Key themes
- Revolution as both justice and terror
- Resurrection — personal, political and literal
- Sacrifice and what it means to give yourself for another
About this book
In the years before and during the French Revolution, the fates of the Manette family, the emigre Charles Darnay, and the dissolute English lawyer Sydney Carton converge in Paris and London. Dickens's novel is about resurrection, self-sacrifice and the terror that accompanies revolutions that began with idealism. It contains one of the most famous opening sentences and one of the most famous final lines in English fiction.
Published serially in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities was Dickens's historical novel and remains his bestselling book — over 200 million copies. He drew on Carlyle's French Revolution as his primary historical source.
Discussion questions
- The famous opening ('It was the best of times, it was the worst of times') sets up a framework of opposites. Does the novel sustain this balance — or does it ultimately take a side?
- Sydney Carton is a dissipated man who performs the novel's great act of self-sacrifice. How does Dickens prepare us for this transformation — and is it psychologically convincing?
- The French Revolution is presented with both sympathy for its causes and horror at its methods. What is Dickens saying about the relationship between legitimate grievance and violent revolution?
- Madame Defarge is one of Dickens's most complex antagonists. Is she a villain, a tragic figure, or the logical end point of a revolutionary ideology the novel both endorses and condemns?
- A Tale of Two Cities is less socially dense than most Dickens — more of a plot-driven thriller. Does this slimness serve the story, or does it sacrifice the texture that makes his other novels richer?
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