A tale of two cities

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            ‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’ – CHARLES DICKENS

Throughout ‘A tale of two cities’, Dickens mirrors 17th century France with 19th century Britain.  He uses his novel to portray his political views, which have been affected by his own suffering due to poverty in his childhood, with the stirring hate in pre-revolutionary France to warn Britain that there could be another revolution if the plague of poverty in Victorian times was not cured.

This essay will explore how chapter 21 of the novel, a pivotal, crucial moment in the narrative where the Bastille is stormed, portrays Dickens’ deeply felt convictions on the dangers of widespread social strife.    

Dickens exploits powerful metaphors to create an impacting atmosphere around the reader.  This is evident when he describes the Saint-Antoine crowd as ‘the living sea’.  This really expresses the crowd as a large, powerful unstoppable force.  This style is coupled when he adds, ‘rose wave on wave’.  The word ‘rose’ emphasizes the sheer might and sudden increase of the mob and scares readers with how he links it with his political views.  This prevailing uprising he talks about is designed to warn the people in Britain how quickly a revolution can start and heighten rapidly.

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To vary the use of metaphors used Dickens changes to alliteration to stress the power of his sentences.  He proves this when reinforcing the imposing strength of the Bastille and relating the castle’s protection, ‘deep ditches, double-drawbridge’.   He then follows on by saying ‘repeated banging’.  This reflects the prisons resistance to its attackers.  His meaningful alliteration links with his political views, relating the un-breach-able Bastille to the unstoppable revolution; he conveys just how violent the attack had to be to succeed.  This stressed enormity of the struggle served to urge Victorian readers into action against poverty to get ...

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