AN ANALYSIS OF CHARLES DICKENS

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Presented By:
Nany Soengkono ( 2101040067)

 CHAPTER I
PLOT ANALYSIS OF A TALE OF TWO CITIES
A. Beginning
Exposition
Dr. Manatte was a physician, a member of Telsons bank.
He had spent eighteen years in Bastille (a prison in French).
Because of that, he was mad and prematurely aged and his
activities were only cobbling shoes. Dr. Manatte had a

daughter named Lucy who was seventeen years old, pretty;
blonde, young woman an she has a golden hair. She had
traveled with Mr. Jervis Lorry to look for Lucys father after he
had been imprisoned for eighteen years.
Charles Darnay was one of French nobleman, prisoner and
young man of about twenty- five years old and he was tall.
He earned a living as a tutor and courts. He had married
Lucie after a long competition with Sydney Carton (Darnays
friend) and Sydney cartoon was a lawyer in the court. Darnay
was put on a trial a number of times because of his family.
 Initial Conflict
When Lorry was an agent of Telsons bank, he had
traveled from England to French to find Dr. Alexander
Manatte. On the way of his journey, every one whom he met
was suspicious people, exactly people in the coach that he
had already gotten in, because on that time the condition in
both England and French were very frightening. It was an

age when even cities people might easily being robbed and
killed by villains. After arriving at Dover ( a city of England
near to the beach ) Lorry waited for Lucie whom he had
already sent message for. Then, they continued to French to
go to Earnest Devarges house. Earnest Devarge was the
owner of the wine shop in Saint Antonio that was miserable
district of Paris. There Dr. Manatte was saved after he had
gotten out from the Bastille. Lucie and Lorry met Dr. Manatte
in the second floor. Lucy had fainted when she had seen her
father was cobbling shoes. Finally they induced.
 Rising Conflict
Five years later, Dr. Manatte, Lucie and Lorry were
called to French to witness the aftermath of a crime
committed by two noblemen. The man of defendant was
Darnay, and Dr. Manatte also attempted to report the
incident to the royal court. When the witness couldnt
identify Darnay clearly because of his likeness to Sydney
Cartoon, so Darnay was acquitted.

Darnay and Cartoon enamored to Lucy. Then both of them
said to Lucy and her father about their feeling, and the
lucky man was Darnay. Lucie and Darnay were married.
After they got married, Dr. Manatte floured up from his
illness because he worried that Lucie would divide her
attention. Lorry knew about that condition, recently he
called Lucie and her husband to go back to her fathers
house. Finally, Lucie could rescue her father that her love
for Charles Darnay wouldnt alter her love to her father.
B. MIDDLE
1. Complication
In French 1789 people started to revolt, storming

the Bastille, burning Chateaux, and murdering or
imprisoning the member of former regime. With the
French revolution in full fury and after eleven years
of happy married and the births of Darnay daughter,
Darnay remembered his family in French and he
decided to return to his native country. Without
telling to his wife he left to French. There he
immediately seized and jailed as an enemy of the
state.
Lucie, Dr. Manete and her daughter arrived in
Paris soon, they hoped to assist Darnay if they can.
When Darnays trial finally came up Dr. Manatte
could score his acquittal.
2. Suspense
Lucie was very pretty woman. Everyone who had
met her would interest with her. And the reader
question is who can conquer her heart?

3.Climax
Unexpectedly, Darnay was rearrested in the

someday because of madam Defarge, a leading
revolutions that went to exterminate the entire
Evrymondes family for personal reason. Finally, Darnay
was tried, gotten punishment and sentenced to death
by Tribunal. This condition made Dr. Mannate relapsed
from his old demented.
C. END
Sydney Carton has known Lucie and her family
condition from Lorry, so he immediately arrived at
Paris and learned of Darnay new trial and
impending exception.
Carton told to lorry to have carriage prepared an
hour before the execution. Then he entered to

Darnay cell through spy and informer. He dragged
Darnay and changed places. And under Mr. Lorry
protection, Darnay, his wife, his child, Dr. Manatte
successfully escaped from French while Carton
when to guillotine, he sacrifices himself for pure
love for Lucie Darnay, and for renewing the
condition of cruelty state toward society to a
wealthy nation and society.
 CHAPTER II
CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF A TALE OF TWO CITIES

