A Tale of Two Cities

Abstract

The historical novel is set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. It tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie, whom he had never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Paris is described as a place of utter debauchery and eventually absurd inhumanity, against which the dignity of a somewhat idealized London is opposed, although its dark sides are also depicted. The revolutionary scenes are full of brutal to sadistic images, depicting the wrath of the previously oppressed. It could be called also an adventure novel, because the protagonists are in constant danger of being imprisoned or killed.