Questions for Book The Third
1) As Darney enters France and encounters the Revolutionaries who detail his crimes, what did you think of his decision to return to France, and of the case against him? The chapter ends with Darney in prison, surrounded by the ghosts of those who have been there before him, and imagining Manette’s imprisonment, what did you think of this circle?
2) In addition to the personification of St. Antione, we are now introduced to “The "sharp female newly-born, and called La Guillotine” do you think this is accurate and effective?
3) Fulfilling his foreshadowing of the crowd and of the blood on the streets we are introduced to the grindstone in chapter two, and the men who turn the handle. The chapter finishes, “The great grindstone, Earth, had turned when Mr. Lorry looked out again, and the sun was red on the courtyard. But, the lesser grindstone stood alone there in the calm morning air, with a red upon it that the sun had never given, and would never take away.” What do you think of the portrait of the Revolution and of those who have participated in it?
4) Chapter Three sees a note smuggled from Darney to Lucie, who has moved into an apartment that Lorry finds for her. The Defarges come to see them, and the shadow of Madame Defarge falls upon Lucie. Lucie begs for her husband’s life, throwing herself on Madame’s mercy to think of her as a “wife and mother.” What did you think of this request for mercy, and of Madame’s answer?
5) Manette saves Darney in his first trial, but he is immediately re-arrested. What did you think of the trial, of Manette’s role, and of the re-arrest?
6) Miss Pross’ brother reappears, and is revealed to be the spy, Barsad. What did you think of the interaction between the siblings and of Carton in the bar?
7) After being denounced by Mr. and Madame Defarge, a letter that Manette wrote during his imprisonment is read during the second trial, ultimately condemning Darney. What did you think of the revelations of the letter and of the events depicted and their continuing impact upon our characters?
8) Ultimately, Darney is saved through a selfless act of Carton. What did you think of this act, of the reasons behind it, and of the last line of the book?
9) Were there any resolutions that surprised you? Were there any characters that stuck with you? As you reflect on the book, what is your overall opinion of the story?
10) Anything I’ve missed?
I will get my answers typed up to this set, and the previous set in a bit. THANK YOU to everyone who has participated. I say this every time I post a note, but I have truly been blessed to read-along with everyone. Each answer and thought makes me reconsider or look at something in a different way. This has been a true blessing for me, and I pray for you as well!
My apolgies for the lateness of getting this set of questions up, and my love and thanks to you, dear readers (especially the fabulous Grace) for your patience.
posted by Mimi @ 4/13/2011 02:30:00 PM
12 Comments
12 Comments:
I am woefully behind, and felt a bit of schadenfreude when I noticed that your questions were behind. But I did not take that opportunity to catch up, either. So now I will. Sorry!!
1)I thought the description of his trip to Paris was very interesting – it had a quest sense to it, how he kept being captured. I find it an interesting testament to the strength of his sense of honor that he did return to Paris, knowing what would be the result, and that he persevered in getting there. The scenes of him imaging Manette’s imprisonment were very well done, I thought.
2) I really like the personification that Dickens uses and think that Madame Guillotine was a character in her own right, as was St. Antoine.
3) I think this chapter and the words that end it was really interesting. The blood and the grindstone, the gleaming axes, the buzzing crowd, the singing and dancing was a very chaotic scene and had a macabre circus quality to it. This end quote, this stillness, this “recalled to life” was a haunting way to end the chapter.
4) I found Madame Defarge to be an interesting character all the way through, but in the previous section she wasn’t cruel and heartless yet. In this chapter, she really became stone – and committed to the revolution over her personhood. I thought it was interesting to tie Madame’s answer in with the earlier quote about the fact that the upper classes were the only ones that were allowed to be mothers – how this womanly appeal fell on deaf ears, and how Madame’s child is not a person but is the revolution.
5) I found the crowd’s consideration of Manette as a hero of the Revolution to be very interesting, but like other heroes of other Revolutions, his star rises and then falls. It’s interesting that by the end of the book, Darney has been on trial a total of three times, and each time it has been for who he is vs. his actions. I also thought that Lucie’s standing on the street to catch sight of Darney every day is a continuation of her “golden thread” and devotion to him.
6) Well now, that was a twist I wasn’t expecting. Solomon/Barsad’s rejection of his sister was heartbreaking, and I thought he was definitely portrayed as a vile character, the kind who would say anything to anyone to get paid, but I thought that the way the Carton stepped in was the beginning of his redemption.
What I also thought was interesting was how Miss Pross was portrayed as so proper, and so retiring. And yet, the scene with her and Madame Defarge at the end reminded me a lot of Molly Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange. In a way, they were similar characters - the kindly, caring woman who drew on her inner strength to protect her charges.
