In the stories that we have read, the writers present, main characters whom either conform to or rebel against their society. Compare and contrast the presentation of these characters. To what extent do the characters successfully manage their situations?

In the stories that we have read, the writers present, main characters whom either conform to or rebel against their society. Compare and contrast the presentation of these characters. To what extent do the characters successfully manage their situations? The three stories that I will study are; The poor relations story by Charles Dickens, Twenty six men and a girl by Maxim Gorky and The unexpected by Kate Chopin. The three things do seem to have a thing in present. All the main characters seem to be pressured or are being victimised by their traditional values, and struggle to break free. In the poor relations story, the main character (Michael) is being pressured to live up to his uncle, and families' ideas. In twenty six men and a girl the twenty six men are being kept, almost hostage is their pretzel factory. In the unexpected, it appears that Dorothea is being kept hostage by that times given 'role' of women. In all the stories it appears the characters try and 'escape' from their situations. This depression would not make a good short story, nor a good life for the main characters, so they try to break free. In The poor relations story the main character Michael cannot take all the persecution he is taking, so he escapes into a world where he has the best life possible. In twenty six and a girl, the men stash all their hope and love in the girl, imagining she

  • Word count: 1398
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Will Charles Ever Be Saved From the Evremonde Name?

Will Charles Ever Be Saved From the Evremonde Name? Charles Dickens narrates his novel called A Tale Of Two Cities in the time of the French Revolution. During this period, Madame Defarge, a lady of lower class seeks revenge on the last surviving Evremonde member, Charles Darnay. Madame Defarge holds Charles Darnay responsible for the terrible events that his relatives engaged in, by using the French Revolution in an attempt to destroy a man of good nature. Charles Darnay`s father and Uncle were wealthy noble men that took liberty in creating poverty for the French peasants. The family name is Evremonde, and the two brothers' were overly self-indulgent and completely indifferent to the lives of the peasants whom they exploited. When Charles was a toddler, his father and uncle abused and killed Madame Defarge`s family, leaving her as the hidden survivor to grow up with hatred and vengeance towards this name. Unfortunately, the Evremonde brothers took a claim to Madame's unwilling sister making her and her family victims to these ruthless men. Tied down and raped, the girl was left distraught and helpless to her dying family. The lady's husband was worked to death and her father died of a broken heart, leaving her brother to hide Madame Defarge and return to fight Charles's father who skillfully killed the young lad. Doctor Manette, who was called to assess these suffering

  • Word count: 863
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare ‘The Black veil’ by Charles Dickens with the first chapter of ‘Talking in whispers’ by James Watson

Compare 'The Black veil' by Charles Dickens with the first chapter of 'Talking in whispers' by James Watson Important ideas and feelings don't die easily and even survive the transition from one generation to another. Two authors from two different centuries try to communicate the same ideas through their books; they are Charles Dickens, from the 19th century, and James Watson from the 20th century. Both of these authors wrote a book that contains similar characters and ideas, the 'Black veil' by Charles Dickens and 'Talking in whispers' by James Watson. How people cope when presented with adversity are the main ideas included in the novels. 'The Black veil' is about a surgeon in 1860, after recently establishing a medical business is approached by a woman in a Black veil that asks him to save a doomed man's life. The surgeon still not fully understanding the situation agrees to help but is in for and unpleasant surprise. Different in storyline but similar in themes and ideas 'Talking in whispers' is about a man of 16 years old, Andres, up recently losing his father to the secret police, struggles to deliver evidence of the Juntas brutality, with the help of twins Isa and Berto, and is tortured in the process. Dickens's London is an unpleasant and filthy place in writing this story Dickens hopes to shows this suffering to people and motivate them to take action against

  • Word count: 2246
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Which character from The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is the most heroic?

