RECALLED TO LIFE

Chapter 1: “The Period”

  1. Comment on the opening line: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” p. 1
  2. How is England portrayed in this chapter? How is France portrayed in this chapter?
  3. What is the effect of the descriptions of violence?

Chapter 2: “The Mail”

  1. What is the tone of the scene describing the walk up Shooter’s Hill?
  2. Who is the messenger who comes to find Mr. Lorry?
  3. Where does Mr. Lorry work?
  4. What is suggested in Mr. Lorry’s answer, “Recalled to life”?

Chapter 3: “The Night Shadows”

  1. Who do you think is speaking in this paragraph?
  2. Summarize the first paragraph.
  3. How is the journey affecting Mr. Lorry?

Chapter 4: “The Preparation”

  1. How is Mr. Lorry characterized in this chapter? How is Lucie Manette characterized in this chapter?
  2. What details do we now have about Dr. Manettte?
  3. How does Lucie react to the news? What impression do we have of the woman who goes into the room to help Lucie?

Chapter 5 “The Wine-shop”

  1. How are the people described in the opening scene of this chapter, after the cask of wine falls into the street and breaks open?
  2. Why does Dickens portray the people in this way?
  3. What is the significance of the broken wine cask and the word “BLOOD” on the call?
  4. What are our first impressions of Monsieur Defarge? What are our first impressions of Madame Defarge?
  5. Why do they call one another Jacques? (This relates to the Jacobins, a powerful political group during the French Revolution.)
  6. Why is Dr. Manette’s door kept locked?

Chapter 6 “The Shoemaker”

  1. How does Dickens describe our first view of Dr. Manette, and why?
  2. Why does Dr. Manette answer “One Hundred and Five, NorthTower” when asked his name?
  3. How does Dr. Manette recognize his daughter?
  4. Why does Lucie postpone telling her father the full story of her identity?
  5. Does Mr. Lorry believe that Dr. Manette can be “recalled to life”? Why or why not?

BOOK THE SECOND: THE GOLDEN THREAD

Chapter 1 “Five Years Later”

  1. In what ways is working at Tellson’s like being in a prison?
  2. Comment on the quotation, “Death is Nature’s remedy for all things”. p.47
  3. How does Jerry behave toward his wife?
  4. Why does Jerry call himself “a honest tradesman”?

Chapter 2: “A Sight”

  1. What are the gaol, the pillory, and the whipping post? What does it mean to draw and quarter someone?
  2. What is treason? Why is Charles Darnay charged with treason?
  3. How has Dr. Manette changed in five years?
  4. What does Jerry try to get off his fingers?

Chapter 3: “A Disappointment”

  1. Who are John Barsad and Roger Cly?
  2. Why does it pain Miss Manette to give evidence?
  3. What is our first impression of Sydney Carton?
  4. Why does Jerry Cruncher refer to the phrase “recalled to life”? p.70
  5. Why is Darnay acquitted?

Chapter 4: “Congratulatory”

  1. This section of the novel is subtitles “The Golden Thread.” Why is Lucie described as the “the golden thread” on page 71?
  2. How does Dr. Manette react to Charles Darnay on page 72?
  3. Why does Carton dislike Darnay? What does Carton think of himself?

Chapter 5: “The Jackal”

  1. This chapter is entitled “The Jackal.” What is a jackal, and which qualities are associated with it?
  2. Why is Stryver a lion and Carton a jackal?
  3. How do Carton and Stryver know each other?

Chapter 6 “Hundreds of People”

  1. Why does Dr. Manette keep his shoemaker’s tools?
  2. What is Mr. Lorry’s opinion of her brother, Solomon Pross?
  3. Why does Darnay tell Dr. Manette of his discovery in the Tower?

Chapter 7 “Monseigneur in Town”

  1. Who is Monseigneur?
  2. Comment on the description of the excesses on pages 94-95.
  3. The man leaving in the carriage is Monsieur the Marquis St. Evremonde. What happens as his carriage leaves area?
  4. Why does Dickens compare the people to rats?
  5. Why does Madame Defarge dare to look at the Marquis?”

Chapter 8: “Monseigneur in the Country”

  1. Who is caught under the carriage?
  2. How does the Marquis react to the woman’s petition?
  3. Who is the Marquis expecting?

Chapter 9: “The Gorgon’s Head”

  1. Who is the Marquis’s nephew?
  2. What does Darnay think of his uncle?
  3. Comment on Marquis’ words, “Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend, will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as the roof shuts out the sky.” p. 112
  4. Why does Darnay renounce his property and France
  5. Comment on the significance of Darnay’s statement, “I must do, to live, what others of my country men even with nobility at their backs, may have to do some day—work.” p. 114
  6. Who kills the Marquis?

Chapter 10: “Two Promises”

  1. Why does Darnay approach Dr. Manette first instead of speaking directly to Lucie about his feelings?
  2. What secret does Darnay start to reveal to Dr. Manette? Why does Dr. Manette stop him from saying more?
  3. Why does Dr. Manette return to his shoemaking after talking with Darney?

