Answer key of tale of two cities

Egyptian Language School

English Language Department 

Stage : Third Prep.  

Subject : Answer Key of A Tale of Two Cities

@Important tips to answer literature essay questions  

Dear ELSian third prep. Student ,

​First I send my greetings to each one who reads the following .Before I go in to talk about the novel essay questions , please go back to your study guide for two reasons . First , it’s full of rich information and general tips how to deal with exams . Besides , it’s a self – explanatory guide giving details about the content of the syllabus so as not to forget any item .

As to how to deal with the essay question is as follows :

- First read the question thoroughly as a whole .

- Re-read the question and you will find that it’s divided into two parts .

- The first part is an introductory statement after which you will find some requirements .

- Those requirements i.e. questions have to be numbered so as not to miss any part to be answered 

- In general , you have to revise making sure you covered all required items .

Have faith in God

Put your sleeves up 

Work hard for it

Be accurate 

Be optimistic 

Have a cup of milk J

Be sure then you will get best results ever 

Mrs Hala Hassan 

1. Dickens was the type of a distinguished writer who has his own technique and use of elements that added to his novels’ richness. Thus, one of those things is the use of polarities (contradictions)at the beginning of his novel which in itself highlighted the whole situation in Paris and London , as well as , the differences in social levels among the mob , middle class and the aristocrats .

The difference was basically between the mob symbolizing the oppression they were exposed to and how far they suffered under the cruelty of the aristocrats. They showed how far they were hungry and poor. While the aristocrats were symbolizing cruelty and tyranny against the mob specifically. They practiced all tools of torture against the mob & the middle class.

Therefore, it was the best of times to the aristocrats as they were privileged in everything . While it was the worst of times for the mob who fell under control and oppression of the mob.

2. Dickens stressed the point of portraying characters who were weak , poor & powerless , but later on as events proceed on , Dickens could turn the reader to think of sympathizing with those characters .

Character to be sympathized	Point of weakness	Point of sympathy
Dr Manette	- Weak & Powerless - Being imprisoned for 18 years  - Being exposed to oppression by means of letter de cachet  - Being acknowledged with Darnay’s origin , but couldn’t admit that	- He was exposed to relapsing not remembering anybody around him  - When he couldn’t remember even his daughter  - When he kept on apologizing to Darnayassuring him that he didn’t mean to denounce him
Carton	- Weak & powerless - He is the type of person  who isn’t aware of his potentials , just doing the work for others as Stryver - He cares for nobody and nobody cares for him  - He is just a jackal who doesn’t take the credit of anything  - He was blindly in love with Lucie	- He didn’t gain any kind of credit though he was the main cause of Darnay’s release in his first trial  - Nobody looked after his interests  - He scarified his life for the sake of Lucie
Madame Defarge	- Poor & Powerless  - She is a poor lady who lost her whole family because of the cruelty of the Evermonde	- Though she was blind by revenge trying to take revenge for her whole family , yet she was murdered by Miss Pross -
Darnay	- Powerless  - Being one of the Evermonde descendants though he was a rational person totally against them .	- He was denounced by the Defarges and by DrManette unintentionally

3. – Dr Manette denounced all descendants of the Evremondefamily due to what happened to him during his imprisonment for 18 years.

*How the Marquis met Dr Manette

*Being taken to the isolated house 

*Meeting with the two patients 

*How did he reacted later on 

             [ explain the paper of chapter 18 ]

- Dr Manette kept on repeating his claim that he was in his right mind assuring that he wasn’t relapsing at that time 

- Though Dr Manette deep inside was against that marriage , but he couldn’t block his daughter’s happiness of getting attached to Darnay

4- From early on in the novel, various characters seemed paired as opposites. 

**Darnay, for instance, appears capable and accomplished, while Carton seems lazy and lacks ambition. **Miss Pross represents respectable English order while Madame Defarge embodies its opposite, hot-blooded revolution. 

As the novel progresses, however, these doubled characters come to relate more as twins than as opposites. Both Carton and Darnay share a common love for Lucie, and Lucie exerts a power over Carton that enables him to shed his skin as a “jackal” and adopt a life that actually may exceed Darnay’s in terms of devotion and heroism. A common ground exists even between Miss Pross and Madame Defarge. 

The two women share a sense of uncompromising duty, as becomes manifest in their confrontation in Lucie’s apartment. Miss Prossproves as fiercely devoted to Lucie’s life and safety as Madame Defarge is to the idea of a new French Republic purged of all aristocrats. Each is willing to give up her life for her beliefs. In revealing these resemblances, Dickens suggests that even seeming opposites can possess underlying similarities. This gesture, along with Dickens’s inclusion of multiple coincidences in his plot, contributes to the author’s larger message that human beings inhabit a world of multiple hidden patterns and connections.

