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Jul 14, 2020
When you learn about the French Revolution in your history class, teachers tend to gloss over the lives of the ordinary folk, instead focusing on the fleeting reigns of government officials, corrupt bureaucrats who were eventually executed, the almost successful escape of King Louis XVI, and the following Reign of Terror. However, A Tale of Two Cities follows the lives of Dr. Alexandre Manette, an imprisoned Parisian physician; Ernest Defarge, his former servant and a revolutionary; and Charles Darnay, a French emigre on trial for treason against Britain. The novel discusses the romantic relationship between Dr. Manette’s daughter, Lucie, and Darnay, as well as their relation to the ongoing conflict leading up to the French Revolution. A Tale of Two Cities gives readers a window into the lives of common Parisians, which is what made it such a well-known and impactful novel.