7) The letter’s revelations showed the pure villainy of Charles’ father, and of the beginning of Madame Defarge’s hardening of heart. I also thought it was a faint echo of the Biblical sins of the father being passed down generations, in contrast to forgiving one seventy times seventy, and the stronger and stronger presence of Christ’s words, “I am the Resurrection and the life” that have begun to be strung through the novel.
8) I kept reading that the last line of the book was as iconic as the first, although I don’t have an association with it. I loved the way, though that Carton’s selflessness was his redemption, and the connection he made with the female prisoner, his extension of the golden thread to her.
I am kind of feeling like my words are feeble in expressing how powerful this novel was, and how it all intersected for me.
As my last thought, my answer to question 10 perhaps, is that I’m not quite so sure why it’s called “A Tale of Two Cities” – I don’t know how much of the novel’s action contrasts London to Paris. I’m curious.
And this time, *I'm* going to have to apologize for tardiness. :-) Got busy with all the Holy Week goodness, and now I'm having to wrack my brain a little bit to remember important stuff about the book. (Boy, mind like a sieve!) So I may be a little spotty, but there were a couple spots I definitely wanted to hit, because, as I said before, I didn't think the book really deserved its rep as a classic until this last third.
1) See? I *knew* that Darney was being an idiot to go back to France to try to save a servant, as if HE wouldn't need saving the second he stepped over the border. Why don't Dickens characters listen to me?
2 & 3 -- I'm going to combine these and just say that the portions talking about the conditions during the Reign of Terror were just horrifying. I can't be completely sure they're accurate, but there are enough facts connected with that time to tell you that Dickens' guess probably isn't far wrong.
4 - I didn't remember this scene exactly, but the character of Mme. Dufarge just got worse and worse. By this point in the book, you can tell that this is a person who has been taken over by one driving force -- kind of a Captain Ahab with knitting needles(!)
5 - Poor old Manette! It mattered so much to him to save his son-in-law, and it seemed like it made all his suffering worth something. Dickens never fully investigates what it did to him to find out that his note was the instrument of Darney's doom. I would think that for a guy that had his "fugue" days already, this would mess him up almost permanently.
6 - Didn't remember a lot about this portion, so I'll skip.
7 - That letter! The story it told was so horrible! I guess one of the weird things about these Dickens books is that he alternates between these cartoony Victorian stereotypes and things so gritty and sordid that they can thoroughly appall me.
(Admit it, though, weren't we all wondering how in the world Manette wrote a 9000-word epic like that using his own blood? If it were me, I tend to think I'd favor brevity over prose in that circumstance. Unless he was a hemophiliac, I would think he'd end up drier that a raisin at the end of all that.)
One other quick observation about the letter: Again we see Dickens switching sides in the big debate about the French Revolution. Having depicted the peasants as blood-thirsty maniacs, he shows here the kind of behavior from the aristocrats that drove them to it. I couldn't decide whether that was him being fair-minded or just an opportunistic dramatist.
Part 2 of my answers (sorry .. Blogspot didn't like the length I had):
***
8 - As I said, the end of the book just got better and better. I *loved* this redemptive act by Carton. Makes me wish I had paid more attention to his character from the beginning. But then, I feel like his alcoholism was only hinted at, so I couldn't figure out his behavior.
Other things about the ending that I really loved:
* the very poignant touch of Carlton and the innocent servant woman going to the guillotine together to give each other courage.
* the really intense, suspenseful passage concerned with Mme. Dufarge bearing down the residence of Lucie's family and the eventual battle between her and Miss Pross. I would've loved to see this staged! (see #10 below)
* The chapter about the heroes making it out of France was just incredible. You could feel the incredible tension and panic of making this snail's pace progress every step of the way. Who knew Dickens could write such a nail-biter scenario?
* Really, really liked the chapter concerning Carton getting ready for his day of sacrifice and the importance of the Biblical passage about resurrection to him. I think this may be the most overtly Christian allegory I've ever read in a Dickens book.
9 - Didn't see that ending coming. I couldn't think how Dickens was going to get Darnay out of there, and I never guessed that Carton would turn out to be an important character.
There were some good and understated characters in the book (like Mr. Lorry) and a lot of the usual broadly stereotyped ones (like Mr. Crusher and most of the heroes), but I think my favorite character might end up being Miss Pross. Dickens doesn't really say what happened to her, other than her going deaf, but a woman with that much raw courage would have to end well, I'd think.
At the end of it all, I suppose I gave the book a round of applause. It started off too slow for me, and some of its Victorian excesses verged on real tedium. But it got so good towards the end that I'm really glad I read it.
10 - Two things:
* Epilogue: Wish Dickens had given us a little more on what happened to everyone besides Carton. I'm sure they kind of lived happily ever after, but I would've loved to hear about the joy the good guys had the second they stepped into England again.
