A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1855

A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1855.

Set in London, Paris, 1775 -- one year before 1776.

• April 19, 1775: battles of Lexington and Concord
• July 4, 1776: Declaration of Independence

France:

• King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
• archduchess of Austria, Vienna; major principality of Holy Roman Empire
• last queen of France before the fall of the monarchy
• 15th child of Empress Maria Theresa, ruler of the Hapsburg monarchy
• Maria Theresa's husband: Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor

England:

• King George III
• Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• bor into the ruling family; Hanover
• married for 57 years; 15 children; 13 survived into adulthood

Book The First
Recalled To Life

 Chapter 1
The Period

Very first page; second paragraph: reference to the events in America (1775)

""Sister of the shield and trident" refers to Britannia, the female personification of Britain. The phrase is most famously used by Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities to compare Britain to France, with the shield representing military strength and the trident symbolizing naval power. 

Second page: grisly scene of a teenager burned alive before being tortured, and the the description of the guillotine. 

The first chapter, only two and a half pages, gives an overview of London and Paris. French monarchy in absolute control; the British monarchy apparently can't control London. 

Chapter 2
The Mail

This chapter introduces the protagonist of the story, a passenger in a carriage -- The Dover Mail -- likely traveling from Dover to London. Shooter's Hill is mentioned, located in southeast London, southside of the Thames, and on the southeast edge of Greenwich.

The passenger of interest: Mr Jarvis Lorry.

Apparently The Dover Mail was heading out of London when a rider, Jerry, approached the carriage to give Mr Lorry a message. Lorry was an employee off Tellson's Bank.

Message: wait at Dover for Mam'selle.

Reply from Lorry: recalled to life.

So, Mr Jarvis Lorry, of Tellson's Bank was heading to Dover (probably to Paris) when he was urgently recalled to London by his employer. But he would have to go to Dover -- complete the route -- and then wait for "Mam'selle." 

Chapter 3
The Night Shadows 

 "The shadows of the night," page 17, back at the bank where Lorry was headed.

Lorry with an imaginary conversation with himself. He was 45 years old, remembering a death / a burial eighteen years earlier. Huge amount of symbolism. A very "difficult" vignette / an imaginary conversation.