So, I have to admit, I really wanted to be quite far into the book and have lots of posts before I told you all about the blog. That is not the case. I have done a lot of research into A Tale of Two Cities, but I have not actually read anything until tonight. I just finished chapter 1. I can tell that I am going to have to read this book with a dictionary in hand. While I can grasp the basic concepts of the story, the definitions I looked up tonight really did seem to add a bit of insight for me. So here are my thoughts, some definitions I found helpful and some questions to think about.
First some thoughts. I think it is interesting that Dickens has divided A Tale of Two Cities into three parts and that Book the First is called Recalled to Life. I think that is going to be an important theme in the story. From the research I have done, it seems tha this book very closely parallels Dickens' own life. He was in a loveless marriage and meeting Ellen Ternan reawakened him and gave his life new meaning. I think that is a theme that may reappear throughout the story.
I like the sentence Michael posted about with the Woodman and the Farmer. I have been thinking about the personification of fate and death in that manner. There are two sentences Dickens' uses with the Woodman and the Farmer that I liked. On page 4, "But that woodman and that farmer, though they work unceasingly, work silently, and no one heard them as they went about with muffled tread . . ." And on page 5 after describing the aweful crime and violence going on at the time, "All these things, and a thousand like them, came to pass in and close upon the dear old year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. Environed by them, while the Woodman and the Farmer worked unheeded, those two of the large jaws, and those other two of the plain and the fair faces, trod with stir enough, and carried their divine rights with a high hand. " Like the idea of being recalled, I think the theme of fate and death may be important it the story. I think Dickens is trying to say with words such as "work silently," and "worked unheeded" that no one, especially the ruling class, was mindful of the role fate was to play or how death would be a catelyst to future events. I could be wrong. What do you guys think?
Words that Stumpped Stacy:
potentate (pg. 5): informal term for a person with power, usually supreme power
Turnham Green (pg. 5): A public park in Chiswick, London. Originally a village on the main road between London and the west.
Retinue (pg. 5): A group of advisors, associats or others accompanying an important person.
St. Giles's (pg. 5): a cathedral
environed (pg. 5): to encircle or surround
Some Questions to Ponder or Discuss
On pages 1 and 5 Dickens wrote sentences that were many many lines long. Why do you think he chose to write this way? What does that accomplish?
On page 5 Dickens describes the role of the hangman with the phrase, ". . .ever busy and ever worse than useless. . ." What does Dickens imply about his political views?
What does the use of the word potentate imply about Dickens fellings about the social system of the day?
Thoughts on Woodman and Farmer aka Fate and Death?
I didn't quite glean the concept of "recalled to life" when I started reading the first chapter, but Stacy's post helped drive it home for me.
ReplyDeleteAssuming that recalled to life means the resurrection (which may not be a fair assumption, but bear with me), then the combination of Dicken's opening line and the fate/death imagery yield something possibly worth sharing.
The "best of time... worst of time" duality illustrates how something can be both good and bad at the same time. This same duality can be applied to death which is devastatingly dark on one hand and gloriously bright on the other. Bright primarily because of the resurrection. Still, maybe I'm trying too hard and reading too far into things.
Regardless, I hope someone answers Stacy's questions about Dickens political views and feelings about the social system. Frankly, I'm at a loss.