2006-11-01 10:59:33 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
plot centers on the years leading up to French Revolution and culminates in the Jacobin Reign of Terror. It tells the story of two men, Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, who look very alike but are entirely different in character. Darnay is a romantic descended from French aristocrats, while Carton is a cynical English barrister. The two are in love with the same woman, Lucie Manette: one of them will give up his life for her, and the other will marry her.
Other major characters in the book include Dr. Alexandre Manette (Lucie's father) who was unjustly imprisoned in the infamous Bastille for many years prior to the commencement of the novel under a lettre de cachet and Madame Defarge, a female revolutionary with a grudge against Darnay's family.
The twists and turns in the novel are sinuous. Originally written as a serial novel for publication in newspapers, the chapters open and close with great drama and mystery. Dickens' take on the French Revolution is balanced - he describes the horrors and atrocities committed on both sides.
The two cities named in the title are London and Paris. Throughout the novel, pairs of people, places, etc. are compared and contrasted.
The opening sentence, beginning with the line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," is one of the most famous in all literature. The final line, the thoughts of Sydney Carton, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known," is almost as famous.
2006-11-01 11:06:36 · answer #1 · answered by bunny 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's about the French Revolution,
comparing the ease of the London English nobility to the desperate conditions of the Paris French nobility.
This is one of the great novel of all time! It presents a crucial truth of human experience, that it's always, for some "the best of times" and for others "the worst of times".
No offense, but read it again when you are mature enough to appreciate it.
2006-11-01 19:10:11 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to yahoo's home page, click on more yahoo services- then choose education
once you are at that screen the top left corner will give you a link to cliff notes.
cliff notes are great to use to follow alone with this story.
basically the one guy is in love with the girl. she loves another.
he love is arrested and she is so sad that the 1 gentleman feel bad and change places with he love and the 1 man then goes to the guillotine
2006-11-01 19:10:19 · answer #3 · answered by Wicked 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
*yawn* I hated that book too. Charles Dickens is a verbose Brit. My 11th grade English teacher and I were at odds over the book and she made me promise to read the last few chapters in exchange for a passing grade on the test on the book.
Maybe you cold bribe the teacher with reading something a bit more interesting....like, the 'tropic of cancer' or 'on the road'....
2006-11-01 19:10:10 · answer #4 · answered by sectumsempra_avada_kedavra 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Go rent the movie and read Cliff Notes.
2006-11-01 19:02:01 · answer #5 · answered by Sophist 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try sparknotes
2006-11-01 19:01:37 · answer #6 · answered by lightessnc 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