A. PROTAGONIST
1. Dr. Alexander Manette
He was Lucies father, a prisoner for nearly eighteen years in
the bastille because he has witnessed the aftermath of a crime
committed by two noblemen, the Evrymondes, and has
attempted to report the incident to the court. He gradually

recovers from his imprisonment with the aid of his daughter and
later tries to pay back by rescuing her husband, Charles Darnay
from the guillotine. It seems that Dr. Manatte has been made a
folk hero from French revolution.
2. Lucie Manatte
She was pretty, blonde young woman who has a
compassionate nature and power to inspire a great love and
loyalty in others. Lucie only learns of her father existence at
seventeen. When she summoned to rescue him with Mr. Lorry,
then she get married Charles Darnay.
3. Jarvis Lorry
He has paratactic role. He takes Lucie as an infant in England,
rescues her father from French and aids to escape of his friend
French revolution. He was a bachelor and an elderly man of
business. He still has a great natural affection. He always befriends
the Manettes whom he performs many valuable services.

4. Sidney Carton

He is Darnays double and alter ego, a frustrated alcoholic. He
analyses cases for the lawyer who makes fortune picking in his
brains. The only noble part of his live is his caste love for Lucie. We
tend to assume that a mature man would havent forgotten about
Lucie when she married Darnay and would have found someone
else, but Carton insists on loving Lucie till has sacrifices himself to
save his friend to the guillotine because of the devotion to Lucie.
He is the culture- hero who ritually slaughtered of his own free, so
the society might renew it, a prospect of his envision before he
dies.
5. Charles Darnay
He is French nobleman in England. He rejects his
father and everything the Evrymonde stand for, moves
to England and Anglicizes his mothers name and
Renounces his family inheritance. He earns living as a
tutor and court and marries Lucie Manette. He is put on
trial a number of times because he is considered as en
enemy of the state motivated by family honor and desire

to expiate his family crime. He keeps being imprisoned
from which he must be rescued.

6. Ernest
He was a Dr. Manette as a boy and he seems to have
filial reverence for him during the revolution. As a
revolutionary leader Defarge generally follows his wife,
but he wants to spare the doctor and Lucie and her
daughter.
B. ANTAGONIST
1. Marquis ST Evrymonde
He is Darnays wicked uncle, a predatory aristocrat who is
murdered by revolutionist. He is the cause of Madam
Defarges family tragedy and of doctor Manates long
imprisonment. His concept honor consists of getting what you
want regardless of the consequences. But he has no influence
at court and viciously frustrated.

2. Madam Defarge

She is the wife of Ernest Defarge, a fierce, vindictive
woman. Because her entire family perished when she was
young girl, Madam Defarge wants revenge not merely on the
family that caused the evil but on the entire class from which
it comes. What makes her such a threatening figure is her
stubborn patience, which bides its time until it can strike. In
this she is like such natural force and when the opportunity
arrives, she is ferocious an unrelenting.
3. Monseigneur the marquis
He is a greedy, mercenary France aristocrat whose
goods and property are confiscated during the
revolution.

C. Mayor Character
Dr. Alexander Manette
Lucie Manatte
Jarvis Lorry

Sidney Carton
Charles Darnay
Ernest Defarge
Madam Defarge
Marquis ST Evrymonde
D. Minor Character
1. Jacques one, two, three, and four
They are secret society of revolutionaries who plan
and precipitate the French Revolution.

2. Jeremy (Jerry) Cruncher

He was the porter at Telson and Jarvis Lorrys
errand-man, a rough, surely, comic figure who is
secretly a body-snatcher.
3. Mrs. Cruncher
Shes Jerrys wife, a pious woman who is frequently
beaten by her husband for praying.
4. Young Jerry Cruncher
He was the son of Jerry Cruncher
5. Roger Cly
He is a police spy in England who also informs against
Darnay and who becomes a prison in revolutionary France.
6. John Barsad
Hes a police spy in England who also informs against
Darnay and who becomes a prison spy in revolutionary
France.
7. Gabelle

He is the steward of Everemondes and a local tax
collector who is imprisoned and released during the
revolution.
8. Gaspard
He is the assassin of Marquist St. Everemonde after the
marquis run his child down.
9. Young Lucy Darnay
She is the child of Lucy and Charles Darnay

10.Foulond
He is an arrogant aristocrat who is hanged
after the storming of the Bastille.

11. A Seamstress
She is a pathetic pas young woman who was

sentenced to be executed with Darnay.

12. Road-Mender
He is a man initiated into the revolutionary
movement by the Defarges.
 CHAPTER III
THE SETTING ANALYSIS OF A TALE OF TWO CITIES

A Tale of two cities was set predominantly in London and Paris, the
two major of the world both at the time of French revolution, it
started in late of November 1775.
The Detailing of The Setting Can be seen in The Following
Statement.

