4/5/2020 SparkNotes: A Tale of Two Cities: Plot Overview

A Tale of Two Cities

Study GuideNO FEAR Translation

Summary Characters Main Ideas Quotes Further Study Writing Help

Plot Overview

The year is 1775, and social ills plague both France and England. Jerry Cruncher, an odd-job man
who works for Tellson’s Bank, stops the Dover mail-coach with an urgent message for Jarvis
Lorry. The message instructs Lorry to wait at Dover for a young woman, and Lorry responds with
the cryptic words, “Recalled to Life.” At Dover, Lorry is met by Lucie Manette, a young orphan
whose father, a once-eminent doctor whom she supposed dead, has been discovered in France.
Lorry escorts Lucie to Paris, where they meet Defarge, a former servant of Doctor Manette, who
has kept Manette safe in a garret. Driven mad by eighteen years in the Bastille, Manette spends
all of his time making shoes, a hobby he learned while in prison. Lorry assures Lucie that her love
and devotion can recall her father to life, and indeed they do.

The year is now 1780. Charles Darnay stands accused of treason against the English crown. A
bombastic lawyer named Stryver pleads Darnay’s case, but it is not until his drunk, good-for-
nothing colleague, Sydney Carton, assists him that the court acquits Darnay. Carton clinches his
argument by pointing out that he himself bears an uncanny resemblance to the defendant, which
undermines the prosecution’s case for unmistakably identifying Darnay as the spy the authorities
spotted. Lucie and Doctor Manette watched the court proceedings, and that night, Carton
escorts Darnay to a tavern and asks how it feels to receive the sympathy of a woman like Lucie.
Carton despises and resents Darnay because he reminds him of all that he himself has given up
and might have been.

In France, the cruel Marquis Evrémonde runs down a plebian child with his carriage. Manifesting
an attitude typical of the aristocracy in regard to the poor at that time, the Marquis shows no
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/twocities/summary/ 1/5
4/5/2020 SparkNotes: A Tale of Two Cities: Plot Overview

regret, but instead curses the peasantry and hurries home to his chateau, where he awaits the
arrival of his nephew, Darnay, from England. Arriving later that night, Darnay curses his uncle and
the French aristocracy for its abominable treatment of the people. He renounces his identity as
an Evrémonde and announces his intention to return to England. That night, the Marquis is
murdered; the murderer has left a note signed with the nickname adopted by French
revolutionaries: “Jacques.”

A year passes, and Darnay asks Manette for permission to marry Lucie. He says that, if Lucie
accepts, he will reveal his true identity to Manette. Carton, meanwhile, also pledges his love to
Lucie, admitting that, though his life is worthless, she has helped him dream of a better, more
valuable existence. On the streets of London, Jerry Cruncher gets swept up in the funeral
procession for a spy named Roger Cly. Later that night, he demonstrates his talents as a
“Resurrection-Man,” sneaking into the cemetery to steal and sell Cly’s body. In Paris, meanwhile,
another English spy known as John Barsad drops into Defarge’s wine shop. Barsad hopes to turn
up evidence concerning the mounting revolution, which is still in its covert stages. Madame
Defarge sits in the shop knitting a secret registry of those whom the revolution seeks to execute.
Back in London, Darnay, on the morning of his wedding, keeps his promise to Manette; he reveals
his true identity and, that night, Manette relapses into his old prison habit of making shoes. After
nine days, Manette regains his presence of mind, and soon joins the newlyweds on their
honeymoon. Upon Darnay’s return, Carton pays him a visit and asks for his friendship. Darnay
assures Carton that he is always welcome in their home.

The year is now 1789. The peasants in Paris storm the Bastille and the French Revolution begins.
The revolutionaries murder aristocrats in the streets, and Gabelle, a man charged with the
maintenance of the Evrémonde estate, is imprisoned. Three years later, he writes to Darnay,
asking to be rescued. Despite the threat of great danger to his person, Darnay departs
immediately for France.

As soon as Darnay arrives in Paris, the French revolutionaries arrest him as an emigrant. Lucie and
Manette make their way to Paris in hopes of saving him. Darnay remains in prison for a year and
three months before receiving a trial. In order to help free him, Manette uses his considerable
in uence with the revolutionaries, who sympathize with him for having served time in the Bastille.
Darnay receives an acquittal, but that same night he is arrested again. The charges, this time,
come from Defarge and his vengeful wife. Carton arrives in Paris with a plan to rescue Darnay

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/twocities/summary/ 2/5
4/5/2020 SparkNotes: A Tale of Two Cities: Plot Overview

and obtains the help of John Barsad, who turns out to be Solomon Pross, the long-lost brother of
Miss Pross, Lucie’s loyal servant.

At Darnay’s trial, Defarge produces a letter that he discovered in Manette’s old jail cell in the
Bastille. The letter explains the cause of Manette’s imprisonment. Years ago, the brothers
Evrémonde (Darnay’s father and uncle) enlisted Manette’s medical assistance. They asked him to
tend to a woman, whom one of the brothers had raped, and her brother, whom the same brother
had stabbed fatally. Fearing that Manette might report their misdeeds, the Evrémondes had him
arrested. Upon hearing this story, the jury condemns Darnay for the crimes of his ancestors and
sentences him to die within twenty-four hours. That night, at the Defarge’s wine shop, Carton
overhears Madame Defarge plotting to have Lucie and her daughter (also Darnay’s daughter)
executed as well; Madame Defarge, it turns out, is the surviving sibling of the man and woman
killed by the Evrémondes. Carton arranges for the Manettes’ immediate departure from France.
He then visits Darnay in prison, tricks him into changing clothes with him, and, after dictating a
letter of explanation, drugs his friend unconscious. Barsad carries Darnay, now disguised as
Carton, to an awaiting coach, while Carton, disguised as Darnay, awaits execution. As Darnay,
Lucie, their child, and Dr. Manette speed away from Paris, Madame Defarge arrives at Lucie’s
apartment, hoping to arrest her. There she nds the supremely protective Miss Pross. A scu e
ensues, and Madame Defarge dies by the bullet of her own gun. Sydney Carton meets his death
at the guillotine, and the narrator con dently asserts that Carton dies with the knowledge that he
has nally imbued his life with meaning.

Next section
Five Key Questions

A Tale of Two Cities: Popular pages

CHARACTERS
Character List

CHARACTERS
Sydney Carton: Character Analysis

MAIN IDEAS
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/twocities/summary/ 3/5