* I read somewhere that someone is turning this into a Broadway musical (a la Les Miserables). If it is well-done, I would think that could be a real winner. It's quite a story, and some of that stuff near the end would be awesome to see onstage.
Thanks so much for another great book choice, Mimi!
Afterthought -- just went back and read your answers, Mimi. I thought you made a good point at the end about the book title being strange. You're right -- I hadn't thought of it, but what do you hear about London through this.
The version of the book I bought had a foreword that said that part of the meta-message that Dickens was going for was his concern that revolution was brewing amongst the lower classes in England. He saw some excesses and corruption in the aristocracy and thought that something like the French Revolution might happen there.
I wonder if that's the kind of thing he's referencing with the title?
I don't know how well I'll do at this!
(1) I saw his trip to Paris as one of those doomed things people in novels do to move the story along LOL. Also, because he's a good guy ,a nd good guys are supposed to do this. But yes, I thought his courage was impressive, if like Grace, I also found it foolish.
(2) not into his personifications of things actually. Madame Guillotine was no better or worse than others.
(3). I found his vagueness and use of imagery absolutely horrifying. More than a vivid and factual blow by blow. His word images are superb and I felt like the sheer weigth of his wordiness contributed to the scene of horror.
(4) I liked the Defarges up to this point. She definitely became obsessed, hardened and evil.
(5) A typical Dickens' observation of a social idiocy, the way we laud and then vilify "heroes" and make heroes out of almost anyone. I could see how it would be fulfilling and redeeming for Manette though, I thought it was healing to him even without the hope of saving Darnay.
(6)Well, one could hardly expect the cahracter spoken of in guarded tones to be a good one? So I wasn't surprised when Pross' brother rejected her so coldly. I did find Crusher and Pross' friendship to be an interesting thing, and enjoyed his character's "redemption" as told in his typical odd fashion.
(7). a fascinating and horrifying letter, but as Grace pointed out, VERY long for someone writing with his blood LOL, I think dickens did indeed get paid by the word for some of his books/stories. I had almost forgotten that Defarge had been his servant until reading that letter..interesting touch!
(8) The last lines of the book are as quoted and misquoted and fallen into cultural references without knowing who penned them, as the first lines of the book. Iconic in that sense. I guess I read a lot of the Alcott period of writing, and quotations from Dickens and Shakespeare, and so on are all over the place without indicating where the words came from, signifying a common usage, common knowledge. And that last sentence is definitely one of them.
I loved Carton's sacrifice and the way he did it. Such an oldfashioned idea, that his life as it was , wasn't going to mean a whole lot to the world, due to his weaknesses and so on, but his death...that could be immense. And then of course the Victorian unrequited romantic love for Lucie induced him to sacrifice himself too.
I always thought the "TAle of two cities" didn't refer to geographical cities but to the two cities that existed in paris. The one wealthy , fancy city where you could get whatyou wanted and do what you pleased and all roads were smooth and rosey...until the tumbrils came for you that is. And th other city where people were starved, beaten, and crushed out of their humanity, until they created Madame Guillotine to give them a twisted version of humanity back. But hey, what do I know?
(And I still prefer Dostoyevsky LOL)
Marsha: "..I always thought the "TAle of two cities" didn't refer to geographical cities but to the two cities that existed in paris. "
Ohhh. That would make a lot of sense. I remember Dickens had a passage in Nicholas Nickleby talking about the "two Londons" side by side.
Marsha: "..I always thought the "TAle of two cities" didn't refer to geographical cities but to the two cities that existed in paris. "
Ohhh. That would make a lot of sense. I remember Dickens had a passage in Nicholas Nickleby talking about the "two Londons" side by side.
I agree, ooooh, Marsha, great point, and I've not read Nicholas Nickleby, and that makes sense too, Grace.
Wow. Thank you!
Oh wow...I just read this book a few months ago. I had intended to read it kind-of as Dickens had published it, one chapter a week or thereabouts...but it capitivated me and I had to keep going. And that's even though I knew how it ended. (If you don't know how it ends, oh wow, are you in for something else!)
Amazing, wonderful book. I deeply loved it.
Hi Mimi - this isn't about Two Cities, which I was sorry to miss out on. I read it for a reading group last summer and enjoyed it very much. In reply to your Harry Potter comment on my recent post, i think I read the last book too fast the first time - I just wanted to find out what happened! But having had the whole Christian symbolism thing pointed out (and it had been niggling at me through the series) I'm now rereading in better detail. A whole new layer of interest. Another readalong maybe...
Hi Mimi!
So neat about your friend who was born in Beit Jala! Thanks so much for visiting!
Blessings!
Ann
PS This is one of the best books! But so sad...
Maybe you could make a gingerbread house one of your monthly Culinary Challenges? ;) It was fun. I miss your posts!
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