The Setting of Time

1. Dec. 1775 Dr. Manette sent the St. Evrymonde crime and is
imprisoned.
2. Dec. 1776 Dr. Manette wrote his manuscript in prison and hid it.
3. Dec. 1775 released, Manette was taken an insane condition to
England.
4. April 1780 Darnays trial
5. Aug. 1780 Sunday in Soho
6. Aug. 1780 Darnay seen his uncle, uncle was slain
7. Aug. 1781 Darnay, Strayver and Canton make their avowals to
Lucie
9. Aug. 1781 Carton visited Darnay
10. Aug. 1783 Young Lucie Born
11. July 1789 storming of the Bastille, Revolution
began
12. July 1789 Burning of the Evrymonde
chateaux
13. Aug. 1792 Darnay went to revolutionary

French, and was imprisoned
14. Sep. 1792 Dr. Manette and Lucie arrive in
Paris, and Manette save Darnay from slaughter by
the Mob
15. Dec. 1793. Darnays trial actuated. Darnay
rearrested.
Darnays trial condemned. Carton changed places
with Darnay; Darnay escaped.
B. The Setting of Place
1. Mr. Lorry, an agent of Tellsons Bank was sent by his firm a
confidential mission to Paris, his object was to find the find Dr.
Alexander Manette.
2. When the coach reached the inn Dover (England) later in the
morning, Mr. Lorry asked a servant : will there be a boat to Calais
(French)
3. At Paris Lucie Lorry went to Defarges wine shop and
discovered the Dr. Manette in a dreadful state.

4. Lorry and Lucie and Dr. Manette were called as witness in a trial
at Old Bailey.
5. The people revolted storming the Bastille, burning chateau
6. Darnay and Carton went to Dr. Manettes house to tell their
feeling
7. There immediately seized and jailed in the prisoner
Charles Darnay was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by
Tribunal.
Carton went to Guillotine.
8. There immediately seized and jailed in the prisoner
9. Charles Darnay was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by
 CHAPTER IV
THEME ANALYSIS OF A TALE OF TWO CITIES

A. SUPPORTING THEME
1. Love Sacrifice
From the first story we had known that how dipper
Lucies love to her father. Because of she wanted to meet
to her father, she had to make journey with Lorry,

someone whom he had known more before. She fainted
when she was watching to her farther was cobbling the
shoes.
Because of love, both Darnay and Carton always had
to go and back between London and Paris. And Carton
had to go to guillotine to prove his pure love to Lucie
Darnay.

 2. Recall to Live
Lorry and Lucie made journey to French to take Dr. Alexander
Manatte up. After he had been buried in the prison for about
eighteen years and he became mad and prematurely aged. They
wanted to store to sanity and health. When Dr. Manatte flared up

from his illness, Lucie, Darnay and Lorry always used give their
attention to make him health like before.
Dr. Manette, Lucie, Lorry, Darnay always tried to help Darnay
until he could escape from the prison.

3. The Aristocracy oppression toward a walking class
We know that the noblemen and aristocracy in France behave
whatever they please without considering the rights and suffering
of human being under their authority. As if they were god, so that
their judgments and rules must be obeyed by the people,
otherwise the people will be imprisoned or even be sentenced to
death. Here, in the novel A Tale of Two Cities the noblemen and
aristocracy mean the Evrymondes that are represented by
Marquis ST.Evrymonde, Monseignour the Marquis, Foulon, etc.

 4. Duality
We know that tale of two cities was set predominantly
in both London and French. Both of them are very
different in socially and psychologically. The middle class

idyll in London is a retreat from the class war face and
people might be easily robbed by the villain. While in
French shows the far distinction between the poor and
aristocracy lives. People could be punished or even be
sentenced to death for not bowing the rules of
aristocracy.

B. MAIN THEME
We can take a conclusion from the supporting theme
above that the main theme of Tale of Two Cities is The
Resurrection of Poor and Peasant People against
the Cruelty and Oppression of Aristocracy.