5- Dickens makes frequent use of foreshadowing, as it allows him to build suspense throughout his narrative and fill it with a haunting atmosphere. He fills the novel with details that anticipate future events. For example, the wine cask breaking in the street and the echoing footsteps that can be heard in the Manettes’ apartment hint to the reader about the imminence of the great and violent mob that eventually overtakes Paris. (elaborate)

6- Co-incidence 

a. Lucie meeting with Darnay and falling in love with him 

b. Dr Manette agreeing to get them married though he denounced the family previously and his full awareness that Darnay is their descendant 

c. Carton’s & Darnay’s resemblance that helped in freeing Darnay in the first trial and

 exchanging places with him in the last trial  

d. Darnay’s realization of the letter sent to Mr Lorry in Tellson’s Bank which took him to

face his destiny in Paris to save Gabelle  

7. Dickens wanted to pass the message that a person is born to be originally good , but being surrounded   with different factors or evil people might push him to be a villain . This what exactly happened withMadame Defarge as initially she didn’t have any evil intentions , but when she lost all her family through the Evremonde family , she was blind folded by revenge and driven by the storm of avenging from such a family till its last descendant .

[ explain how Madame Defarge’s family was destroyed ]

8. Love is more powerful than hatred as this was clear through many events as when Miss Pross managed to win over Madame Defarge when they fought and she killed her .It was clear through Carton’s sacrifice being able to exchange with Darnay after a well set plan and he managed to set Darnay free . Lucie’s love to her father enabled her to fulfill her mission successfully and restored him back to love , life and comfort .

Give evidence or reason for the following :

1-Charles Darnay  is too good to be true.

he travelled to paris to save Gabbelle although it was too risky he gave up and property working as a French teacher to eran his own money just because he didn’t want to live on the money collected from the poor people by force , he forgave dr mannette at the end of the story although he was going to be executed because of the paper Mannette had written .  

2-Monsieur the Marquis Evrémond deserved to be assassinated 

He regarded the poor people as animals who don’t deserve to live when he ran over Gaspard ‘s son he was more concerned about his horses he through a coin to gaspard asif he has broken something and paid for it

3-Sydney Carton was quick observer

He was the only one he who noticed the resemblance between himself and darnay also he noticed that lucie was about to faint in darnay’s first trial 

4-Although she went too far, Madame Defarge was justified in what she did.

Mention mme defarges life story as was said by her younger brother befordying 

5-monsieur Defarge has no power over his wife

This was clear when monsieur defarge failed to convince her to stop taking revenge but she never listened to him and she went behind his back to lucie’s house to stop her from escaping as she was afraid that defargemight warn dr mannette

6-although Pross and Defarge don’t speak each other’s language but they 

Understand each other very well

this was clear in the fight that took place between the two women at the end of the novel although they don’t speak each other language but prossunderstood that she was coming to harm lucie also mme defarge felt that pross was delaying her 

7-Irony is one of the major techniques used by Dickens

When mr  lorry thanked god that nobody dear to him was in this dreadful town later he discovered that all those dear to him were in paris  

Also in the conversation between mme defarge and barsad when she said that he did sth wrong and he paid for it barsad thought that she was talking about gaspard but in fact she was about the marquis  

8- Manette relapsed three times because of Darnay

When he proposed to lucie he felt that his daughter was about to be taken away from him also on the wedding day when he knew that darnay is the son of his oppressor finally when he failed to save darnay in his 3rd trial especially that darnay is going to be executed mannette had written during his long imprisonment

9- Barsad is a disloyal person

At the beginning of the novel he was seen working as a spy for the English government when he denounced darnay in old bailey court second he was seem as a spy for the French aristocratic government when he was sent to the wine shop to know the reaction of people towards killing gaspardfinally he was he was working for the republicans when he helped carton to enter prison 

10-Gabelle’s letter was a turning point in the novel

It was because of gabbelle’s letter that was darnay was attracted to paris to his destruction  followed by mannette , lucie , little lucie also it was because of darnay that carton would also die fulfilling his promise to lucie

11-Carton died happily

Mention Carton’s prophecies

12-Darnay is a man of his word

When he promised mannette to tell him his real identity he kept his promise also when he promised lucie to try to be friendly to carton which he did for lucie’s sake 

13- Mannette decided to write the paper

After being imprisoned  for 10 years he felt that he was about to lose his mind so he decided to write the paper so as not to forget his oppressor to take revenge when the suitable comes 

