulfilling life in London. He soon became the father to a little girl who brought light into the quiet home. “Ever busily the winding golden thread that bound them all together, weaving the service of her happy influence through the tissue of all their lives…Lucie heard in the echoes of years none but friendly and soothing sounds. Her husband’s step was strong and prosperous among them; her father’s firm and equal.” (Dickens, p.162) Disturbingly, about the same time in France, the Revolution was mounting like a tight capsule about to burst.

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Dickens’ novel develops the idea that sacrifices are made for the people or things that are important to you. The Revolutionaries sacrifice everyone, even their own people, to the Guillotine because they put the Guillotine before anything else. This kind of sacrifice is negative, because instead of human beings, the victims are seen as wine for the Guillotine. This theme of sacrifice is also seen in Carton. Carton sacrifices himself for Lucie, because Lucie is the only person he cares about.

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