“A Tale of Two Cities”: Essay

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“A Tale of Two Cities”: Essay

        Throughout history, authors have used duality to illustrate different kinds of human nature and make characters more interesting.  This tool was used in “A Tale of Two Cities”, by Charles Dickens as a way to make the novel more melodramatic.  It was apparent that he felt that it was important because it was clearly one of the main themes of the novel.  Dickens used the device to show how good and evil affected the characters and to create situations throughout the novel.  Two characters who were greatly shaped by this device were Dr. Alexandre Manette and attorney Sydney Carton.

        When the reader is first introduced to Dr. Manette they are led to believe that he is insane.  When his daughter Lucy first meets him, he looks gaunt, has aged prematurely, and has taken up cobbling for no apparent reason.  It is later explained to the reader that after 18 years in the Bastille (a French prison), he has become insane.  He learns cobbling in an attempt to create a retreat from the harsh treatment in prison.  Whenever Dr. Manette recalls his days in the Bastille, he breaks down again.  When he is released, Ernest Defarge (a former servant) keeps him in a room so revolutionaries can view him.  After he returns to London with Lucy, Jarvis Lorry (a representative of Tellson’s Bank) attempts to put an end to Dr. Manette’s insanity by destroying the cobbling tools.  Nonetheless, there is another episode of dementia after the attempt to cease it.  Despite this delirium, another side of Dr. Manette is frequently expressed, that of a kind doctor and family man.  Before he is imprisoned, he is a widely known young physician.  However, the Marquis St. Evrémonde enlists his services for suspicious purposes.  When Dr. Manette tries to report this activity, his letter is intercepted by the Marquis, and he is sent to the Bastille, where he is kept for the next 18 years.  Following his capture, he takes up cobbling and delves into insanity.  When he returns to London, he has to be assisted during his recovery by Lucy.  By talking to him, reminding him of his past, and simply looking at him with her loving eyes, Lucy somehow restores him to his former self.  Soon thereafter, Dr. Manette saves Lucy’s husband, Charles Darnay, from a crazed mob that would have killed him.  He feels that he owes something to his daughter, the one who saves him from delirium.  As one can see, Dr. Manette exhibits two distinct and different personalities during the course of the novel, that of a dignified physician and a former prisoner trapped in a nostalgic world created by insanity.

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        Sydney Carton exhibits a drastic change as well.  Early on, Carton has a promising life as a bright and talented student.  However, his associate takes advantage of him by having him do all the work.  Soon thereafter, Carton begins drinking; a habit that soon consumes him as the pressures of work bare down on him even harder than before.  This continual cycle (becoming upset, drinking, plunging deeper into depression, drinking, etc.) devours him.  Upon wondering about his place in the world, Carton decides that it isn’t possible for him to love any other human creature and that life no longer ...

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