| Term Paper Title | A Tale Of Two Cities |
| # of Words | 625 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 2.5 |
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities Dickens, Charles Appleton Library 266 pp. The main
purpose of this book is to show the contrasts between the peaceful city of
London and the city of Paris, tearing itself apart in revolution. This is
apparent in the very first line of the book, "It was the best of times, it
was the worst of times...." This is a contrast of the two cities, London,
the tranquil home of Mr. Lorry and the Darnays'; and Paris, the center of a
bloody revolution. The author shows gentleness in these violent times in the
persons of Dr. and Lucie Mannette, both gentle and peaceful. He also
characterizes the evil side of the revolution in the apathetic and depraved
Misuser and Mademoiselle Defarge, who go about their business while death carts
roll-- as do heads-- through the streets of Paris. He does though, depict a ray
of light amongst all this evil; the heroic Carton, who gave his life for his
friend and a woman he knew he would never have. The biggest contrast of all, is
in the person of Misuser Darnay, the gentle English family man, who is also
related to the evil Marquis Evremonde. I personally like stories that use
historical events as backdrops because it brings these seemingly distant events
closer to us. This book definitely offers insight into life in the two cities at
the time of the French Revolution. I think it does an excellent job of depicting
just how completely engulfed some people became in the revolution. It shows how
people were blinded by the desire for freedom from their former oppressors, so
much so, that they attacked anyone and anything that was even remotely related
to their past rulers. I think this was effectively done by excellent
characterization, using each character to depict a different aspect of society,
then contrasting them by making them rivals. I really took away a different view
of that time period. Some of the language he...Read entire document
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