A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1855

A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1855. 

Gutenberg Project. In PDF, full book here. 

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 to the carriage on the southeast side of London. It sounds like "Lorry" is transporting cash to Dover, probably to France. Interesting name, "Lorry," as a transporter. Etymology of lorry: apparently first seen in England in 1830. A Tale Of Two Cities was published in 1859. 

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. Apparenlty talking about someone buried alive for 18 years.  

Important books published between 1850 and 1870 include Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (1859) and Great Expectations (1861), Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (1869), and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Other key publications were Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) and John Stuart Mill's On Liberty (1859). 

Chapter 4
The Preparation

The coach is called the Concord coach, possibly named after Concord, New Hampshire. This might be the coach in which he will cross using the ferry from Dover.

It is incredibly difficult for Google Gemini to find the meaning of "drawer" in this chapter.

"... digging, digging, digging." Reappears -- major use of this phrase in previous chapter.

Mam'selle, Miss Manette, arrives by coach to meet Mr Lorry in the restaurant.

Not more than 17 years of age. She reminds him of a passage a very long time ago, perhaps 15. years ago. 

Miss Manette was told by letter by the bank to meet Mr Lorry in Paris for an inheritance from her long-dead father. Tellson Bank is a bank of both Paris and London.

Page 25: "curtsied in those days." Takes place in 1755, first chapter begins in "winter, 1755." The book as published in 1859. Almost exactly one hundred years later. 

Apparently Miss Manette's father has been found alive, 18 years after his supposed death -- "brought back to life... after 18 years."

At end of chapter another woman servant runs into the room and yells at other servants to get Ms Manette packed for trip to Paris.

Mr Lorry seems to be robot business man.

Chapter 5
The Wine-Shop

Now in Paris. Opens with bizarre episode of wine casket spilling.

Paris: everyone starving.

Opens in wine-shop / inn / bar. In the Sait Antoin district.

Monsieur Defarge -- wine-store owner.

Worked for Ms Maette's father many, many years earlier

Her old father lives upstairs.

 

 

 

Book The Second
The Golden Thread

 Chapter 1
The Period

 

Chapter Six
Hundreds Of People

Doctor Manette and his daughter Lucie live in a two-story home; if not a mansion, a very, very nice and a very, very respectable home. 

They have a housekeeper Miss Pross who has been with Lucie since the beginning.

Manette and daughter live near Soho Square.

Mr Jarvis Lorry lives in Clerkenwell, a bit more rundown and a bit more dangerous than Soho.

Need to google Clerkenwell and Soho to get a sense of the difference.

Lorry and his body guard Mr Sydney Carton were at the house.

At the trial: in the early part of A Tale of Two Cities, at the trial of Charles Darnay for treason, the two lawyers on the defense team were Mr. Stryver and Sydney Carton. Their roles were as follows:

Mr. Stryver was the ambitious, loud, and confident barrister (counselor) who presented the case in court and took public credit for the work.

Sydney Carton was Mr. Stryver's associate (solicitor, or "jackal," in the novel's terms) who did the bulk of the research, paperwork, and strategic thinking behind the scenes. It was Carton's keen observation of his own resemblance to Darnay that ultimately led to Charles Darnay's acquittal at this trial. 

The other person to visit Doctor Manette and his daughter: the defendant, Darnay.

P. 106: Doctor Manette tells the story of something that was written and buried in the prison. Unknown what was written.

Mr. Lorry, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton became regular visitors at the Manette home, and their arrivals were generally separate events. The specific evening described (in Book 2, Chapter 6) unfolds as follows: 

Mr. Lorry arrived by himself earlier in the day on a Sunday, as was his habit, to have dinner and spend time with the Manettes.
Charles Darnay was present for the dinner and the subsequent conversation, arriving sometime after Lorry but before Carton's later appearance.
Sydney Carton arrived much later, during teatime, after everyone had moved inside due to rain. 

Therefore, they did not arrive all at once or in pairs. The order of arrival at the house that evening was Mr. Lorry, then Charles Darnay (who was already there for dinner), and finally Sydney Carton. 

