Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities

●The Life

●The Times

●The Novel

Charles John Huffman Dickens ● Born February 7,

1812, in Portsmouth, England.

● Happy childhood

despite plaguing

illness

● Imagination

influenced by a nurse

who told him

“ghoulish tales of the

occult” (“Charles” 7)

The Life of Charles Dickens ● Camden Town, London

– Age 12 – Father imprisoned for debts – Dickens' child labor at a shoe factory which he

called “the secret agony of his soul” (qtd. in “Charles” 8)

– Later in life he was obsessed with having enough money and money management.

● 1830 First Love – Maria Beadnell—daughter of a banker – 4 years of courtship – He was heart-broken when she snubbed him at

his 21st birthday party and carried a torch for years, until he saw her in middle-age “toothless, fat, old, and ugly” (“Charles” 9)

The Life of Charles Dickens ● 1833

– first anonymous short story in Monthly Magazine led to his writing career

– Wrote under pen name “Boz” ● 1836

– Marriage to Catherine (Kate) Hogarth and ten children

– Separated in 1858 – Fond of Catherine’s sister Mary who died (1837) in

his arms and dealing him a blow from which “he would never recover” (“Charles” 10)

● Ellen Ternan Affair (1857) – Led him to re-evaluate his marriage w/ Catherine

● 1870 – Dickens died of a brain aneurysm called Ellen to

his deathbed

The Life of Charles Dickens

● Buried in the Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, London.

● Queen Victoria wrote

in her diary: “He is a very great loss…He had a large loving mind and the strongest sympathy for the poorer classes” (qtd. in “Charles” 11)

The Life of Charles Dickens

● Earlier works

characterized

by humor and

broad

caricature.

● Variety of

social and

political

crusades

● Works include

sympathy for

the oppressed

and

examination of

class

distinctions.

Dickens' Notable Works

● A Christmas Carol

● Oliver Twist

● Great Expectation

● David Copperfield

● Pickwick Papers

● A Tale of Two Cities

Victorian London ● Industrial

Revolution – London's

benefits and consequences

● 1800 – Population about

1 million – By 1880=4.5

million – Largest city in

Europe

Victorian London ● Explosive

growth led to untold squalor and filth

● Poor sanitation ● Travel difficult

on the streets ● Constant threat

of robbers and bandits

● The poor ● Public hangings

The Times 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.

A Tale of Two Cities ● Dickens' 12th novel ● Serialized in All the

Year Round in weekly parts from April 30 to November 26, 1859

● Sold 40,000 copies a week

● Written just after the break-up of his marriage

The Novel

● Background—Addressing

Contemporary Issues in

France and England

–TOTC takes place about

70 years before Dickens

writes this novel (1770s)

The Novel ● TOTC is set in both London and

Paris, beginning in 1775 and

covering a period of 18 years

●French Revolution is

background

●1775—14 years before the

fall of the Bastille

●Reign of Terror 1792-1793

The Novel ● 1780s England-

Peaceful and

prosperous

● Political and

literary radicals

imported ideals

of French

Revolution.

● Social

inequities

● Fear of

revolution

persisted in

Dickens' day

● Industrial

Revolution

The Novel ● Underclass:

– Ignored by society

– No rights

– Could not vote in

elections

– Could not form

unions

● Upperclass

– Feared educating

the poor

– Liked the cheap

labor

● English tradition was

peaceful protest

● Progression of 19th

century brought riots

and property

destruction.

● Revolution never

arrived in England – Reform parties

– 1832 Reform Bill

– 1867 helped smother

fears

The Age of Enlightenment

● Philosophical guiding voice

● Looked to reason to solve the problems of

humanity

● Objective truth about the universe

● Closely linked with scientific revolution

● Helped create the intellectual framework for

the American and French Revolutions

● Diderot, Thomas Paine, Hume, Voltaire

– Mocked “old order”

● Jean-Jacques Rousseau

– Believed in the natural goodness of man

Background to Revolution ● Louis XIV – trouble began with high

power for monarchy

● Louis XV – left France weak and

divided after series of disastrous wars

● Louis XVI (France 1774) and Marie

Antoinette

–Absolute monarch

– Indulgent and decadent life flaunted

so that many poor resented them

The French Revolution

● State of country ● Estates-General –First Estate (clergy) – exempt

from tax –Second Estate (nobility) –exempt

from tax –Third Estate (commoners and

emerging middle class) –no rights or freedoms

The French Revolution • Inspired by the ideals of liberty, equality, and

fraternity (brotherhood of man)

• The States General

–Called in times of crisis

–Not called since 1614

–Reps from all 3 estates

• 3rd Estate refused to submit

– Proclaimed themselves “National Assembly”

– Louis tried to make them illegal then relented

– Brought troops to Versailles

– Dismissed popular finance minister Jacques

Necker …leading to….

Storming the Bastille ● July 14th, 1789

– still holiday today ● Mob attacked ancient

prison – symbol of king’s

absolute power ● Riots broke out

throughout France ● Great Fear

– targets aristocrats (many fled)

● General/President George Washington was given a key to the Bastille as a symbol for overthrowing a government, it still hangs in his home Mt. Vernon.

Reign of Terror

● 1793-1794

● Guillotine – b/t 18,000-40,000 killed

● Those accused of counter-

revolutionary activities or mere

suspicion

Brought to guillotine in tumbrels

(wooden carts used to parade the

soon-to-be victims through the

streets)

The Directory (1795-99)

First bi-cameral legislature in French

History

Aftermath of the Revolution

● Feudal system destroyed

● Forced King and Queen to leave Capital

● Limited King’s power

● Declaration of the Rights of Man and

Citizens

– Similar to our Declaration of

Independence

– Rights: liberty, property, security, and

resistance to oppression

A Note from the Author

Dickens called his story Tale of Two Cities:

“a picturesque story rising in every chapter,

with characters true to nature, but whom the

story should express more than they should

express themselves by dialogue.”

Themes ● Resurrection/

Redemption/

Rebirth

● Love and Hate

● Revenge and

Vengence

● Revolution/

War/Death