THEMES
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
CHARLES DICKENS
INTRODUCTION:
Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) was the
most influential and imposing literary man of the Victorian era. David Cecil
rightly extolled his genius:
“He is the one
novelist of his school whose books have not grown dusty on the shelves, where
popularity has suffered no sensible decline. He is not only the most famous of
Victorian novelist; he is also the most typical.”
Charles
Dickens known as a novelist of social reform has written most of his novels
expressing the social and moral issues of English society during the Victorian
age. His novels like ‘Pickwick Papers’, ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘Oliver Twist’
deal with the problem of child labour. But his novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ is
a different novel which reveals the ideas of exploitation and injustice to the
poor in the historical background of French Revolution. It also expresses the
ideas of sacrifice and resurrection, role of fate and history in man’s life
etc. Let’s discuss them all.
EXPLOITATION AND INJUSTICE:
Charles
Dickens has drawn a realistic picture of the English society after the French
Revolution. He tells us how the aristocrats used the common men as the vehicle
of their entertainment and how they exploited the poor for their own pleasure.
In the beginning of the novel, we come to know that a poor girl is raped and
his brother too is bullied by Everemonde brothers. Later on, when Dr. Alexander
Manette tries to help them by writing a letter to the minister regarding the
injustice done to these girl and boy, he too is wrongly imprisoned for eighteen
years. Not only this, Everemonde crushes a little child of a poor man and shows
no sympathy over his death and throws a coin at the child’s poor father. All
these incidents in the novel project the theme of exploitation and injustice
done to the poor by the royal families of England during the 19th
century.
DUALITY:
From
the very title of A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens signals that this is a novel
about duality. Everything from the settings (London, Paris) to the people come
in pairs.
·
This novel has been
regarded as a tale of two heroes. Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, the two
major characters control the story line in the novel.
·
The novel expresses
the theme of duality in the beginning. Mark these words, “It was the best of
times, it was the worst of times."
·
There is a contrast
of duality among the characters too. For example, Lucie's physical and moral
brightness is presented against the dark Madame Defarge.
·
The contrast is
visible all throughout the novels in terms of conflict between the rich and the
poor, the exploited and the exploiters.
RESURRECTION:
Some
critics believe that the main theme of the novel is not the conflict between
the rich and the poor, nor is it a novel depicting the after effects of French
Revolution. According to them, the central theme of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ is a
Christian theme of resurrection which means the image of Jesus Christ rising
from his grave on the third day of his Crucifixion.
·
The idea of resurrection
is presented in the very beginning of the novel. Dr. Menette’s imprisonment for
eighteen long years represents death and his release acts as his resurrection.
To Mr. Lorry, Menete’s imprisonment is just like a grave from which Menette
comes out. Mr. Lorry talks to a dead man in his imagination and he starts
digging out the grave with a spade.
·
Moreover, during his
imprisonment, Dr. Menette goes insane. But after his release he comes back to
sanity. This also projects the image of resurrection in the novel. This
resurrection is brought about by Lucie’s nursing, service, love and care.
SACRIFICE:
Sacrifice
is another central idea developed by Dickens in the novel. Dickens presents this
theme both on both national as well as personal level.
·
The revolutionaries
in the novel prove that a new, democratic French republic can come about only
with a heavy and terrible cost.
·
Dr.
Menettesacrificies eighteen years of his life just to give justice to the poor
girl and boy.
·
In choosing to die
for his friends, Carton not only enables their happiness but also ensures his
spiritual rebirth.
·
Charles sacrifices
his family wealth and heritage in order to live a life free of guilt for his
family's awful behavior.
·
The French people
are willing to sacrifice their own lives to free themselves from tyranny.
·
Throughout the
novel, Dickens suggests that, while painful in the short term, sacrifice leads
to future strength and happiness. Dr. Manette is reunited with his daughter and
gains a position of power in the French Revolution because of his earlier imprisonment
in the Bastille. Charles too wins the love of Lucie at the end.
Throughout the novel, Dickens presents
all the action in the light of French Revolution.Though Dickens supports the
revolutionary cause on the one hand, he often points to the evil of the
revolutionaries themselves. Dickens deeply sympathizes with the poor plight of
the French farmers and justifies their need for liberation. The novelist
presents Everemonde members as the cruel and heartless people who shamelessly
exploits and oppress the poor people. Although Dickens condemns this
oppression, however, he also condemns the peasants’ strategies in overcoming
it. For in fighting cruelty with cruelty, the peasants effect no true
revolution; rather, they only continue the violence that they themselves have
suffered. The novelist writes,
“Sow the same
seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield
the same fruit according to its kind.”
Thus, though Dickens sees the French
Revolution as a great symbol of transformation and resurrection, he emphasizes
that its violent means were ultimately antithetical to its end.
In short, we may sum up by saying
that ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ is a magnum opus by Charles Dickens which exposes
some very serious ideas of Christian resurrection and sacrifice, violence and
exploitation of the poor.
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