Chapter 11: “A Companion Picture”

  1. What is Carton’s reaction to Stryver’s declaration of love for Lucie?
  2. What is Stryver’s opinion about marriage and home?

Chapter 12: “The Fellow of Delicacy”

  1. Why does Stryver describe matrimony as if he were approaching a trial?
  2. Why does Stryver feel he will undoubtedly succeed?
  3. What is funny about the discussion between Mr. Lorry and Stryver?
  4. How does Stryver react to Mr. Lorry’s report?

Chapter 13: “The Fellow of No Delicacy”

  1. Why does Carton wander the streets? Why does Carton prefer that Lucie not love him?
  2. Why does he tell her of his love?

Chapter 14: “The Honest Tradesman”

  1. The funeral is for Robert Cly. Where have we met him before?
  2. Comment on the sentence “…for a crowd in those times stopped at nothing, and was a monster much dreaded.” p. 143
  3. What “wenturs” (ventures) is Jerry planning on for that night?
  4. Why does young Jerry say that the fishing rod “gets rusty”? p. 146
  5. Why does Cruncher keep an eye on his wife during the evening?
  6. What are Cruncher and his friends doing?
  7. What is a “Resurrection-Man”?
  8. How does Cruncher react when he realizes that his son knows about his grave-robbing adventures?

Chapter 15: “Knitting”

  1. Why do the Jacques gather to talk?
  2. The prisoner who has been hung is Gaspard. How do the Jacques react to the news?
  3. What does it mean to be “registered”? p. 18
  4. Whose “chateau and all the race” will be exterminated? p. 158
  5. Why does Madame Defarge answer, “Shrouds” when the road-mender asks her what she knits?

Chapter 16: “Still Knitting”

  1. Where have we seen John Barsad before?
  2. In what ways will the Revolution be like an earthquake?
  3. How is Madame Defarge described in this chapter?
  4. Why does she pin a rose in her head-dress? Who comes into the wine-shop?
  5. Why does Barsad reveal that he knows the Manettes? What is Madame Defarge’s reaction to the story?

Chapter 17: “One Night”

  1. Why does Dickens move directly to Lucie’s wedding and not include details of the time leading up to it?
  2. Why does Dr. Manette mention his imprisonment for the first time since Darnay’s trial?

Chapter 18: “Nine Days”

  1. Why is Dr. Manette so pale before the wedding?
  2. Why does he return to shoemaking?

Chapter 19: “An Opinion”

  1. What does Dr. Manette remember about the previous nine days?
  2. Why does Mr. Lorry use the story of a hypothetical friend to tell Dr. Manette what has happened to him?
  3. Comment on Dr. Manette’s statement, “You see, it is such an old companion.” p. 189
  4. Why has Miss Pross look like “she were assisting at a murder” and she and Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross look like accomplices in a horrible crime”? p. 190
  5. Should the shoemaker’s bench and tools have been destroyed?

Chapter 20: “A Plea”

  1. Why does Carton offer his friendship to Darnay?
  2. What is Darnay’s reaction? What is Lucie’s reaction?

Chapter 21: “Echoing Footsteps”

  1. Why does Dickens describe “the golden thread again? p. 194
  2. Why does Lucie think about footsteps at her “own early grave”? p. 194 What happens to Lucie’s second child, a son?
  3. Why does Carton want the privilege of visiting uninvited, but rarely uses it?
  4. What kind of woman does Stryver marry?
  5. Why are Parisians sending their goods to Tellson’s?
  6. Why does Dickens repeat “footsteps” so often?
  7. Why does Dickens repeat the description of the Bastille? p. 199-200
  8. Why does Defarge want to know the meaning of “105, NorthTower”?
  9. What does Defarge find in Dr. Manette’s old cell?

Chapter 22: “The Sea Still Rises”

  1. Comment on the line, “The fingers of the knitting women were vicious, with the experience that they could tear.” p. 205
  2. What is the connotation of the red cap (also called the liberty cap)?
  3. What is the Vengeance like?
  4. Why does Dickens describe Madame Defarge acting “as a cat might have done to a mouse” as she lets Toulon go? p. 208
  5. Why does Dickens describe Foulon’s death in such graphic detail?

Chapter 23 “Fire Rises”

  1. How are the land and the people described at the opening of this chapter?
  2. What is the function of the story about the road-mender and the traveler?
  3. Why must the chateau burn? Why don’t the villagers kill Gabelle?

Chapter 24 “Dawn to the Loadstone Rock”

  1. What is a loadstone (also spelled lodestone)?
  2. Why is Tellson’s the center of Monseigneur?
  3. Why does Mr. Lorry want to go to France in spite of the Revolution?
  4. What is the reaction of the group to the letter from Gabelle addressed to “Monsieur heretofore the Marquis St Evremonde?
  5. Why does Darnay decide to go to Paris and help Gabelle?

