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British Literature

15 April 2023

The Pain-Reflecting Papers

​ Charles Dickens, a famous writer, journalist, and lawyer of the Victorian Era1, showed his

astonishment of talent by writing stories and comments with significant political weight

(Collins.) He criticized the society of his time. He wrote realistic and complex characters, in a

dark environment, making his works literary realism2. This literary genre greatly marked

Dickens's work today, not only in the literary theme but also in many of his actions to support not

very favored people in his society (Bassell 685.) My purpose in this project is to see Dickens'

importance and influence in the Victorian Era. I also want to analyze his work "A Tale of Two

Cities" as a reflection of reality and the historical importance of this work.

The way I organized it was by dividing it into three sections. The first section is where

we will analyze "A Tale of Two Cities", which will have one subsection, analyzing the work and

the other the historical importance of the work and its influence on society. The second section

will be about Dickens' influence on literature and on society. This is not only in literature but also

in his social contribution as a citizen of his country. The third and last section, it will be the

conclusion. In this section, I will give my personal opinion about Dickens, his stories, and his

contributions to English society.

1
Victorian Era: It was an era characterized by political burdens on workers. This was because
workers had few rights, causing labor exploitation, poverty, and hunger among workers and
workers.
2
Realism literature: It is a literary genre, which reflects social problems, such as economic and
political problems, to criticize society.
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A Tale of Two Cities

Paris and London live in very different situations, which is the theme of "A Tale Of Two Cities."

In France, they live in bloody and heartless times, thanks to the French Revolution3, while in

London they live in a time of economic prosperity and relative peace.

The story begins when a beautiful lady, named Lucie, is informed that her father is out of

prison after eighteen years in France. She believed her father was dead since her mother told her

he died. However, apparently, her mother told her to save her daughter from tears and suffering,

but now she can look for him in France. In France, she meets her father. He, traumatized by

being in prison for so long, decides to take him to London, and there her father gradually

recovers from prison traumas. Although they would not stay in London for long, since they have

to testify about an espionage case against Charles in France. Charles is innocent and falls in love

with Lucie because she is so beautiful. Even with his lawyer, Sidney Carton falls in love with her

too. Although Sidney's love does not reciprocate, Charles marries her and moves to London with

her. Soon after he must go to London for another trial. Now the court is a servant of Charles, but

Charles is arrested for treason and other strong accusations against him. He has a trial in which

he pleads guilty, receiving death. But Sidney infiltrates the prison and exchanges places with

Charles since they are very similar physically. Sidney stays in prison accepting his execution and

fulfilling Lucie's promise to protect them both.

3
The French Revolution: brought down the realm and the aristocracy, due to poor government
organization, injustices, and food shortages.
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The Analysis Of ”A Tale of Two Cities”. The story is intertwined with London

and France, which contrasts clearly between the two. The introduction of the book is a clear

example. Since they live in very different situations in certain aspects but are very similar, in

both there are certain revolutions, but unlike England there is the revolution in another part of the

world, making the lives of the British intact, in a certain sense ( A Tale.) This makes it clear that

in this novel there are certain dangers and the author represents it as the sound of the footsteps of

the angry revolutionaries, this sound becoming louder little by little, it can even be seen with the

trials since there was a lot of distrust and concern on the part of the people since anyone could be

a traitor despite the possibility of accusing an innocent (see Appendix.)

The Influence of Dickens in Literature and Society

Charles Dickens is a very kind and compassionate person in which his kindness is reflected in his

works which have formed a great influence either in his time or in the present time, being one of

the most famous writers of his time (Ultius .) As we have already seen, Dickens' way of writing

is characterized by reflecting reality in one of his works "Pickwick Papers" in which one of his

characters is a fat boy, named Joe, the fat man, who has obesity problems and sleep, which this

writing influenced medicine. Doctors were amazed by Dickens' details. Many speculations were

made regarding Joe's disease, saying the child had hypothyroidism, hypothalamus,

hypopituitarism, etc. Dickens wrote about this child and other characters with different illnesses

and physical difficulties. Writing characters with asthma, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis,

restless leg syndrome, Parkinson's disease, chorea, Tourette's syndrome, cerebellar ataxia,

torticollis, supranuclear palsy, stroke, epilepsy, and even about alcoholism (Kryger.) Books by

Dickens not only helped the spread of information about diseases, but he also supported certain

organizations and children in terrible conditions. Since he lives in a family without resources and
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debt, he also brought part of what we know today about Christmas. In "Hard Time" Dickens

shows us the social problems of his time, what were the urbanization and dehumanization of

humans when treated as a machine and not as a being with emotions, teaching us that

imagination and fantasy will live in humans despite that system tries to make you think in an

orthodox and inflexible way (Diniejko.)

