Elements Of A Tale Of Two Cities
In Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities, character development, plot and atmosphere are accomplished by the use of many recognizable stylistic devices identified by Dickens' unique writing style. Dickens creates a sensuous setting of imagery that helps the reader to identify with the characters, the emotions, and the times of the French Revolution. In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens portrays to us various unique characters, the heroes, and the enemies. Dickens is able to create for the reader a glance into the past and the lives of those affected during the Revolution. Using his stylistic devices, such as metaphors, running imagery, irony and foreshadowing Dickens is successful in three major things that made his novels so memorable, plot, imagery and unforgettable characters.
One element of A Tale of Two Cities that makes it such an intriguing novel is the development of the plot. Dickens carries this out in several ways. The novel opens with an obvious and well-known antithesis, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of timesÂ…" (Dickens, pg. 1) This creates confusion as the setting of the novel opens, a city in turmoil. This confusion indicates to the reader the trials that are to come in the novel and what one might expect if he or she were alive during that time.
Another frequent element in Dickens' style of writing is dramatic foreshadowing. Dickens' was both famous and criticized for his ability to indicate an event to approach. In the first chapter of Book I, Dickens begins the strong foreshadowing of the Revolution. His talk of "Death" and "Fate" create a gloomy atmosphere foreshadowing the darkness and death to follow. He capitalizes these words creating a sense of personification, as well as the word "Hunger".
One of the most obvious of dramatic foreshadowing is in Book I Chapter 5, entitled "The Wine Shop". A large wine cask breaks in the streets of St. Antoine and the starving peasants take advantage of...
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