 CHAPTER V
VALUES IN A TALE OF TWO CITIES

In this research, the researchers find some values. In

this are philosophical, ethical and religious values since
Charles Dickens explicit social ideas in this novel are
rudimentary. They amount to no more than this: the French
Revolution was inevitable because the aristocracy exploited
and plundered the poor until they were driven to revolt.
Thus, oppression on a large scale results in anarchy.
Anarchy in turn produces a police state. One of the Dickens
strongest convictions was that the English people might
erupt at any moment into a mass of bloody revolutionist. It
is clear now that he was mistaken, but the idea was firmly
planted in his mind, as well as in the minds of his
contemporaries. A Tale of Two Cities was partly an attempt
to show his readers the dangers of a possible revolution.
This was not the first time a simple and incorrect conviction
became the occasion for a serious and powerful work of art.
 This doesnt mean that Dickens fears of revolution
in England were unfounded. In the 1830s and 1840s the
dissatisfaction of industrial workers reached alarming
national proportion with the Chartist movement and the
unemployed were always a threat. But Chartism had lost
much of its force by the 1850s owing to an increase in
general prosperity. However, Dickens felt the roots of
rebellion remained untouched. Almost all of Europe was

caught up in violent revolutionary activity during the first
half of the nineteenth century, and it was natural for
middle class Englishmen to fear the widespread rebellion
might take place at home. Dickens knew what poverty
was like how common it was. He realized how inadequate
philanthropic institution were, confronted by the
enormous misery of the slums. It is not surprising that
Dickens turned to the French Revolution to dramatize the
possibility of class uprising. Few events in history offered
such a concentration of terrors.
 If the terror of the Revolution take a
political form, the hope that Dickens holds out in
this novel has distinct religious qualities. In a very
basic way, A Tale of Two Cities is a fable about
resurrection. And the central figure of the fable is
Sydney Cartoon, who reenacts figuratively the
expiatory death of Christ. However, Dickens puts

the Christian doctrine of salvation on a secular
basis, leading not to another- worldly heaven but
to the survival of Cartoons friends and to the
regeneration of society. These matters will be
taken up more fully later on. At this point, it is
sufficient to note that in this book Dickens drew
on a hope that is perennial that is in fact
necessary to the life of the spirit. Resurrection is
one of the great abiding themes of Western
Brief synopsis of a Tale of Two Cities
The year is 1775, and its a time of social ills plague
both France and England. Jerry Cruncher, an odd-job-
man who works for Tellsons 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 escort Lucie to Paris, where they meet
Defarge, a former servant of Doctor Manette, who has
kept Manette safe in 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 Darnays
case, but it not until his drunk, good-for-nothing
colleague, Sydney Carton, assist 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 the prosecutions case for
unmistakably identifying Darnay as the spy the
authorities spotted. Lucie and Dr. Manette
watched the court proceedings, and that night,
Carton escort Darnay to tavern and asks how it
feels to receive the sympathy of a woman like
Lucie. Carton despises and resent Darnay
because he reminds him of all that he himself has
 In France, the cruel Marquis Evrymonde runs down a plebian child
with are carriage. Manifesting an attitude typical of the aristocracy in
regard to the poor at that time, the Marquis shows no 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 identify as
an Evrymonde and announces his intention to return in 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 this 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 Clys
body. In Paris, meanwhile, another English spy known as John Barsad
drops into defarges wine-shop. Barsad hopes 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 Darnays return, Carton pays him a
visit and asks for his friendship. Darnay assures
Carton that he is always welcomed 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 strees, and
Gabelle, a man changed with the maintenance of the
Evrymonde estate is imprisoned. Three years later,
he writes to Darnay, asking to be rescued. Despite
the threat of great danger to his person, Darnay
 As soon as Darnay arrives in Paris, the French
revolutionaries arrest him as an emigrant. Lucie and
Manette make their ways 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 him free, Manette
uses his considerable influence 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 and obtains the help of
John Barsad, who turn out to be Solomom Pross, the long-
lost brother of Miss Pross, Lucies loyal servant.
At Darnays trial, Defarge produces a letter that he
discovered in Manettes old jail cell in the Bastille. The
letter explains the cause of Manettes imprisonment.
Many years ago, the brothers Evrymonde (Darnays
Father and uncle) enlisted Manettes 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 evremondes 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
Defarges wine-shop, Carton overhears Madame Defarge plotting
to have Lucie and her daughter (also Darnays daughter) executed
as well, Madame Defarge, it turn out, is the surviving sibling of the
man and woman killed by the Evremondes. Carton arranges for
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 Carto, disguised as Darnay, awaits execution.
As Darnay, Lucie, their child, and Dr. Manette speed away
from Paris, Madame Defarge arrives at Lucies apartment, hoping
to arrest her. There she finds the supremely protective Miss pross.
A scuffle ensues, and Madame Defarge dies by the bullet of her
own gun. Sydney Carton meets his death at the guillotine for the
better society and for the pure love to Lucie.
 The Biography of Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, the son of John and
Elizabeth Dickens. John Dickens was a clerk in the Naval Pay Office. He had
a poor head for finances, and in 1824 found himself imprisoned for debt. His

