A Tale of Two Cities Essays: Irony -- Tale Two Cities Essays

Irony in A Tale of Two Cities somebody at one time said Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is a affirm message upon which many writers have built their literature. One effective devise which employs this theme is A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles dickens. This novel is practice in Paris and London during the late eighteenth century. During this period, France was engaged in a revolution in which the otherwise common man roseate up against the countrys aristocracy. In its outset, the novel reveals the motives behind the plebeians actions. Dickens focuses upon the strife the township experience at the hands of the merciless nobility. By the novels end, however, Dickens achieves an about-face. The on the job(p) class wields its new source of power to reek vengeance upon the aristocracy. In an ironic twist, Dickens displays how power can corrupt those even were once threatened by it. To convince the reader of the oppression the townspeople face, Dicke ns employs motifs. By providing a reoccurring phrase, the reader gains a sense of the distress which makes up every aspect of their lives. On such example of this is as follows smart was pushed out of the tall houses, in the wretched clothing that hung upon poles and lines Hunger was uneven into them with straw and rag and wood and paper Hunger was repeated in every fragment of the small modicum of firewood that the man sawed off Hunger stared trim from the smokeless chimneys, and started up from the filthy street that had no offal, among its refuse, of anything to eat. Hunger was the history on the bakers shelves, written in every small loaf of his meagerly stock of bad bread at the sausage-shop, in every dead-dog readiness that was offered... ...nd the reader. One man in particular approaches Darnay. The narrator says, In the name of the assembled companions in misfortune, said a gentleman of courtly appearance and address, coming forward, I have the honour of giving you w elcome to La Force Prison, and of condoling with you on the hazard that has brought you among us. May it soon terminate happily (p. 254-255). Remarkablely, Dickens succeeds in spell the merciless noblemen into martyrs. The ironic role reversal is very effective in displaying Dickens theme. People naturally try to find a protagonist and antagonist in any story. The reader soon becomes perplexed, until finally she decides that it is simply human beings nature to both abuse positions of power and require them in society. deeds CitedDickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. London Orion Publishing Group, 1994.