Resurrected Charles Dickens' A tale of Two Cities was a book filled with action. Throughout this book there was always something going on. Charles Dickens was pretty good at keeping the reader on his feet and guessing, especially in book the third. But there was one main theme in the book: resurrection. Charles Dickens was very consistent with this theme. There were a number of times when Charles Dickens resurrected one of his characters or had one of his characters "recalled to life". Possibly, in some way Charles Dickens was trying to keep his resurrections consistent with what was going on in the French Revolution.
The first time someone was "recalled to life" or resurrected was Dr. Manette early in the book. During Dr. Manette's 18 years in prison he had gone through a lot of change. Doctor Manette had gone from a successful doctor to something that was basically un-human.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Charles Dickens, a former resident of Lant Street.
Copy of a Photograph of Charles DickensDoctor Manette had pushed out all of his emotions until he was unable to even speak. After he was rescued and met his daughter Lucie, Dr. Manette was able to begin his life over again and he really realized what he had been missing for his 18 years in prison. Charles Dickens was trying to show in a weird way what the people of the French Revolution felt like. They had been abused for years and they finally built up the guts to speak out, that is like when Dr. Manette realize what he had been missing.
The next character that was resurrected was Lucie. Even though she did not have as big of a resurrection and some might say that she never really "died", she definitely had two lives. Lucie's first life was the one before her father had returned from his imprisonment. She seemed like a very proper and dull person. She did not really have anything going for her. But after her father returned she now had a mission. She not only had something to do, but she also got married. She went from someone with nothing to do to something with a new and important life.
Another character in this book that was resurrected was Charles Darnay. Darnay first showed that he was resurrected or had a second chance was when he was saved from being killed for treason during his first trial earlier in the novel. Darnay was then again resurrected when Dr. Manette saved him from his second trial in France for being of the Evrémond family. If Charles Dickens was setting his events parallel with events in the revolution I think that Darnay's trails would be the events in the war. They were back and forth and there was always another one, like his trials.
All in all Charles Dickens used his resurrection theme a lot, but he used it well. He used it to add suspense and to keep the reader guessing, but most of all he used resurrection to tie the characters together. It worked.
English: Cover of serial "Tale of Two Cities" by C...
English: A photograph of an engraving in The Writi...
English: A photograph of an engraving in The Writi...
Charles Dickens, circa 1860