A Tale of Two Cities

二愛 31號 葉書含 5號 吳浩瑄 29號 黃媛慈 11號 林佩妮 34號 廖彩涵 27號 黃貞渝 40號 戴暐心

Author

Works• 1836 Sketches by Boz;Pickwick Papers

• 1838-1839 Oliver Twist;Nicholas Nickleby

• 1840-1841 The Old Curiosity

• 1849-1850 DavidCopperfield 

• 1852-1853 Bleak House

• 1859 A Tale of Two Cities

• 1860-1861 Great Expectation

• 1870 The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Charles Dickens Born in Portsmouth,

England, in 1812 The difficulties and

the familyThe success Marriage

French Revolution

• French Revolution (1789-99), including the terrible period between April 1793 and July 1794 when 40,000 people died.  

• After being declared guilty of conspiracy against his country, Louis XVI was beheaded.

The book “A Tale Of Two Cities” shows the causes of revolution and its effects on people’s day-to-day lives.

Roles• Characters introduction• Dr. Manette: Lucie’s father. A kind person. He never mind what others had done to him.• Lucie Manette:A tender girl. Falling in love with Charles.• Jarvis Lorry :An official of Tellson’s bank. Dr. Manette’s friend. • Charles Darnay: A noble. Lucie’s lover.• Sydney Carton: A lawyer.a person who always thinks of other people. Also loves Lucie.• Defarge:Dr. Manette’s old servant. Very loyalty

An outline • Dr Manette, a French doctor , has been held in the terrible Bastille prison for many years .

He is found , half crazy, by his daughter Lucie and Mr Lorry, who had gone to Paris to reach for him. They take him back to London, where his health and his memory gradually improve. Five years later, the Frenchman Charles Darnay is tried in London on charged of spying. He is freed, partly because he is very similar in appearance to the lawyer Sydney Carton; this similarity becomes even more important later in story . Both Darnay and Carton are in love with Lucie. At the same time , the Revolution is breaking out in France. Darnay is force to put his own life in danger by going back there to help the tax collector, Gabelle. Darnay is followed by Lucie and Dr Manette, who are also caught up in the exciting events that follow.

The vocabulary-1• aristocrat: someone belonging to a very high social class.• arrest: to take someone to a police station because they are thought to have broke

n the law. • bench: a long heavy table used for working on with tools and equipment.• barrel: a large woodn container with a flat top and bottom. • carriage: a vehicle with wheels that is pulled by a horse. • courtyard: an open space that is completely or partly surrounded by buildings.

The vocabulary-2• evidence: facts, objects or signs that make you believe something is true.• knit: to make, for example , clothes out of wool using two large needles.• Madame, Monsieur: French words for Mr and Mrs in English.• Marquis: Title of a French aristocrat.• misery: great unhappiness and suffering. • tale: a story ,usually containing some imaginary event.

Afterthoughts – 書含• After reading the novel “ A Tale of Two Cities” and watching the famous masterpiece mu

sical “Les Miserable.” I really thank both Dickens and Hugo to record such a historical event and to portray the human nature so vividly. It was a actually a difficult mission to read such a complicated story in English. But after finishing it in both English and Chinese. I’m so touched to see the bright side of character. Why did Carton die for Darnay? It might well for Carton to have jealousy and hatred with Darney. But for the happiness he wanted Lucie to have, he rather die for her. Whether it needed to sacrifice his own precious life. What kind of love can push a man to do so? The unselfish emotion writer wanted to express successfully move my heart .

Afterthoughts – 暐心• After reading the book” A TALE OF TWO CITIES”, I admire the writer, Charles Dickens, very much. Who can write such a touching story, too? You can find a lot of different kinds of love, for a father, a daughte

r, friends and a lover, During this story, different kinds of love let all characters be linked with each other. Because of the true love in their hearts, they were willing to sacrifice their all even their lives. In the story, two men have a same face and they also fell in love with the same lady. The lady chose one of them.

In the end of the story, the lady’s husband was almost going to be killed, but the loser of the love game passed him and be killed in the final scene. He said” I see the lives for which I lay down of my life, peaceful, useful and happy, in the England which I shall see no more.”and the words which vibrate me most is “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.’ I think it is the sincerest love I’ve ever seen in the world.

Afterthoughts – 浩瑄• I have read this story twice. One is when I am a junior high school student, and the othe

r time is now. Read this story in different times gives me different ideas. Maybe I am growing up, so the meaning inside is clearer than before. Sometimes people will show their enthusiasm on politics … etc. It’s really can’t use the intellect to explain the reason why people will be out of control. But this is also why our times can go on and be much better than before. This story also shows that we can have a really strong friendship in the disorderly era just like Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, and some beautiful love come up, too. Look on the bright side, then everything will be all right, because the bad luck won’t always follow you.

Afterthoughts – 彩涵• Before I read “A Tale Of Tow Cities”, I had no idea about the details of French Revolution in 178

9. Perhaps something was imagination, but I thought it was valuable in the history. The book made me understand a large number of impossible incidents. Although the revolutionists challenged to a fight with royal government, they did something wrong like taking aristocrats to die under the cruel knife of the guillotine. I felt it was pretty ferocious and had no humanities. However, Dickens told readers there was still something warm between human beings in the era. The character, Sydeny Carton, was the best example of that. He not only loved Lucie but also loved what she loved. He died under the guillotine in order to save her husband, Charles Darnay, so that he could escape from the prison to reunite with her. I was really appreciative of his behavior. What a rare event!

Afterthoughts– 佩妮 • I think the story was really a tragedy. Many of innocent people died in French Revo

lution. The crazy crowds use the guillotine on the nobles. Therefore, the main character, Charles Darnay, who was one of the members of the aristocracy in French, also be hustled to people. Although he never did the worst thing, he still to be officially killed as a punishment. Carton, the person who loves Darney’s wife very much, volunteer to instead of Darney to died. He is really a wonderful person. Nowadays, people in the world tend to give up their own loves very quickly. We can’t see so deeply love like Carton in A Tale Of Two Cities. It’s really such a sad thing to us.

Afterthoughts – 媛慈• After reading the novel, I was really touched by the deep love between these three

young people. Unfortunately they were born in a turbulent time. The problem they had to face was not only their emotions but also the changes of the world. I thought Carton was a brave person and he had a kind heart. He rather died for Lucie’s happiness. It was a very nobility activity of human beings. The author –Dickens must experience a lot hard things in his life that made him write down this story. The greatest love is one can sacrifice to who they care about. This is what I learn from this reading, and I want to recommend to all of you. It’s a good story:)

Afterthoughts – 貞渝 • First, the writer, Charles Dickens is good at haracterization. For examples, Lucie

is strong, and Carton is sloppy and so on. Maybe that’s why the story is so touching.

Second, I have to say that the end really shocks me. It’s really unbelievable to me that someone can die for the people he loves. In this book,Carton Sydney even pretends that he is Charles Darnay only because the woman he loves, Lucie. Since she loves Charles, he doesn’t want her to lose her love. But maybe Carton doesn’t think so. There are so many beautiful things wanting for him after all, aren’t it?

The end