A Tale of Two Cities

Late one night as the Dover mail coach trudges through England, Jerry, a messenger from Tellson's Bank in London rides up. He delivers a message to Jarvis Lorry, a passenger of the coach and an agent of the bank. Jerry tells Mr. Lorry to wait for a woman in Dover.

Mr. Lorry goes to Dover where he waits for the woman, Lucie Manette. His assignment is to take Lucie to Paris to look for her father, Dr. Manette, whom she has never met. Dr. Manette has been imprisoned by the Bastille for years. Mr. Lorry has devised a plan to secretly rescue him.

Lucie and Mr. Lorry go to a wine shop in Paris owned by the Defarges, a couple who head the secret society of "Jacquerie," a revolutionary group with plans to overthrow the monarchy. Outside the wine shop the people rejoice over a broken wine cask. The poverty stricken townspeople lap up the wine, and one man uses it to write "BLOOD" on the wall - an omen of what lay ahead. "The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there" (p. 608).

Defarge is angered when he hears of Dr. Manette's unjust imprisonment. He takes Mr. Lorry and Lucie up to the garret where Dr. Manette is kept. After years of imprisonment Dr. Manette has gone mad. H

. . .
isoner of the Bastille, he has some influence with the Jacquerie. While he is unable to obtain Darnay's release, he manages to keep the revolutionaries from executing him. Darnay is eventually summoned before the Tribunal. After hearing Darnay's testimony, the jury acquits him and he is released. No sooner than he is released, Darnay is arrested on new charges. At the new trial Darnay is accused of being the last of a long line of evil aristocrats. Defarge reads aloud from an incriminating manuscript found in Dr. Manette's old cell. The manuscript tells the story of how in 1757 Dr. Manette was ordered by the Evremonde twins to accompany them to a house in Paris. At the house Dr. Manette found a delirious woman and her dying brother, both of whom had been victimized by the younger twin. The delirious woman told Dr. Manette that the Evremondes killed her entire family with the exception of a younger sister who had been taken to safety. The delirious woman and her brother died soon after this disclosure. The older twin's wife had her young son, Charles Darnay, promise to help the sister who had managed to escape. Dr. Manette wrote a letter to the Court telling them about the incident but he was jailed before it was post
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Some common words found in the essay are:
French Revolution, Dr Manette, Tellson's Bank, Charles Darnay, St Evremonde, Lucie Lorry, Sydney Carton, Jerry Cruncher, Ironically Jerry, Lucie Manette, dr manette, charles darnay, wine shop, sydney carton, french revolution, jerry cruncher, lucie manette, tale cities, delirious woman, secret society jacquerie, england jerry, rescue dr manette, write blood wall, outside wine shop, wine write blood,
Approximate Word count = 1916
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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