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Description
A Tale of Two Cities , by Charles Dickens , is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis
Cast of Characters
- Jarvis Lorry: Employee of Tellson's Bank who travels between London and Paris
- Dr. Alexander Manette: Prisoner in the Bastille for 18 years, father of Lucie, a kind and brilliant physician
- Madame Therese Defarge: Revolutionary woman who hates the French aristocracy
- Monsieur Ernest Defarge: Once was Dr. Manette's servant, now a Revolutionary who owns a wine shop.
- Lucie Manette: Dr, Manette's faithful and loving daughter
- Charles Darnay: French emigrant, tried at the Old Bailey for treason. He looks very much like Sydney Carton.
- Marquis St Evremonde: Darnay's callous uncle, who runs over a peasant child.
- Little Lucie: Daughter of Lucie Manette and Charles Darnay
- Miss Pross: Servant who raised Lucie Manette
- Mr. Stryver: Proud and foolish lawyer
- John Barsad: British spy
- Jerry Cruncher: Odd-job man for Tellson's Bank
Memorable Quotes
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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
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“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”
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“Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it rose upon no sadder sight than the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensible of the blight on him, and resigning him-self to let it eat him away.”
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“You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer. Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.”
First Sentence
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Table of Contents
Book the First: Recalled to Life
1. The Period
2. The Mail
3. The Night Shadows
4. The Preparation
5. The Wine-shop
6. The Shoemaker
Book the Second: The Golden Thread
1. Five Years Later
2. A Sight
3. A Disappointment
4. Congratulatory
5. The Jackal
6. Hundreds of People
7. Monseigneur in Town
8. Monseigneur in the Country
9. The Gorgon's Head
10. Two Promises
11. A Companion Picture
12. The Fellow of Delicacy
13. The Fellow of No Delicacy
14. The Honest Tradesman
15. Knitting
16. Still Knitting
17. One Night
18. Nine Days
19. An Opinion
20. A Plea
21. Echoing Footsteps
22. The Sea Still Rises
23. Fire Rises
24. Drawn to the Loadstone Rock
Book the Third: The Track of a Storm
1. In Secret
2. The Grindstone
3. The Shadow
4. Calm in Storm
5. The Wood-sawyer
6. Triumph
7. A Knock at the Door
8. A Hand at Cards
9. The Game Made
10. The Substance of the Shadow
11. Dusk
12. Darkness
13. Fifty-two
14. The Knitting Done
15. The Footsteps Die Out for Ever
Glossary
- Doll: A disparaging term for women in the nineteenth century.
- Mail-coach: Before the introduction of railways there were two types of coaches on English roads: the mail-coach and the stage-coach. The mail-coaches were subsidized by the Post Office, whereas stage-coaches were privately owned.
- Resurrection-Man: A person who digs up dead bodies to sell parts of them to scientists. Also called "Resurrectionist."
- Tumbril: A crude two-wheeled cart used to carry prisoners to be executed in the French Revolution.
Awards
- Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (State of the nation)
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