A Tale of Two Cities · Chapter
The Period explained
This opening chapter sets the historical context for the novel, contrasting the best and worst of times in 1775 England and France.
What happens
This opening chapter sets the historical context for the novel, contrasting the best and worst of times in 1775 England and France. It introduces the social unrest, crime, and injustice prevalent in both countries, foreshadowing the coming revolution in France and the personal stories that will unfold.
Themes in this chapter
Duality and Opposites
The chapter opens with a series of contrasts: best/worst, wisdom/foolishness, light/darkness, hope/despair, reflecting the dual nature of the period.
Social Injustice and Revolution
Descriptions of crime, harsh punishments, and the indifference of the ruling classes highlight the social injustices that will fuel the revolution.
Fate and History
The Woodman (Fate) and the Farmer (Death) are depicted as silently working, suggesting that historical events are inevitable and predetermined.
Characters to notice
- Monseigneur
Referenced as the king with a large jaw on the throne of France, representing the aristocracy.
Key passages
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way”
The era was full of contradictions: both wonderful and terrible, wise and foolish, hopeful and hopeless, with people equally destined for salvation or damnation.
This famous opening establishes the theme of duality and sets the tone for the entire novel.
“the Woodman, Fate, to come down and be sawn into boards, to make a certain movable framework with a sack and a knife in it, terrible in history”
Fate, like a woodman, was already marking trees to be cut into lumber for the guillotine, a terrifying instrument of the coming revolution.
This metaphor foreshadows the French Revolution and the guillotine's role in the story.