BOOK THE THIRD: THE TRACK OF STORM

Chapter 1: “In Secret”

  1. As this chapter opens, how may years has the Revolution been going on?
  2. Comment on the slogan, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”
  3. What is the significance of the phrase “universal watchfulness”? p. 229-30
  4. Why must Darnay have an escort to Paris?
  5. Why does the escort wear the three-colored hat?
  6. Why is France banishing al emigrants and forbidding them to return?
  7. Who are the patriots? Who is Darnay’s escort?
  8. What does the phrase “in secret” mean? p. 235
  9. Why does Defarge refuse to help Darnay?
  10. What is happening in the last paragraph of this chapter?

Chapter 2: “The grindstone”

  1. Why isTellson’s now in Monseigneur’s house?
  2. How does the crowd react to Dr. Manette?
  3. Why are the sun and the grindstone red?

Chapter 3: “The Shadow”

  1. Why does Mr. Lorry hesitate to ask Defarge for help in sheltering Lucie and her family?
  2. Who brings the message for Dr. Manette to Mr. Lorry?
  3. What is the real reason for Madame Defarge’s accompanying Mr. Lorry and her husband?
  4. How does Madame Defarge react to little Lucie? Why is Madame Defarge still knitting?

Chapter 4: “Calm in Storm”

  1. What ironies does Dr. Manette see as he helps dress a man’s wound outside the prison?” 252
  2. Why has the Guillotine replaced the Cross?
  3. How long has Darnay been in prison in this chapter?

Chapter 5 “The Wood-sawyer”

  1. In what ways is Lucie’s behavior admirable?
  2. What occupation did the wood-sawyer use to have?
  3. Why is it required to address others as “citizen” and citizeness”?
  4. Why do people use the nickname, the “Little Saint Guillotine”? p. 259
  5. Why do people dance so wildly in the Carmagnole?

Chapter 6: “Triumph”

  1. What is our impression of the Tribunal?
  2. Why do people come to watch the trials and the executions?
  3. Why does the Tribunal free Darnay?

Chapter 7 “A Knock at the Door”

  1. Why does the slogan now say, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death”? p. 269
  2. Why is this new version of the slogan ironic?
  3. Why would it be dangerous for Darnay to leave the country right now?
  4. Why is Darnay arrested again? Who has denounced him?

Chapter 8: “A Hand at Cards”

  1. Who does Miss Pross see? How does Solomon Pross react to seeing his sister?
  2. How does Jerry Cruncher remember seeing Solomon?

Chapter 9: “The Game Made”

  1. Why is Jerry’s answers, “Agricultooral character,” funny?
  2. Why does Carton ask Mr. Lorry if anyone will weep for him when he dies?
  3. Why does Carton remember Jesus’s words about resurrection and life after death?
  4. Why does Dickens repeat the Biblical passage about resurrection? p. 292
  5. How are the Jacques Three described?
  6. What is the reaction to Dr. Manette’s being named as one of Darnay’s accusers?

Chapter 10: “The Substance of the Shadow”

  1. What is the content of Dr. Manette’s letter?
  2. Why does the woman say, “My husband, my father, and my brother!” p. 301
  3. What does the wife of the Marquis do to make amends?
  4. What oath does Dr. Manette swear in his letter? In what way is Dr. Manette’s letter ironic?
  5. How does Madame Defarge react after the letter is read?

Chapter 11: Dusk”

  1. Why doesn’t Darnay hold Dr. Manette responsible for his approaching execution?

Chapter 12: “Darkness”

  1. Why does he decide to refrain from alcohol?
  2. Why does he pretend to read a Jacobin journal in the wine-shop?
  3. What does Madame say about Carton’s appearance?
  4. What is the connection between Madame Defarge and the woman attended by Dr. Manette many years before?
  5. Why does Dr. Manette look for his shoemaking equipment?
  6. What is Madame Defarge planning to do about Lucie?

Chapter 13: “Fifty-two”

  1. What are Darnay’s thoughts as he sits in prison?
  2. Why doesn’t he think of Carton?
  3. Why does Carton dictate the letter for Darnay to write down?
  4. What happens to Carton as he talks with the seamstress?

Chapter 14: The Knitting Done”

  1. How does Madame Defarge arrange for the arrest of the Manette family?
  2. Why does Madame Defarge underestimate Miss Pross?
  3. Why can’t Miss Pross hear anything?

Chapter 15: “The Footsteps Die Out for Ever”

  1. How does Carton comfort the seamstress?
  2. Why does Dickens include the prayer about resurrection once again?
  3. What commentary is Dickens making about mob behavior?
  4. Why are the tumbrils compared to ploughs?
  5. Why do the women continue to knit?
  6. Dickens concludes the novel with words that Carton might have said if he had had the chance before he died. What does Carton see in the future?
  7. Comment on the last line: “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.”