Post on 22-May-2015
A Tale of Two Cities
UNDERSTANDING HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• The circumstances in which a story takes place or was written
• For Tale of Two Cities…
WHAT IS HISTORICAL CONTEXT?
Story takes place during the French Revolution
Story was published in England after the fall of France’s Second Republic
http://dickens.stanford.edu/tale/historical_context.html
“THE BEST OF TIMES”- THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
LockeRoussea
u
Voltaire
• Also known as Age of Reason• Movement in the arts, sciences,
and politics
Thinkers
• Bread Famine • Malnutrition• Tooth Decay
• Taxation• Oppression
“THE WORST OF TIMES”
Image Credit: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b7743702v/
Monarchy
The Estates General
1. Clergy 2. Nobility 3. Commoners
PRE-REVOLUTION GOVERNMENT
Tennis Court Oaths
Storming of the Bastille
The Rights of Man
March on Versailles
September Massacres
Republic Proclaimed
Death of Louis XVI
Reign of Terror
Paris Commune
Directory
Napoleon
• The meeting of the Third Estate on a tennis court
• They break away from the Estates General
• They form “The National Assembly”
• Their goal was to draft a new French Constitution
TENNIS COURT OATH
Image Credit: Eleni Kioussis http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/587409/Tennis-Court-Oath
• Housed Political Prisoners
• Attempt for Revolutionaries to acquire
gun powder
• The following webpage includes more information and quizzes to test your
knowledge:
http://bastille-day.com/
STORMING OF THE BASTILLE
Image Credit: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b7743702v/
• “The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing
that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public
calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a
solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man”
DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN
The full text can be found here: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp
• Women storm the palace
• Protest of high bread prices and bread
shortages
• Bring the monarchy to Paris
MARCH ON VERSAILLES
Image Credit: Clip Art, Word for Mac 2010
• A series ok killings from September 2 to September 6, 1792
• The first MASS KILLING of the revolution
• Also known as The First Terror
THE SEPTEMBER MASSACRES
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/535103/September-Massacres
• The First French Republic was proclaimed on September 22,
1792
• Follows the themes of Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood
• Established by the National Convention
…• The revolution is far from over
REPUBLIC PROCLAIMED
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalfrance/152408174/
DEATH OF LOUIS XVI
Image Credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Execution_of_Louis_XVI.jpg
• Many Mass Killings- GUILLOTINE
• Rejection of Catholicism
• Notre Dame becomes The Temple of Reason
• Chaos and Fear
Robespierre
REIGN OF TERROR
Image Credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Execution_of_Louis_XVI.jpg
• Robespierre’s rule was even more oppressive
than the King’s
• Attempted to Reconcile with a Directory of 5
members
• Ultimately results in Napoleon’s Rule
ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE ORDER
Image Credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gros_-_First_Consul_Bonaparte_(Detail).png
AND I CARE BECAUSE…?
Develops Understanding of the Text
Adds Significance to Events in Plot
Similar to the American Revolution
Establishes Principles we Live by Today
Gives Insight into the Past
Ideas that can be Useful in the Future