Understanding A Tale of Two Cities

【Abstract】： A Tale of Two cities is one of the masterpieces of Charles Dickens， taking the French Revolution as its background. The competition between love and vengeance reflects Dickens’s humanism. Dickens uses lots of artistic techniques， making the novel vivid. And the combination of realism and romanticism not only helps people to understand the French Revolution but also expresses Dickens’s own ideals.

【Key words】： themes， artistic techniques， realism and romanticism

1.Brief introduction of Dickens and the novel

Charles Dickens is one of the critical realistic writers in 19th century. Witnessing various problems of the society， Dickens takes a sympathetic attitude toward people’s hopeless situation and detests the violence of the upper class. He is a humanitarian who tries to change people， even the society by moral power.

A Tale of Two Cities does not waste a word in telling a humanly touching， suspenseful tale against the background of the French Revolution.[1] The novel sets in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution.

2.Understanding of the novel

2.1Themes： love and vengeance darkness and light

The success of A Tale of Two Cities can also be attributed to its powerful， universal themes. Among these themes， the greatest seems to be love and vengeance. The competition between love and vengeance goes from the beginning to the end.

Love is a power. When Dr. Manette drops in his own world， his daughter Lucie saves and wakes her father with love. In contrast to love， it is vengeance. During the French Revolution， ordinary people of the lower class began to revenge on their enemies—the aristocrats. Fortunately， love overwhelms vengeance. Love can solve problems while vengeance can’t. The lower people’s vengeance kills numberless innocent people and their crazy action makes the society more disordered. On the contrary， love is powerful than vengeance. Dr. Manette accepts Darnay， which makes her daughter Lucie lives merrily. Dr. Manette also releases himself from the torturous past. Love finally defeats vengeance.

Another well-known theme is darkness and light， which stands for good and evil. Lucie Manette is the warm light， as represented literally by her name which is so sweet； but Madame Defarge is the terrifying darkness. Dark shadows follow him； dark， gloomy doldrums disturb him. Madame Defarge is \"like a shadow over the white road\"， which reflects Madame Defarge's darkness corruption.

2.2The artistic techniques

There are many artistic techniques such as contrast， symbol and exaggeration being widely used in this novel.

The story forms a sharp contrast in either set circumstances or portrait of characters and expression of thoughts. For instance，the aristocrats live in great luxury， while people of the low class are extremely poor.

Another technique is symbolism. For example， there is Carton’s action in pouring his brandy “slowly out upon the hearth” and watching it as it falls. Brandy is a kind of wine. Christian doctrine teaches that Christ knew at that moment that he was going to give his life for mankind， and in A Tale of Two Cities， it appears that Carton may well be planning to sacrifice himself for Darnay.[2]

Hyperbole is a useful device. In “a memorable storm of thunder and lightening”， the author symbolizes the coming French Revolution with such a description， which may make a tense atmosphere and achieve the artistic effect of prominence through contrast. [3]

2.3The combination of realism and romanticism

Charles Dickens is the representative of critical realistic writers. Therefore， the realism in this novel is obvious enough. This novel is related to many realistic features. Certainly Dickens captures the gritty reality of the French Revolution， the description Dickens uses paints a vivid picture of the poor in which people are desperate for food and clean water. Besides， they are oppressed by the upper class.

The Romanticism in the book comes out in the plots and characters. The probabilities that one man would lay down his life for a woman for the love of her are pretty low in real life. However， in A Tale of Two Cities， When Darnay has to be executed， Carton， who admires Lucie， decides to replace Darnay to be executed in order to let Lucie and her lover keep together. It is genuinely romantic.

Though realism and romanticism are two quite different methods in literary creation， they do not conflict with each other actually. Dickens is sometimes called a “poet” because of his romantic temperament and boundless imagination. A Tale of Two Cities is sentimental and sympathetic with a horrifying and mysterious atmosphere with romantic methods，which make it an absorbing story. Dickens not only helps people to understand the Revolution but also expresses his own ideals， so the work is of history， yet beyond history.[4]

3.Conclusion

Charles Dickens not only deals well with the French Revolution， but also conveys his humanism to others. He firmly believes that moral power can change people， even the society. In A Tale of Two Cities， love finally overwhelms vengeance and dark gives in to light. The combination of realism and romanticism is the most attractive features of the novel. Though the realism in the novel is mostly the French Revolution， romantic methods are used， changing the dull atmosphere. Romanticism makes the novel an outstanding masterpiece.

Work cited：

[1]，[2] George Newlin. Understanding A Tale of Two Cities[M].北京：中國人民大學出版社， 2008.

[3] 李軍. On the Artistic Features of A Tale of Two Cities[J].英語之角：8-10.

[4] 王丹. The Combination of Realism and Romanticism on A Tale of Two Cities[J].外語論壇：2013，（25）：246.