 Skip ahead.

Chapter 7
Monseigneur in Town

In France. Monseigneur kills a child.

Chapter 8
Monseigneur in the Country

Monseigneur at his country estate.
His nephew Charles Darnay will visit.
Monseigneur rides past a thin starving woman who is trying to find a stone to mark her husband's grave who has starved to death.
 

Chapter 9
The Gorgon's Head

Monseigneur is killed by the father (Gaspard) of the child who was killed by Monseigneur in town. 

Chapter 10
Two promises

Charles Darnay is now an English tutor, having left France a year earlier.

Charles Darnay is in love with Lucie and meets with her father to discuss that that. Lucie is out with her servant, Ms Pross.

Mr. Stryver (senior, barrister) and Sydney Carton (junior, barrister) also both visit the house of Lucie and her father (and Miss Pross). There is a note elsewhere that suggests Sydney Carton, same age as Charles Darnay, looks very much alike to Charles Darnay, suggesting Darnay and Carton are cousins, sons of twin brothers, with one being the Monseigneur. 

Charles Darnay and Dr Manette both make promises to each other to keep each in confidence. 

Chapter 11
A Companion Picture 

Opens with Stryver and Carton. 

Chapter 16
Still Knitting

References John Barsad, a spy, to having been mentioned earlier in the book.  From AI: John Barsad, also known as Solomon Pross, is first mentioned and appears as a witness in Book the Second, Chapter 3 ("A Disappointment"), during Charles Darnay's trial in London, where he gives damning testimony against Darnay as a spy, though he's portrayed as a scoundrel. 

Context: He testifies as an informer for the prosecution, but his untrustworthiness is immediately apparent to the reader.
Details: He's described as looking like Judas and is shown to be an opportunist, switching allegiances between England and France. 

See wiki, John Barsad.  

In fact, one could learn much of the book by checking wiki on top 12 individuals in the long book. 

Chapter 17
One Night

Back to London, Soho, with the Doctor and Lucie.

Lucie was to be married the next day. 

A sweet tender night -- the three of them -- Lucie, her father, and Miss Pross. (Elsewhere, we learn that Miss Pross is romantically linked to Mr Jerry Cruncher, the gravedigger, and thus some comedic relief.)

In short, the chapter sets the stage for future dramatic turns by highlighting Dr. Manette's precarious mental state and underscoring the deep familial bonds that will be tested by the events of the French Revolution. AI.

Chapter 18
Nine Days 

Wedding and nine-day honeymoon.

Charles Darnay seems to be in shock after talking with Lucie's dad. 

The Doctor goes into catatonic state -- back to making shoes. By the ninth day his hands are as nimble as ever making shoes.

Chapter 19 --> Chapter 24
An Opinion --> A Plea --> Echoing Footsteps --> The Sea Still Rises --> Fire Rises --> Drawn to the Lodestone Rock

Lucie and Charles Darnay have a baby girl the year the French Revolution breaks out. They have a baby son who dies early in infancy. Because of close relationship between London and Paris, events in Paris will have an effect on London. Mr Lorry needs to return to Paris to pick up important papers for Tellson's Bank; meanwhile, Darnay needs to go to Pais to save the hated tax assessor Gabelle but who was a faithful servant of Darney. Darney will travel under his real name namking journey very dangerous for him. His uncle Monseigner is in London under assumed name, I believe.

It's interesting, lots of small subplots but main story presses on.  

Book Three: The Track of a Storm
Chapter 1 
In Secret

1792.

The book began on a cold November night, 1775, American Revolution, April, 1775 -- Lexington and Concord.

French Revolution began 1789; Lucie's baby is10 years old now. Was born about 1780. Darnay's trial, 1780; marriage 1780; birth of Lucie's baby, 1781. French Revolution: 1789. So, 1792 -- Lucie's baby is 10 -11 years old. 

The French Revolution --> Republic One and Indivisible of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity or Death.

Darnay: ran into no significant problems going to Paris but knew that return trip was not guaranteed.

The trip was taking forever.