Conclusion

Charles Dickens' works are a mirror of the world's reality, being very painful, such as war,

poverty, politics, disease, and child abuse, among others. In my opinion, Dickens is an author

who deserves to be respected, since by giving realistic aspects to his characters, they seem easier

to sympathize with and understand. He is an author who makes you reflect on different topics,

without being afraid of telling you ugly things that happen in our reality. This generally pleases

me since thanks to him, many voices could echo in his works to reach more people.
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Work Cited

“A Tale of Two Cities at a Glance.” CliffsNotes,

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/a-tale-of-two-cities/a-tale-of-two-cities-at-a-glanc

e. Accessed 18 April 2023.

Bassell, William C. Adventures in English Literature. 1989. Edited by William Keach et al.,

Pegasus Edition ed., Orlando, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Pub. Machine generated ISBN

reference states author is Safier, Fannie. Adventures in English Literature. Harcourt

School, 1 June 1989.

Collins, Philip. "Charles Dickens". Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2023,

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Dickens-British-novelist. Accessed 17

April 2023.

Diniejko, Andrzej. “Charles Dickens as Social Commentator and Critic.” The Victorian Web, 7 Feb 2012,

https://victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/diniejko.html.

Kryger, Meir. “Charles Dickens: impact on medicine and society.” National Library of Medicine,

15 Jun 2012,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3365094/#:~:text=Besides%20his%20bri

lliant%20clinical%20descriptions,and%20the%20development%20of%20orthopedics.

McDonald, Laura. “A new definition of treason: the 1794 Treason Trials.” University of Georgia,

2009, https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/esploro/outputs/9949333240502959.

Ultius, Inc. "The 7 Most Epic Literary Writers of the Victorian Era." Ultius | Custom Writing and

Editing Services. Ultius Blog, 20 Sep. 2016.

https://www.ultius.com/ultius-blog/entry/the-7-most-epic-literary-writers-of-the-victorian

-era.html.
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Appendix

The Treason in French Revolution

Treason was a very severe punishment at the time of the Revolution since many people,

generally revolutionary, wanted to overthrow royalty and the aristocracy. But being a time of

utter uncertainty, people frequently accused others of treason, either because of the slightest

doubt that there was. Although there was a problem with the definition of treason at that time

since treason was defined in 1352 as an action against royalty, specifically against the king. The

definition of treason was:

1) Death: by compassing and imagining the death of the king, queen and/or prince, or by

killing and murdering the Chancellor, treasurer, Justices of one Bench or another in their

places doing their offices; 2) Violation: carnally to know the king‘s consort, or queen, the

king‘s eldest daughter unmarried, or the prince‘s wife; 3) Levying war against the king;

4) Adhering to the king‘s enemies within the realm, or without, and declaring the same

by some overt act; 5) Counterfeiting of the Great Seal, the Privy Seal or the king‘s coin 6)

Bringing into the realm counterfeit money to the likeness of the king‘s coins (McDonald.)

Treason in the French Revolution was not easy to define, since it could be treason against the

people, parliament, or royal royalty, in addition to other aspects pertaining to this novel, such as

leaving the country during the revolution. In the treason case in the novel, Charles was

completely innocent in this case, even though he was sentenced to death. Since it's not his fault

that his family was cruel enough to commit a massacre and imprison Lucie's father. In fact,

Lucie's father admits that Charles is innocent, as Charles cut ties with his family a long time ago

and they have nothing to do with each other. Dickens, being a lawyer, shows us how the "Law"

can be really unfair and imprison innocent people. He even admits how the law ignores certain
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details such as the family disconnection of the Evernotes, and the exchange of positions between

Charles and Sydney.