A Tale of Two Cities
Christin Blackmon
- 1A
The harsh reality between the upper and lower class and how they changed during this time period came to light in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. The upper class had many privileges such as fine food, clean clothes and living conditions, along with a fine education. Whereas, the lower class had poor food, harder labor, and had poor living conditions. Because of these circumstances, the structural stability of the French government began to collapse. This spiraling downfall of the social classes and government is evident throughout this novel.
The upper class is usually what you hear the most about in history lessons. They are the ones who ruled the country and set the laws. With a more sophisticated education, their accomplishments were greater. The upper class holds most of the nation’s wealth and opinions. The Evremonde family, which was very wealthy, was greatly disliked by most lower class citizens since they were poorly treated. The French Revolution brought about a change in how the lower class citizens were treated. It also brought about retribution from the lower class in forms of hangings and beheadings of the richer men. Many of the rich tried to flee to England with their riches or their money. Many did not succeed. Through this novel, Dickens tends to lean toward the poor class. He sets this mood by making the reader feel that the upper class deserved their “new found” agony. Marquis Evremonde made comments about how the poor were kept in their place. For example, he even ran over a child in the street and threw money at the parents’ feet as if the life of a poor child was worth only pocket change. The rich are portrayed as sadistic cruel people. The political scene once ruled by the upper class is now run by the lower class. At the beginning of the novel Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness (pg. 3).” This quote describes those who once had it worse (the lower class) now had it better and those who had it well off (the upper class) now has it worse. It also describes the age as full of knowledge but foreshadowed by retribution.