14-Lorry was loyal to the bank till the end

He travelled to Paris to save some important documents although the journey was to dangerous but he insisted to prove his loyalty to the bank also when he moved lucie and little lucie to another lodging as it might harm the bank to shelter an emigrants family 

15-Gaspard was an irrational person

When he wrote the word blood on the wall in front of the wine shop also when he signed Jacque on the handle of knife by which he killed the marquis

Quotations:

1-Mr Lorry said this to Jerry, the messenger of Telson's Bank who stopped the Dover Mail . Mr Lorry was on his way on the Dover road . Jerry delivered a message to Mr Lorry ' Wait at Dover for Madmoiselle'. MrLorry answered verbally to this message 'Recalled to life'. He meant that a person who was thought to be dead but was discovered to be alive. He was Dr Manette , Lucie's father, who was thought to be dead but actually he was a prisoner in the bastille by a letter de cachet. 

2-Lucie said this to Mr Lory when he met her at Dover and told her the truth about her father. Her father ,Dr Manette, who was thought to be dead long ago, was discovered to be alive. He was a prisoner in the Bastille by a letter de cachet. He has been released and taken to the wine shop of an old servant, Monsieur Defarge. Lucie was terribly shocked by these news that she felt that she was going to meet her father's ghost.She was shivering with horror then she fainted.

3- Monsieur Defarge  said these words to Gaspard the tall joker .He said that after the cask of wine had been dropped and all the poor people in the streets of Saint Antoine ran to the spot of the spilt wine to drink and taste the wine. The poor people were all stained red which symbolized the nobles' blood .Gaspard was greatly excited and wrote the word "Blood " on the wall referring to the blood of the nobles which foreshadow the French Revolution and how they would be killed and their blood would fill the streets. Monsieur Defarge was angry and obliterated the word and told Gaspard not to write in public because that would attract the nobles attention as they used to send spies and that would stop them from doing their revolution . This incident reflects how poor the people were and how they were suffering as they were not used except for the taste of dark bread and death .

4-Monsieur Defarge said these words to the three Jacques in the wine shop after the poor people had drunk the spilt wine in the street . Monsieur Defarge meant that the poor people were happy to drink the muddy wine because it was their chance to drink it as they were living in very bad conditions ,suffering and could hardly find anything to eat except black bread or death . These three Jacques were asked after that to go to the garret to see how Dr .Manette was changed after his long imprisonment to increase their enthusiasm for the French revolution 

5 – Mr Lorry said these words to Monsieur Defarge when they reached the garret to see Dr. Manette and they found the three Jacques looking at DrManette through holes in the wall , so Mr Lorry was angry as he thought that Monsieur Defarge was showing Dr .Manette to people . Monsieur Defarge was showing him to a chosen 

few who were the members of the Jacques , the group that was going to start the revolution , to show them how Dr Manette had changed and suffered due to his long imprisonment and fill their hearts with hatred towards the aristocrats so as to work harder for the revolution .  

6) These words were said By Dr Manette in the garret where he was staying making shoes . Mr . Lorry and Lucie were coming to France to see Dr Manette , Mr. lorry to identify him and Lucie to restore him to life by her love and care after his long imprisonment in the Bastille . When Monsieur Defarge asked Dr . Manette to say his name , he identified himself by the number of his cell . That showed how much he had suffered and that caused him to suffer from mental illness and lost his memory .

7) Carton said these words to Danay at the Tavern after confessing his hatred to him as a result of being jealous . Whenever he sees Darnay, he reminds him of how much he failed in his life . Although they look alike but carton is very much popular, loved and respected by many ppl unlike Carton who doesn't care for anyone no one cared for him.

8) Lucie said these words at the Manettes' house when it started to rain. Everyone interpreted the echoing footsteps according to their own believes. To lucie, it represents the ppl who will interfere into her life and her father's life which is considered foreshadowing to what will happen after the French revolution .

9) These words were said by the Marquis to M.Defarge after running over Gaspard's boy .The Marquis admired Defarge's words as he thought that he was calming Gaspard's down for his sake but in fact he wasn't . As he was saying what he really believes , they were living a very poor life to the extent that death was a better choice than living.

10 ) These words were said by Darnay to his uncle at the chateau in the most important confrontation as it showed the great difference between Darnay and his uncle. They have a distinct views of life . Darnayrepresents socialism whereas the Marquis represents feudalism (write the difference between them).