wife and chiWarren's Blacking Factory, ldren, with the exception of Charles,
who was put to work at joined him in the Marshalsea Prison. When the
family finances were put at least partly to rights and his father was
released, thetwelve-year-oldDickens, already scarred psychologically by
the experience, was further wounded by his mother's insistence that he
continue to work at the factory. His father, however, rescued him from that
fate, and between 1824 and 1827 Dickens was a day pupil at a school in
London. At fifteen, he found employment as an office boy at an attorney's,
while he studied shorthand at night. His brief stint at theBlacking Factory
haunted him all of his life he spoke of it only to his wife and to his closest
friend,John Forster but the dark secret became a source both of creative
energy and of the preoccupation with the themes of alienation and betrayal
which would emerge, most notably, inDavid Copperfieldand in
Great Expectations.
In 1829 he became a free-lance reporter at Doctor's Commons Courts, and
in 1830 he met and fell in love with Maria Beadnell, the daughter of a
banker. By 1832 he had become a very successful shorthand reporter of
Parliamentary debates in the House of Commons, and began work as a
reporter for a newspaper.
 In 1833 his relationship with Maria Beadnell ended, probably
because her parents did not think him a good match (a not very
flattering version of her would appear years later inLittle Dorrit).In the
same year his first published story appeared, and was followed, very
shortly thereafter, by a number of other stories and sketches. In 1834,

still a newspaper reporter, he adoptedthesoon to be famous
pseudonym "Boz." His impecunious father (who was the original of Mr.
Micawber inDavid Copperfield, as Dickens's mother was the original for
the querulous Mrs. Nickleby) was once again arrested for debt, and
Charles, much to his chagrin, was forced to come to his aid. Later in his
life both of his parents (and his brothers) were frequently after him for
money. In 1835 he met and became engaged to Catherine Hogarth.
The first series ofSketches by Bozwas published in 1836, and
that same year Dickens was hired to write short texts to accompany a
series of humorous sporting illustrations by Robert Seymour, a popular
artist. Seymour committed suicide after the second number, however,
and under these peculiar circumstances Dickens altered the initial
conception ofThe Pickwick Papers, which became a novel (illustrated
byHablot K. Browne, "Phiz," whose association with Dickens would
continue for many years).The Pickwick Paperscontinued in monthly
parts through November 1837, and, to everyone's surprise, it became
an enormous popular success.
 Dickens would continue for many years).The Pickwick
Paperscontinued in monthly parts through November 1837,
and, to everyone's surprise, it became an enormous
popular success. Dickens proceeded to marry Catherine

Hogarth on April 2, 1836, and during the same year he
became editor ofBentley's Miscellany, published (in
December) the second series ofSketches by Boz, and met
John Forster, who would become his closest friend and
confidant as well as his first biographer.
After the success ofPickwick, Dickens embarked on a
full-time career as a novelist, producing work of increasing
complexity at an incredible rate, although he continued, as
well, his journalistic and editorial activities.Oliver Twistwas
begun in 1837, and continued in monthly parts until April
1839. It was in 1837, too, that Catherine's younger sister
Mary, whom Dickens idolized, died. She too would appear,
in various guises, in Dickens's later fiction. A son, Charles,
the first of ten children, was born in the same year.
 Nicholas Nicklebygot underway in 1838, and continued through October 1839, in
which year Dickens resigned as editor ofBentley's Miscellany. The first number
ofMaster Humphrey's Clockappeared in 1840, andThe Old Curiosity Shop, begun
inMaster Humphrey, continued through February 1841, when Dickens
commencedBarnaby Rudge, which continued through November of that year. In
1842 he embarked on a visit to Canada and the United States in which he
advocated international copyright (unscrupulous American publishers, in particular,
were pirating his works) and the abolition of slavery. HisAmerican Notes, which
created a furor in America (he commented unfavorably, for one thing, on the
apparently universal and, so far as Dickens was concerned, highly distasteful
American predilection for chewing tobacco and spitting the juice), appeared in

