Resumo de A Tale Of Two Cities

Belonging to the genre of historical novel, "A Tale of Two Cities" is set between the two cities of London and Paris during the French Revolution (1789-799). The story begins with the departure of Mr. Jarvis Lorry, a representative of a banking house, from London to Paris. While traveling in the coach at night with other passengers, Lorry?s mind and heart are tortured by the haunting figure of Dr. Manette, a French physician whose daughter is in the care of Lorry now. Dr. Manette had disappeared mysteriously 18 years ago leaving behind a young wife and an infant daughter, Lucy who was brought up by Lorry in England, when Dr. Manette?s wife losing all hope of finding her husband after 2 years of furious search, dies disillusioned leaving her daughter in the care of Mr. Lorry.

Lucy is informed by Lorry about her father being alive and taken up as a political prisoner, and both of them visit Monsieur Defarge?s (former attendant of Dr. Manette) wine-shop to identify and take Dr. Manette back to England to be restored back to his normal self after all these years of tortured living in prison.

Five years pass. Lucy and her father are called as witnesses to the trial for treason of one Frenchman, Charles Darney, in the English court wher Sydney Carton (a lawyer?s clerk) is also present who is struck by his close resemblance with darney. Sidney saves Charles from getting imprisoned by standing up as a witness in favor of Darney on the basis of his argument that his close resemblance to Darney could confuse one for the other. Hence, Darney is acquitted by the court.

The incident brings Sidney and Darney close to the Manettes and they both start visiting the Manette house regularly. Though similar looking, both have contrasting personalities- Darney, a very civilized and confident man and Sidney a complete emotional wreck and prone to drinking. He confesses his love to Lucy in one of his drinking bouts and promises to help and protect her in times of calamity. Lucy loves Darney but feels for Sidney like a true friend. Lucy and Darney get married and start their family. But an unknown fear always lurks at the back of their minds which comes true in the shape of French Revolution in 1789 that ensues for 3 years. During this time, chaos, mayhem, murder, all reign supreme as the peasant French people take to the Bastille and butcher the aristocrats to death in revenge for the cruelties heaped upon them by Charles and others aristocrats. The revolution headed by Madame Defarge, Monsieur Defarge?s wife. She had been knitting a death list of all the people who suffered the cruelties of the aristocrats and the revolution becomes a medium of vent for her pent up feelings of anger, frustration and suffering.

After three years of the Revolution, Lucy, Darney, and Lorry return to Paris- Lorry takes charge of the Paris branch of the bank and Darney comes to help a family retainer who had written for his help. But as things would have it, Darney is imprisoned as a political victim for being from an aristocratic family. On hearing this, Lucy?s father feels confident of getting his son-in-law released due to his being a political prisoner once. Madame Defarge particularly hates Darney as he belongs to the notorious Evremond family that has committed many atrocities on the peasants. But Dr. Manette somehow manages to get Darney acquitted after fifteen months of remaining in prison. The same very day, Darney is freed; he is imprisoned again for being denounced by three more accusers, one of them being Dr. Manette himself who had written the whole story of his abduction and imprisonment by the two Evremond brothers 18 years back. Dr. Manette had written the letter and hid it behind the stone wall of his prison cell fearing that he might lose his sanity inside the prison.
Darney is sentenced to death by guillotine. Sidney Carton goes to meet him in prison cell as his last visitor, drugs him, changes clothes with him, and gets him taken as being afriend who lost consciousness due to grief. He sacrifices his life to save a friend?s life.Sidney feels it to be a life worth saved as comapred to his disgusting life full of failures and disappointments.

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