Which character from The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is the most heroic? Miss Pross was the most heroic character in The Tale of Two Cities, a novel of the French revolution of blood and revenge by Charles Dickens. A hero is a person who is looked up or admired by. A hero also shows a great amount of bravery and not only physical but also a hero has to have strength to endure emotional pain. Her Ladybird Lucie Manette admires Miss Pross because she is the only motherly figure in her life. Miss Pross also endures a lot of emotional pain when her brother Solomon reveals his true identity to her. Finally, Miss Pross´s love and great determination to save Lucie from Madame Defarge makes her one of the most heroic character in this book. While Lucie's father was in jail, (her mother died when she was two), for seventeen years Miss Pross was the only motherly and fatherly figure in Lucie´s life. She took care of Lucie and loved her like her own child. From the site www.angelfire.com, she is called "the guardian and companion of Lucie." Miss Pross is considered a hero because she devoted her whole life to this "orphan". To have a motherly figure when you don't have parents is the reason why Lucie Manette admires and loves her so much. Miss Pross fulfilled a need of parental love to Lucie. Giving Lucie her love and care when she needed the most makes her the hero in this

  • Word count: 669
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

The influence of crowds in a tale of two cities

The influence of crowds in a tale of two cities. The dictionary describes a crowd as a large group of people or things. In the book the crowds are very inconsistent. At Darnay's trial in France the crowd disapproves of his actions. They booed and jeered at Darnay. Many male members of the crowd carried knives and were armed in various ways, also the women carried daggers. As we find out in the book the crowd changed their opinions very quickly and easily. Once the public's mind has been changed they cheer when Charles is let free, it depends on the crowd's mood. "so capriciously were the people moved, that tears immediately rolled down several ferocious countenances which had been glaring at the prisoner a moment before, as if with impatience to pluck him out into the streets and kill him." as you can see from this quote from the book the crowds change their opinions very quickly and immediately. This to me shows that they are very indecisive and unstable. The collective mentality of the people reduces with the bigger amounts of people. This is true with crowds today. "at every vote, the populace set up a shout of applause. All the voices were in the prisoners favour, and the President declared him free."."no sooner was the acquittal pronounced, then tears were shed as freely as blood at another time, and such fraternal embraces were bestowed upon the prisoner of by as many

  • Word count: 967
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Atmosphere in the Opening of 'A Tale of Two Cities'

A Tale of Two Cities Essay In ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, Charles Dickens creates a significant atmosphere in every major event of the plot, in several different ways; firstly, the ghostly mood of the messenger’s arrival at the Dover Mail provides strong indications at things of the future. Then, Dickens uses actions of characters to build an atmosphere in Dr Manette’s room in the tower in France. Within this, Dickens attributes these places to different concepts and ideas. When Jerry travels to find the Dover mail so that he can give a message to Mr Lorry, Dickens creates a very mysterious, gloomy atmosphere that seems to allude to a darker end. Firstly, the mist is ‘an evil spirit’, which suggests that it is alive or has ‘unfinished business’ on earth. It suggests that the mist has an agenda, and given that it is ‘trying’ to engulf the carriage in itself, it appears that it has some sort of agenda against something or someone in the carriage. Secondly, everyone on the mail suspects each other of something; they don’t know anything about each other because the passengers feel that that is information that could be used against them. Both of these things don’t necessarily mean anything, but it plants the idea in the reader’s mind that something significant is about to happen, specifically something bad, involving someone on the Dover Mail. In the

  • Word count: 751
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

The first story to be discussed is called "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" written by James Thurber in 1942.

English Essay Compare these stories, examining how the writers convey the theme of escapism. Consider why this them might appeal to readers at the time of the writing. The first story to be discussed is called "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" written by James Thurber in 1942. This story is set in America in the 1940's around the time of the Second World War. The story follows the life of an American couple, Walter Mitty, who frequently slips in and out of a fantasy world, and his wife. Walter's pastimes and interests consist of his fantasies. He is interested in the excitement that is usually found in movies. The second story "The Poor Relation's Story" was written by Charles Dickens in 1852. The story was set at Christmas time with a family having gathered for Christmas dinner. Stories were told around the fire. The first story was told by Michael, the 'poor relation'. He slips into a fantasy world a few times in the process of telling his story, Michael's pastimes include walks in the parks and admiring monuments, this was often in the company of 'Little Frank'. It would seem to me that Walter Mitty is of similar age to Michael, who we are told is 59. "That I am at present a bachelor of between fifty-nine and sixty years of age. Of Walter Mitty: 'You're not a young man any longer'. Walter Mitty is a middle class citizen of North America in the 1940's whereas

  • Word count: 2256
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) Charles Dickens (1812-1870) Dickens' purposes in using 'recalled to life.'

