Name ______Date ______
A Tale of Two Cities
Book I, Chapter 4- “The Preparation”
I. Notes
As Mr. Lorry emerges from his room at the Royal George, the curious servants hover nearby to see what he looks like after shedding his bulky winter coat and hat. Similarly, Dickens' readers also wait for Dickens to reveal Mr. Lorry and his secret. As Dickens fills in the physical details of Mr. Lorry's person, he is signifying that the details of Mr. Lorry's character and his mission will also soon be revealed.
What you discover is that, although Mr. Lorry insists that he is simply a man of business with no more feelings than a machine, he is actually a kind man who is deeply troubled by the Manettes' situation. His concern is apparent in his dreams about digging out Doctor Manette and in the gentle way in which he discloses to Lucie that her father is alive; he initially presents her father's story as the story of an anonymous customer to give her time to adjust to the shocking news. Notice, however, that although Mr. Lorry's mission is no longer a secret, the resolution to one mystery leads to another — why was Doctor Manette secretly imprisoned?
II. Vocabulary and Translations
1. forenoon- morning; the part of the day before noon.
2. drawer- a bartender; tapster.
3. packet- a boat that travels a regular route, as along a coast or river, carrying passengers, mail, and freight.
4. Calais- a seaport in northern France, on the Strait of Dover; located across the English Channel from Dover.
5. claret- a dry, red wine, especially red Bordeaux.
6. linen- things made of linen; in this case, shirts.
7. piscatory flavor- a fishy flavor.
8. horsehair- a stiff fabric made from the hair of the mane or tail of a horse.
9. Channel- the English Channel.
10. pier glass a tall mirror set on a pier, or wall section, between two windows.
11. Beauvais a town in France north of Paris.
12. pecuniary- of or involving money.
13. compatriot- a fellow countryman.
14. "the privilege of filling up blank forms-"members of the French aristocracy could issue warrants for the indefinite imprisonment of their enemies without a trial.
15. Grenadier wooden measure- a tall, cylindrical measuring cup.
16. smelling salts- an aromatic mixture of carbonate of ammonium and some fragrant scent used as an inhalant in relieving faintness, headaches, and the like.
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III. Comprehension Questions
- Describe Lucie Manette. How does her appearance contrast with the room at the Dover inn where Jarvis meets her?
- How do Mr. Lorry's dress and age suggest that he is, like the bank which he represents, the very essence of respectability, stability, and tradition?
- What does Lucie say about her background and family history? Does she know Jarvis?
- What news is given Lucie by Jarvis Lorry? How specifically does he deliver the news to her? How does Jarvis describe himself? What phrase or phrases does he keep repeating to describe the task of delivering this news?
- Why does the brawny, red-haired woman get so angry at Mr. Lorry?
- Why had Mrs. Manette maintained the fiction for Lucy that her father was dead?
- How does this chapter make Lorry's cryptic message to Jerry clear?
- What detail in Dickens' portrait of the "wild-looking woman" is at once imposing yet humourous?