The French Revolution, which started in 1787, caused bad times for the French people. This time and revolution devastated France in multiple ways because the monarchy and aristocrats did not care for the middle and lower classes. The upper class and nobles did not have to pay taxes, but they heavily taxed the poor to support their lavish life styles. Versailles, the palace built by Louis XIV, is a good example of the extravagant and luxurious lives the nobles were living. These extravagances and luxuries angered the rest of the caste system to the point where the middle and lower class started rioting; running through the streets, storming prisons, and beheading everyone who opposed the rebellion. While Charles Dickens bases A Tale of Two Cities on historical fact, the use of symbolism allows the reader to get a deeper understanding for the dark and devastating impact of the Revolution. Much like the guillotine, Dickens’ novel acts like a symbol that represents the French Revolution.The first sentence in the first chapter of his first book describes this time as the best of times and the worst of times (Dickens 7). Which truly was an accurate description from opposing points of view. On one hand, the nobles lived lavishly while everyone else lived in poverty (French Revolution 978). This opening statement also reflects the range of emotions when peasants went from the oppressed to powerful.Dickens places Dr. Manette, a recently released prisoner of 18 years, in Monsieur Defarge’s wine-shop in the Parisian suburb Saint Antoine where an accident occurs. As people are moving barrels of wine into the shop one of the barrels falls, explodes, and spills wine all over the street. People run from all over, scooping wine into thei…
…and like a thread she weaves everyone in the book together (Dickens 208). Her blonde hair presents the meaning behind the title of Book the Second – The Golden Thread. In fact, she likely represents all of the French people and at the end of the book when Carton saves her life it is the greatest thing that he had ever done (372).
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Works Cited“Bastille.” Encylopedia Britannica. 15th ed. 1988. Print.Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2004. Print.“French Revolution.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. 1988. Print.“Moirai.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 9 December 2013. Web. 19 December 2013.“Tricoteuse.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 3 November 2013. Web. 19 December 2013.