GENRE: VICTORIAN NOVEL SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT A Tale of Two Cities (1859) CHARLES DICKENS (1812-1870) Dickens' purposes in using 'recalled to life.' It has been described as boring, dull and a sleep-aid. Is this what you think of one of the most culturally sophisticated novels of modern coursework material, and which has entertained people for over one hundred and fifty years? There are those who think of all of these words when someone mentions Dickens' novels, and personally, I agree with them! But, I have actually read 'A Tale of Two Cities' (ATo2Cs), unlike other, less-educated individuals. Although I did not find the novel very entertaining or exciting, it did give me a deeper insight into the horrors Victorian people experienced due to the bloody French Revolution; the fear, the agony and the ever-lasting despair must have been disgusting, and Dickens portrays every detail! It has been described as a 'loose, baggy monster,' in the sense that it has a massive bulk to take in. It is not in one part, but rather lots of small parts (plots) sewn together. Dickens' purpose in writing the novel was due to the fact that, he knew a lot of what occurred in the French revolution, (having been impressed by Carlisle's "History of the French Revolution" including its causes (oppression of the poor by the rich). He saw the same sparks beginning to occur here in England,

  • Word count: 3936
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

A Tale of 2Cities Essay

A Tale of 2 Cities Essay Jarvis Lorry, an employee of Tellson's Bank, was sent to find Dr. Manette, an unjustly imprisoned physician, in Paris and bring him back to England. Lucie, Manette's daughter who thought that he was dead, accompanied Mr. Lorry. Upon arriving at Defarge's wine shop in Paris, they found Mr. Manette in a dreadful state and took him back to London with them. Mr. Manette could not rember why he had been imprisoned, or when he was imprisoned. He was in a state of Post Tramatic Stress Dis-order. All the years of imporisonment led to his insanity, his life was in danger almost every second of his imprisoned life. In 1780, five years later, Lucie, Mr. Lorry and Dr. Manette were called to testify against Charles Darnay, a tutor who made constant trips between France and England and was thus accused of treason. During these times both governments were very paranoid about anybody who had the aperence of commiting treason. Darney, since he travled back and forth between countries was a perfect suspect for treason. The French Government had just been overthrown by the beggars, and middle class and now run by them, the British on the other hand was still a monarchy and had awful factories and many slums, like France did. Darnay was acquitted when a lawyer, Carton, looked much like him and an eye witness faltered to positively distinguish between them. Carton

  • Word count: 1157
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare and contrast the ways in which Shaw and Dickens present irony through their narrative voice in 'The Devil's Disciple' and 'A Tale of Two Cities'.

Compare and contrast the ways in which Shaw and Dickens present irony through their narrative voice in 'The Devil's Disciple' and 'A Tale of Two Cities'. The most obvious contrast between the two texts is the fact that 'A Tale of Two Cities' is a novel, while 'The Devil's Disciple' is a play. This difference of genre makes the use of the narrative voice vary greatly, despite the fact that both authors are trying to convey opinions and create images through the narrator. In its original form, 'A Tale of Two Cities' was meant to be read in instalments. The use of the narrative voice is crucial for reminding the reading audience of what happened previously in the tale. The voice also sets the scene quickly, taking the reader to the specific setting for that instalment. This is particularly crucial in 'A Tale of Two Cities' because of the switches across the channel and within a country the separate characters backgrounds. While none of this deals explicitly with the irony in the narrative voice, it is crucial to realise that Dickens voice is employed in many jobs, not only least acting as a signpost to the reader to explain where in history and geography Dickens is taking the reader in a specific instalment. Shaw's voice does not have such a multi faceted job, if the audience are watching the play rather than reading it. In the case of watching the play, the scene is set, the

  • Word count: 2333
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
Access this essay