Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A Tale of Two Cities Lecture Notes

  • 1857: wrote "The Frozen Deep"
    • inspired A Tale of Two Cities.
    • self sacrifice
    • love triangle
  • 1857: fell in love with actress name Ellen and left wife
    • Ellen inspired Lucie's character
      • Other characters:
      • Charles Darney and Sydney Carton (originally named Dick Carton)
        • doubleness of character
        • Charle's Dickens' initials
  • 1858: public readings for prophit
    • separated from wife
    • left his editors
  • 1859: new editor
    • first three chapters of A Tale of Two Cities are pubished
  • experiences in London gave him a "profound knowlege of the city"
    • a dark and fascating place
    • "everything is there and disconnected
  • Paris: 1844
    • "most extraordinary place in the world"
    • strange, striking things
    • half size of London
    • visited 15 times
    • public charity readings
    • last visit was 2 years before his death
    • vibrant modernizing city
      • had a darker side:
      • dark, wicked place, but wonderfully attractiv
      • liked visiting the Morgue
        • public attraction
        • attraction of repulsion
  • Worlds of London and Paris were the same in his story
  • people were haunted by memory of French Rev.
    • very brave for confronting that fear in his story
      • published in weekly and monthly volumes
        • restricted his focus
    • "Best story I've ever written"
  • 1860: first stage version of book
  • 1899: The Only Way
    • another stage play
  • 1908: Silent film
  • 1935: sound film
  • Thomas Carslisle
    • friends with Dickens
    • influence
    • "History of the French Revolution"

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