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Themes

The document discusses several major themes from A Tale of Two Cities including resurrection, tyranny, sacrifice, imprisonment, injustice, and the French Revolution. It notes that Carton's sacrifice allows for his resurrection through Lucie and Sydney Carton. It also discusses how the novel depicts tyranny before and after the French Revolution and how sacrifice is a major theme through characters like Dr. Manette and Carton. Imprisonment, injustice, and the French Revolution are also summarized as major themes in the novel.

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306 views

Themes

The document discusses several major themes from A Tale of Two Cities including resurrection, tyranny, sacrifice, imprisonment, injustice, and the French Revolution. It notes that Carton's sacrifice allows for his resurrection through Lucie and Sydney Carton. It also discusses how the novel depicts tyranny before and after the French Revolution and how sacrifice is a major theme through characters like Dr. Manette and Carton. Imprisonment, injustice, and the French Revolution are also summarized as major themes in the novel.

Uploaded by

yousefsalman221
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Tale of Two Cities

Significant Themes
Warm up
 Task a look at the themes below, which is not relevant to the novel ‘A Tale of Two
Cities?’
 Parenthood
 Justice/ Injustice
 Imprisonment
 Love
 Ambition
 Dignity
 Honesty and Loyalty
 Marriage
 Revenge
 Tyranny and brutality
 Social Class
 Sacrifice
 Resurrection
Resurrection
 Carton’s love towards Lucie is what kept him alive all these
years.
 Carton has a vision of his own resurrection, both in heaven
and on earth through Lucie and Charles's child, named Sydney
Carton, whose life fulfills the original Carton's lost potential.
 After having been imprisoned for years, Dr. Manette is
"recalled to life" by Lucie's love. golden thread that united
him to a Past beyond his misery, and to a Present beyond his
misery: and the sound of her voice, the light of her face, the
touch of her hand, had a strong beneficial influence with him
almost always.
Tyranny
 Dickens shows that while tyranny will inevitably lead
to revolution, revolution will lead just as inevitably
to tyranny. The only way to break this cycle is
through the application of justice and mercy.
 Before the French revolution: Tyranny was
represented by the criminal acts of the aristocracy
and monarchy.
 After the French Revolution, Tyranny was
represented by the French citizens as they were
executing innocent people
Sacrifice
 Dr. Manette sacrifices his freedom in order to preserve his
integrity.
 Charles sacrifices his family wealth and heritage in order
to live a life free of guilt for his family's awful behavior.
 Sydney Carton's decision to sacrifice his life in order to
save the lives of Lucie, Charles, and their family. The
other characters' actions fit into the secular definition of
"sacrifice," in which a person gives something up for noble
reasons.
Imprisonment

 the Bastille symbolizes the nobility's abuse of


power, exemplified by the unjust imprisonment of
Dr. Manette by Marquis St. Evrémonde. Yet the
Bastille is not the only prison in A Tale of Two
Cities. The revolutionaries also unjustly imprison
Charles in La Force prison
Injustice
 Dr.Manette’s health state that was affected by his
imprisonment.
 Darnay’s unjust trial because of false accusations
by Barsad and Cly
 Darnay’s second imprisonment because of the
letter written by Manette.
 The Marquis’s tyrannical acts towards the
commoners.
Revenge

 Revenge is not forced upon a person, but a choice they


make for themselves. Charles Dickens clearly illustrates
this idea in his Victorian novel, A Tale of Two Cities. He
provides motivation, means, and context for his
characters when taking them through a revenge arc. He
gives reasoning that readers could consider the
justification for revenge. However, Dickens refutes the
idea of revenge through Gaspard, the revolutionaries,
and Madame Defarge.
The French Revolution

 Charles Dickens, one of the greatest novelists in


Victorian era in England was interested in the life
of children, in their upbringing, in their training,
the misery and the poverty of the lower class,
which provides a reaction on the scale of the
French Revolution.

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