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A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities Summary and Complete Study Guide
by Charles Dickens
Published: 1859Historical FictionBest-Selling Novel Ever
Complete Study Resources:
✓ Full plot summary
During the French Revolution, a dissolute lawyer finds redemption through sacrifice in both London and Paris.
Complete Plot Summary
The story bounces between London and revolutionary Paris. Dr. Manette was imprisoned by Darnay's family, but he gets freed and reunited with daughter Lucie. She marries Darnay, not knowing his family connection to her father's torment. When revolution erupts in France, Darnay goes back to save an old servant and gets arrested just for being an aristocrat. The revolutionaries, led by the vengeful Madame Defarge, want him dead. Sydney Carton looks exactly like Darnay—same face, same build. This becomes important.
Main Characters in A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities features complex characters representing different aspects of society and the human condition.
Sydney Carton is the brilliant but wasted lawyer who drinks too much and hates himself. Charles Darnay is the French nobleman who rejected his aristocratic heritage. Lucie Manette is the woman both men love. Dr. Manette is Lucie's father, who spent 18 years imprisoned in the Bastille. Madame Defarge is the revolutionary who knits a list of aristocrats marked for death, including Darnay.
The Ending Explained
Darnay gets convicted and sentenced to the guillotine. Sydney Carton, who's loved Lucie silently and sees himself as worthless, drugs Darnay and switches places with him in prison. Carton goes to the guillotine pretending to be Darnay, while the real Darnay escapes with Lucie. Carton's last thoughts, walking to his death, become the famous ending: "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." What makes it powerful? A man who thought his life was wasted found meaning through ultimate sacrifice. Love inspires redemption. The French Revolution showed that oppression breeds violence, and revenge spirals endlessly. Sometimes giving your life for others is the only way to prove it had value. It's both brutally violent and deeply moving.
Famous Quotes from A Tale of Two Cities
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
Why This Book Matters
Published in 1859, Dickens' tale of the French Revolution has sold over 200 million copies. One of the best-selling novels of all time and widely adapted for stage and screen.
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