11) Manette to Darnay in the proposal scene . Darnay is an honest man, he didn't want to deceive Manette as he insisted to reveal his true identitybefore the marriage but he was stopped by Manette . The doctor loves his daughter very much to the extent that he didn't want to know anything that might make him stand in the way of Lucie's happiness . both Darnay and manette exchanged promises , Manette promised Darnay that if lucieaccepts the marriage, he will never stand in the way whatever Darnay will tell him .Darnay promised to reveal his true name in the morning of the wedding day

12) Sydney Carton said these words to Lucie when he was confessing his tender love to her although he was sure she would never return it back. He added that he was even thankful for not returning his love because if she had returned it, he would have disgraced her and pulled her down with him. He then promised her to sacrifice his life for her sake or for the sake of anyone dear to her.This promise showed the tender and sincere character of Carton.

13) The Jacques said this to Defarge when he asked them about their opinion after the road mender had finished narrating what happened to Gaspard. They meant that the names of the whole Marquis' family should be executed.

14-Monsieur Defarge said this to Madame Defarge in the wine shop after Barsad,the spy, has informed them that Lucie, the daughter of DrManette,Defage's old master and who Defarge took care of after he has been out of prison, was getting married to the nephew of the tyrant the Marquis St Everemonde known in London by the name of Charles Darnay. Barsad was a spy for the aristocratic French government in St Antoine Street ,and was trying to know the people's reaction after Gaspard's savage execution. Defarge was torn between his loyalty to the revolution and his love to his old master. He sympathized with Lucie and hoped that Darnay wouldn't come to France ,because if he did, he would meet his fatal destiny as his name was registered in the list of destruction.

15-The officer said this to Darnay when he was travelling to Paris to save Gabelle who had sent him a letter asking him to help him as he was facing great danger.Charled Darnay was shocked to hear the officer call him a prisoner. He explained to him that he was a free traveller and a French citizen ,in charge of an escort which he has paid for.The officer told Darnay that he had no rights because he was an emigrant who had no rights according to the new laws after the French revolution and which stated that emigrants had no rights.

16-Mr Lorry said this when he was watching the people in the streets sharpening their knives using a grindstone , to execute prisoners. He was watching this terrifying scene from the window of Telson's Bank. MrLorry's words were ironical because Lucie,  Charles Darnay and DrManette were already there in Paris.

17-Lucie said this to Mr Lorry when they were in their lodging in Paris ,after she had read the letter from Charles and which was delivered by Degarge and Madame Defarge.

Madame Defarge stopped knitting and pointed to little Lucie in a dreadful cold manner which threw a shadow on Lucie's heart . She explained to MrLorry that she wasn't thankless, but she felt uneasy towards Madame Defarge's weird attitude.

18-This was said by the audience present in the court in Charles' trial.Darnay was accused by the public prosecutor as an emigrant who had no right and his head was demanded. The audience asked for Darnay'sdeath. However , the situation changed after Charkes had gained the audience's sympathy after he stated that he was the husbanmd of DrManette's daughter ,who was an ex-prisoner in the Bastille,and who suffered from the injustice and tyranny of the aristocrats . Moreover, he came to France on his own free will to save the life of a French citizen.

19-This was the beginning of Dr Manette's letter and which Defarge was reading to the court . Charles Darnay was denounced by Defarge, Madame Defarge and Dr Manette , but not in person but through the papers written in Dr Manette's handwriting and which Defarge had found hidden in the chimney in Dr Manette's solitary cell in the Bastille. In this paper DrManette narrated the story which was the reason for his long imprisonment in the Bastille by a letter de cachet. (narrate the story) At the end of the letter, Dr Manette denounced the Everemonde family till the end of the race. 

20-Madame Defarge said this to Monsieur Defarge when he tried to convince her to stop taking revenge . This was in the wine shop,whereMadame Defarge confessed to the Jacques that she was the little girl the boy had hidden and she was the sister of the girl who died as a result of the Twin brothers' tyranny, and who Dr Manette tried to save . Madame Defarge answered Monsieur Defarge aggressively compared her anger and revenge to the wind and fire . Once it started , it would never end.

21-Darnay said this to Sydney Carton when he was surprised to see him in his cell in La Force. Darnay thought that Carton was trying to make him escape , which was something impossible and mad .Darnay was trying to convince Carton that there was no way to escape ,but it didn't occur to his mind that Carton was planning to exchange places with him. Carton exchanged clothes with Darnay and took his ribbon. Darnay asked him to write a letter which was really addressed to Lucy. He was reminding her of his promise that he would sacrifice hi life for the sake of anyone dear to her. 

22-Carton said this in front of the Gullotine before his execution. Carton fulfilled his promise to Lucy and exchanged places with Darnay. He was able to drug Darnay who fell unconscious . Barsad then asked the guards to help him carry Darnay as the visitor and the prisoner. Darnay was carried to the coach where Lucie,Dr Manette and Mr Lorry  were waiting for him. They set off to London.

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