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A Tale of Two Cities

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Book Summary

Charles Dickens Biography

Charles Dickens' Career Highlights

About A Tale of Two Cities

Summary, Analysis, and Original Text by Chapter

Book the First: Chapter 1: The Period
Book the First: Chapter 2: The Mail
Book the First: Chapter 3: The Night Shadows
Book the First: Chapter 4: The Preparation
Book the First: Chapter 5: The Wine-shop
Book the First: Chapter 6: The Shoemaker
Book the Second: Chapter 1: Five Years Later
Book the Second: Chapter 2: A Sight
Book the Second: Chapter 3: A Disappointment
Book the Second: Chapter 4: Congratulatory
Book the Second: Chapter 5: The Jackal
Book the Second: Chapter 6: Hundreds of People
Book the Second: Chapter 7: Monseigneur in Town
Book the Second: Chapter 8: Monseigneur in the Country
Book the Second: Chapter 9: The Gorgon's Head
Book the Second: Chapter 10: Two Promises
Book the Second: Chapter 11: A Companion Picture
Book the Second: Chapter 12: The Fellow of Delicacy
Book the Second: Chapter 13: The Fellow of No Delicacy
Book the Second: Chapter 14: The Honest Tradesman
Book the Second: Chapter 15: Knitting
Book the Second: Chapter 16: Still Knitting
Book the Second: Chapter 17: One Night
Book the Second: Chapter 18: Nine Days
Book the Second: Chapter 19: An Opinion
Book the Second: Chapter 20: A Plea
Book the Second: Chapter 21: Echoing Footsteps
Book the Second: Chapter 22: The Sea Still Rises
Book the Second: Chapter 23: Fire Rises
Book the Second: Chapter 24: Drawn to the Loadstone Rock
Book the Third: Chapter 1: In Secret
Book the Third: Chapter 2: The Grindstone
Book the Third: Chapter 3: The Shadow
Book the Third: Chapter 4: Calm in Storm
Book the Third: Chapter 5: The Wood-Sawyer
Book the Third: Chapter 6: Triumph
Book the Third: Chapter 7: A Knock at the Door
Book the Third: Chapter 8: A Hand at Cards
Book the Third: Chapter 9: The Game Made
Book the Third: Chapter 10: The Substance of the Shadow
Book the Third: Chapter 11: Dusk
Book the Third: Chapter 12: Darkness
Book the Third: Chapter 13: Fifty-two
Book the Third: Chapter 14: The Knitting Done
Book the Third: Chapter 15: The Footsteps Die Out Forever

Character List

Character Map

Character Analysis

Doctor Alexandre Manette
Lucie Manette, later Darnay
Charles Darnay
Sydney Carton
Therese Defarge
Ernest Defarge
Jerry Cruncher

Critical Essays

Women in A Tale of Two Cities
The French Revolution and A Tale of Two Cities

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Character List

Young Jerry Cruncher Jerry's son, who resembles his father in appearance and temperament. He assists Jerry at Tellson's.

C. J. Stryver A boorish lawyer who employs Sydney Carton. Stryver is Darnay's defense attorney in England and aspires briefly to marry Lucie.

Roger Cly A police spy in England who faked his own funeral. He appears later as a prison spy in revolutionary France.

John Barsad, or Solomon Pross A police spy in England who becomes a spy in revolutionary France. Recognized as Miss Pross' brother, he is forced to help Carton save Darnay.

Monseigneur the Marquis A greedy, self-absorbed French aristocrat. He personifies all that is wrong with the upper classes in pre-Revolutionary France.

Marquis St. Evrémonde Darnay's uncle. An immoral, cruel man, he runs down a child with his carriage and is later murdered by the child's father.

Jacques One, Two, Three, and Four Members of the Jacquerie, the revolutionaries who organize and implement the French Revolution. The name comes from the nickname for peasants.

Théophile Gabelle An agent for the St. Evrémonde family. The revolutionaries imprison this man during the Revolution for handling some business affairs for Darnay. His letter begging for help sends Darnay back to France.

Gaspard A peasant. This man murders the Marquis St. Evrémonde for running down and killing his child.

Road-mender and Wood-sawyer A peasant. This man becomes a bloodthirsty revolutionist.

Young Lucie Darnay The daughter of Lucie and Charles Darnay. Madame Defarge threatens her life during the Reign of Terror.

Foulon A callous prison official who faked his own death. He is hanged and decapitated by a mob after they storm the Bastille.

The Vengeance The grocer's wife. Turned vicious by the Revolution, she becomes Madame Defarge's main companion.

A Seamstress A frightened young woman who is executed with Carton. She and Carton comfort each other on the way to the guillotine.


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