3.3. A Tale of Two Cities

Beginning and ending with some of English literature's most famous lines, Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities thrives on tension and conflict, all set against a bloody backdrop of the French Revolution.

It is late in the year of 1775. After 18 years as a political prisoner in the Bastille in France, the aging Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter, the beautiful and kind Lucie Manette, in England. There, the lives of two very different men—Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer—become enmeshed through their love for the lovely Lucie. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the treacherous streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the shadow of the guillotine.

This is the plot summary:

The year is 1775 and Dr. Manette, imprisoned unjustly 18 years ago, has been released from the Bastille prison in Paris. His daughter, Lucie, who had thought he was dead, and Jarvis Lorry, an agent for Tellson's Bank, which has offices in London and Paris, bring him to England.Skip ahead 5 years to 1780. Frenchman Charles Darnay is on trial for treason, accused of passing English secrets to the French and Americans during the American Revolution. He is acquitted when eyewitnesses prove unreliable partly because of Darnay's resemblance to barrister Sydney Carton. In the years leading up to the fall of the Bastille in 1789 Darnay, Carton, and Stryver all fall in love with Lucie Manette. Carton, an irresponsible and unambitious character who drinks too much, tells Lucie that she has inspired him to think how his life could have been better and that he would make any sacrifice for her. Mr. Lorry persuades Stryver, Carton's barrister friend against taking Lucie's hand, now a close friend to the Manettes. Lucie marries Darnay and they have a daughter. Meanwhile, in France, Darnay's uncle the Marquis St. Evremonde is murdered in his bed for crimes committed against the people. Charles has told Dr. Manette of his relationship to the French aristocracy, but no one else. By 1792 the revolution has escalated in France. Mr. Lorry receives a letter at Tellson's Bank addressed to the Marquis St. Evremonde whom no one seems to know. Darnay sees the letter and tells Lorry that he knows the Marquis and will deliver it. The letter is from a friend, Gabelle, wrongfully imprisoned in Paris and asked the Marquis (Darnay) for help. Knowing that the trip will be dangerous, Charles feels compelled to go and help his friend. He leaves for France without telling anyone the real reason. On the road to Paris, Darnay (St Evremonde) is recognized by the mob and taken to prison in Paris. Mr. Lorry, in Paris on business, is joined by Dr. Manette, Lucie, Miss Pross, and later, Sydney Carton. Dr. Manette has influence over the citizens due to his imprisonment in the Bastille and is able to have Darnay released but he is retaken the next day on a charge by the Defarges' and is sentenced to death within 24 hours. Sydney Carton has influence on one of the jailers and is able to enter the cell; drug Darnay, exchange clothes, and have the jailer remove Darnay, leaving Carton to die in his stead. On the guillotine Carton peacefully declares, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

Source: http://www.answers.com/Q/Short_summary_of_a_Tale_of_Two_Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,  it was the epoch of belief,it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.

It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. Spiritual revelations were conceded to England at that favoured period, as at this. Mrs. Southcott had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday, of whom a prophetic private in the Life Guards had heralded the sublime appearance by announcing that arrangements were made for the swallowing up of London and Westminster.