A Tale Of Two Cities Notes :: essays research papers

A drool of Two Cities - Book I (Chapters 1 - 4)Summary"It was the crush of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . ."Dickens begins A Tale of Two Cities with this famous sentence. It describes the spirit of the season in which this novel takes place. This era is the latter part of the 1700s - a time when relations between Britain and France were strained, the States declared its independence, and the peasants of France began one of the bloodiest transformations in history. In short, it was a time of shift and a time of terrible violence. Dickens describes the two cities at the sum of the novel Paris, a city of extravagance, aristocratic abuses, and otherwise evils that lead to revolution and London, a city rife with crime, capital punishment, and disorder. In both cities, the capabilities of an fierce mob were a dangerous thing, to be feared by all.The tale begins on a road between London and Dover (in southern En gland) in 1775. Three strangers in a carriage are traveling on this dangerous road. The carriage encounters a courier on a provide who asks for one of the passengers, Jarvis Lorry of Tellsons pious platitude. They are wary, because the messenger could be a highwayman, robber, or other undesirable. However, Mr. Lorry ventures out into the rain to receive the message. He recognizes the messenger as a man named Jerry, who works for Tellsons Bank, as well. Jerry tells him to wait at Dover for the young lady. Lorry tells Jerry to relay to the people at the Bank this message Recalled to Life. Jerry has no idea what it means and rides off into the rain.Dickens indeed ponders how the heart of a person is a true mystery. Lorry after part tell who or at least of what class the two other passengers are. Traveling on, Lorry dozes in and out of dreams. His dreams reveal to the reader that his relegation is to metaphorically dig a man out of the grave. He dreams of nonional conversations with this man he is to recall to life. "Buried how long?" Lorry forever asks. "Almost 18 years," replies the man. Lorry brings the man in his dreams to see a woman (the young woman of which Jerry the messenger spoke). But the man does not know if he still wishes to live or if he cannister bear to see the young lady after having been "buried" for eighteen long years.