October of that year.Martin Chuzzlewit, part of which was set in a not very
flatteringly portrayed America, was begun in 1843, and ran through July 1844.A
Christmas Carol, the first of Dickens's enormously successful Christmas books
each, though they grew progressively darker, intended as "a whimsical sort of
masque intended to awaken loving and forbearing thoughts" appeared in
December 1844.
In that same year, Dickens and his family toured Italy, and were much abroad, in
Italy, Switzerland, and France, until 1847. Dickens returned to London in December
1844, whenThe Chimeswas published, and then went back to Italy, not to return
to England until July of 1845. 1845 also brought the debut of Dickens's amateur
theatrical company, which would occupy a great deal of his time from then on.The
Cricket and the Hearth, a third Christmas book, was published in December, and
hisPictures From Italyappeared in 1846 in the "Daily News," a paper which
Dickens founded and of which, for a short time, he was the editor.
 In 1847, in Switzerland, Dickens beganDombey and Son,
which ran until April 1848. TheBattle of Lifeappeared in December
of that year. In 1848 Dickens also wrote an autobiographical
fragment, directed and acted in a number of amateur theatricals, and
published what would be his last Christmas book,The Haunted Man,
in December. 1849 saw the birth ofDavid Copperfield, which would
run through November 1850. In that year, too, Dickens founded and
installed himself as editor of the weeklyHousehold Words, which
would be succeeded, in 1859, byAll the Year Round, which he edited

until his death. 1851 found him at work onBleak House, which
appeared monthly from 1852 until September 1853.
In 1853 he toured Italy with Augustus Egg andWilkie Collins,
and gave, upon his return to England, the first of many public
readings from his own works.Hard Timesbegan to appear weekly
inHousehold Wordsin 1854, and continued until August. Dickens's
family spent the summer and the fall in Boulogne. In 1855 they
arrived in Paris in October, and Dickens beganLittle Dorrit, which
continued in monthly parts until June 1857. In 1856 Dickens and
Wilkie Collins collaborated on a play,The Frozen Deep, and Dickens
purchased Gad's Hill, an estate he had admired since childhood.
 The Dickens family spent the summer of 1857 at a renovated
Gad's Hill. Hans Christian Anderson, whose fairy tales Dickens
admired greatly, visited them there and quickly wore out his
welcome.Dickens's theatricalcompany performedThe Frozen
Deepfor the Queen, and when a young actress namedEllen Ternan
joined the cast in August, Dickens fell in love with her. In 1858, in
London, Dickens undertook his first public readings for pay, and
quarreled with his old friend and rival, the great novelist Thackeray.
More importantly, it was in that year that, after a long period of

difficulties, he separated from his wife. They had been for many
years "tempermentally unsuited" to each other. Dickens, charming
and brilliant though he was, was also fundamentally insecure
emotionally, and must have been extraordinarily difficult to live with.
In 1859 his London readings continued, and he began a new
weekly,All the Year Round. The first installment ofA Tale of Two
Citiesappeared in the opening number, and the novel continued
through November. By 1860, the Dickens family had taken up
residence at Gad's Hill. Dickens, during a period of retrospection,
burned many personal letters, and re-read his ownDavid Copperfield,
the most autobiographical of his novels, before beginning
Great Expectations, which appeared weekly until August 1861.
 1861 found Dickens embarking upon another series of
public readings in London, readings which would continue through
the next year. In 1863, he did public readings both in Paris and
London, and reconciled withThackerayjust before the latter's
death.Our Mutual Friendwas begun in 1864, and appeared
monthly until November 1865. Dickens was in poor health, due
largely to consistent overwork.
In 1865, an incident occurred which disturbed Dickens
greatly, both psychologically and physically: Dickens and Ellen

Ternan, returning from a Paris holiday, were badly shaken up in a
railway accident in which a number of people were injured.
1866 brought another series of public readings, this time in
various locations in England and Scotland, and still more public
readings, in England and Ireland, were undertaken in 1867.
Dickens was now really unwell but carried on, compulsively,
against his doctor's advice. Late in the year he embarked on an
American reading tour, which continued into 1868. Dickens's
health was worsening, but he took over still another physically and
mentally exhausting task, editorial duties atAll the Year Round.
 During 1869, his readings continued, in England,
Scotland, and Ireland, until at last he collapsed,
showing symptoms of mild stroke. Further provincial
readings were cancelled, but he began uponThe
Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Dickens's final public readings took place in London
in 1870. He suffered another stroke on June 8 at Gad's
Hill, after a full day's work onEdwin Drood, and died

the next day. He was buried at Westminster Abbey on
June 14, and the last episode of the unfinishedMystery
of Edwin Droodappeared in September.

 Thanks

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