A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens: Foreshadowing a Revolution

A Tale of Two Cities depicts a very vivid picture of the French Revolution. From Charles Dickens' use of imagery to his dramatic use of foreshadowing, the reader is practically transported back in time to witness the events occurring all over France and England. Although, the revolt doesn't start until the middle of the book, the reader can sense it from the start. Dickens foreshadows in many different ways, but most of them can be summed up in three categories- creation, symbolism, and destruction.

Creation is used many times in, A Tale of Two Cities, as a foreshadowing device, but before understanding it as a device, the meaning must be understood. In this case creation is implicating birth or the start of an event, as seen when Dickens brings about Dr. Manette's resurrection into society. This begins with Lorry's dream of "the buried man who had been dug out... wondering what subtle powers were for ever lost to him"(45). The device continues to be used all the way up to the climax of the Revolution with the birth of "the great sharp female," or "Little Sainte Guillotine". Although several of the events, which are foreshadowed, seem to predict dire situations, some predict otherwise- such as the birth of Little Lucie. It seems that her birth makes the Darnay couple into a real family, and her birth appears to suggest that they, as a group, are enhanced and therefore will be together in the end. Charles Darnay even embraces his wife and assures her that they "shall meet again, where the weary are at rest" (312).

Symbolism is one of the most used devices in this book. Even some of the chapters are named after the themes used for foreshadowing such as "Knitting". Knitting was used to show how out of control the revolutionaries were getting, as the story progressed Madame Defarge was depicted knitting more and more. Starting with the day when Gaspard's son is killed and Madame Defarge is, "the woman who stood knitting [looking] up steadily, and [looking] at the Marquis in the face" (102). This foreshadows not only the death of the Marquis but also defiance to come. Red is also another symbol, which foreshadows death in the story. When "a large cask of wine had been dropped and broken...