A tale of two cities. Main ideas

1. A TALE OF TWO CITIES
COMPLEMENTOS PARA LA FORMACIÓN DISCIPLINAR EN LENGUA INGLESA
– MASTER DE PROFESORADO ISABEL I DE CASTILLA – SONIA H.G

2. CONTENT
 Author
 Context
 Plot
 Main characters
 Film adaptations

3. AUTHOR
- English writer, social critics and generally regarded as the
greatest novelist of the Victorian period
- Dickens liked to produce a 'pretty piece of writing' in different
styles. He included lots of powerful adjectives, and was
famous for his use of metaphors and similes. His descriptions
often present people, their surroundings in ways which
reinforce each other, so that a certain 'feel' is built up through
the passage
- Among his most notable works we can find: Oliver Twist, A
Christmas Carol, Hard Times, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two
Cities, etc.

4. CONTEXT
 A Tale of Two Cities, originally published from April through November of
1859, appeared in a new magazine that Dickens had created called All
the Year Round.
 Dickens’s participation in The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins led not only to
a shift in his personal life, but also to a career development, for it was this
play that first inspired him to write A Tale of Two Cities

5. PLOT
British barrister Sydney Carton lives an insubstantial and unhappy life. He falls
under the spell of Lucie Manette, but Lucie marries Charles Darnay. When
Darnay goes to Paris to rescue an imprisoned family retainer, he becomes
entangled in the snares of the brutal French Revolution and is himself jailed
and condemned to the guillotine. But Sydney Carton, in love with a woman
he cannot have, comes up with a daring plan to save her husband

6. MAIN CHARACTERS
 Sydney Carton: he most dynamic character in A Tale of Two Cities. He first
appears as a lazy, alcoholic attorney who cannot muster even the smallest amount
of interest in his own life. In a conversation with the recently acquitted Charles
Darnay, Carton’s comments about Lucie Manette, while bitter and sardonic, betray
his interest in, and budding feelings for, the gentle girl. Eventually, Carton reaches a
point where he can admit his feelings to Lucie herself
 Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette: A man of honor, respect, and courage, Darnay
conforms to the archetype of the hero but never exhibits the kind of inner struggle
that Carton undergoes. Lucie likely seems to modern readers as uninteresting and
two-dimensional as Darnay. In every detail of her being, she embodies compassion,
love, and virtue

7. FILM ADAPTATION
 1935: This stunning classic is considered by many movie reviewers to be the best film
adaptation yet of Dickens' masterpiece
 1958: A British-made version of Dickens' novel, adapted from a screenplay by T.E.B. Clarke
 1980: This made-for-TV version is a somewhat romanticized take on Dickens' novel. This
movie was nominated for both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards in 1981.
 1989: The film stars James Wilby as the hero, Sydney Carton.