An essay about world history
narrator · The narrator is anonymous and can be thought of as Dickens himself. The narrator maintains a clear sympathy for the story’s morally good characters, including Sydney Carton, Charles Darnay, Doctor Manette, and Lucie Manette. Though he criti-cizes ruthless and hateful figures such as Madame Defarge, who cannot appreciate love, he understands that oppression has made these characters the bloodthirsty creatures they have become.
point of view · The narrator speaks in the third person, deftly switching his focus between cities and among several characters. The narrator is also omniscient—not only revealing the thoughts, emotions, and motives of the characters, but also supplying historical context to the events that occur, commenting confidently upon them.
tone · Sentimental, sympathetic, sarcastic, horrified, grotesque, grim
tense · Past
setting (time) · 1775–1793
setting (place) · London and its outskirts; Paris and its outskirts
protagonist · Charles Darnay or Sydney Carton
major conflict · Madame Defarge seeks revenge against Darnay for his relation to the odious Marquis Evrémonde; Carton, Manette, Lucie, and Jarvis Lorry strive to protect Darnay from the bloodthirsty revolutionaries’ guillotine.
rising action · The ongoing murder of aristocrats after the storming of the Bastille; Darnay’s decision to go to Paris to save Gabelle; the Defarges’ demand that Darnay be arrested
climax · During a court trial, Defarge reads aloud a letter that he has discovered, which Manette wrote during his imprisonment in the Bastille and which indicts Darnay as a member of the cruel aristocratic lineage of Evrémonde (Book the Third, Chapter 10). In this climactic moment, it becomes clear that Madame Defarge’s overzealous hatred of Darnay can end only in death—either his or hers.
falling action · The jury’s sentencing of Darnay to death; Darnay’s wish that Manette not blame himself; Carton’s decision to sacrifice his life to save
point of view · The narrator speaks in the third person, deftly switching his focus between cities and among several characters. The narrator is also omniscient—not only revealing the thoughts, emotions, and motives of the characters, but also supplying historical context to the events that occur, commenting confidently upon them.
tone · Sentimental, sympathetic, sarcastic, horrified, grotesque, grim
tense · Past
setting (time) · 1775–1793
setting (place) · London and its outskirts; Paris and its outskirts
protagonist · Charles Darnay or Sydney Carton
major conflict · Madame Defarge seeks revenge against Darnay for his relation to the odious Marquis Evrémonde; Carton, Manette, Lucie, and Jarvis Lorry strive to protect Darnay from the bloodthirsty revolutionaries’ guillotine.
rising action · The ongoing murder of aristocrats after the storming of the Bastille; Darnay’s decision to go to Paris to save Gabelle; the Defarges’ demand that Darnay be arrested
climax · During a court trial, Defarge reads aloud a letter that he has discovered, which Manette wrote during his imprisonment in the Bastille and which indicts Darnay as a member of the cruel aristocratic lineage of Evrémonde (Book the Third, Chapter 10). In this climactic moment, it becomes clear that Madame Defarge’s overzealous hatred of Darnay can end only in death—either his or hers.
falling action · The jury’s sentencing of Darnay to death; Darnay’s wish that Manette not blame himself; Carton’s decision to sacrifice his life to save