1. Construct a Web site that other students reading A Tale of Two Cities could use. The Web site could include a page about major themes in the book, a page about Charles Dickens, and a page about the French Revolution. 2. Write some journal entries from the perspective of […]
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1. Explain the first paragraph of the novel. What does Dickens mean by “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”? 2. Discuss the resurrection theme in A Tale of Two Cities. Which characters are “recalled to life”? How? 3. Describe how Dickens depicts crowds and […]
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adieu French for “farewell.” alehouse a a place where ale is sold and served; tavern. ambuscade ambush. anathematize to denounce or curse. apocryphal of doubtful authorship or authenticity; not genuine. arm-chest a chest containing weapons. Bacchanalian propensities a tendency toward drinking alcohol. bank note a promissory note issued by a […]
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Here is information about some of the best and most noteworthy film adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities: A Tale of Two Cities 1935 Director: Jack Conway Unrated This stunning classic is considered by many movie reviewers to be the best film adaptation yet of Dickens’ masterpiece. […]
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Here are some examples of some of the most famous quotes from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities (1859). These examples will help you gain a deeper understanding of this complex work, and you may be surprised by how many of these phrases are still familiar today despite the […]
Read more Study Help Famous QuotesCritical Essays The French Revolution
When Louis XVI became King of France in 1775, he inherited a country with economic distress, social unrest, a debauched court, and problems with the nobility and parlement (the courts of justice). The inheritance was fatal. At the time, the aristocracy was living on borrowed money and the labors of […]
Read more Critical Essays The French RevolutionCritical Essays Women as the Central Characters
Curiously, one of the aspects readers most commonly overlook when studying A Tale of Two Cities is the centrality of women in the story. The characters around whom the action revolves in both London and Paris are women: Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge. Additionally, Dickens uses women throughout the book […]
Read more Critical Essays Women as the Central CharactersCharles Dickens Biography
Personal Background Described as “the greatest English novelist,”Charles Dickens is studied more than any other author writing in English, except for Shakespeare. While his popularity with critics has fluctuated over time, Dickens’ works have never lost their appeal for general readers, thanks to the universality of his writing. He infused […]
Read more Charles Dickens BiographyCharacter Analysis Jerry Cruncher
A porter for Tellson’s by day and a grave robber by night, he provides some of the little comedy in A Tale of Two Cities. His euphemisms create a topsy-turvy world in which grave robbing becomes respectable and prayer is degraded to “flopping.”In digging up buried bodies, he parodies the […]
Read more Character Analysis Jerry CruncherCharacter Analysis Ernest Defarge
Defarge was Doctor Alexandre Manette’s servant as a young man, and he seems to have a filial reverence for him during the Revolution. However, when the Doctor was newly released from prison, Defarge was not above exploiting his insanity as a spectacle to further the revolutionary cause. As a revolutionary […]
Read more Character Analysis Ernest Defarge