Summary of A Tale of Two Cities , Chapter one

Admin المساهمات : 13 تاريخ التسجيل : 10/12/2010

A Tale of Two Cities
Chapter One Recalled To Life
The Period
The year is 1775 and the settings are London and Paris, two lands ruled by monarchs. England is on the brink of the American Revolution. The French Revolution seems inevitable, with trees waiting to be converted to guillotines and the spirit of rebellion silently infecting the countryside. Similar disturbances are common across England, with highway robberies on the increase and thievery reaching all the way into high society. Executions are common for both minor and major offenses.
The Mail
Mr. Jarvis Lorry, a confidential clerk at Tellson's Bank of London, is on his way to Dover in a mail-coach. It is a cold night and he is wrapped up to the ears, so his physical appearance is concealed from his fellow-passengers, all of whom are strangers. The coachman fears his passengers just as they fear one another, since highway robberies are exceedingly common and any of them could be in league with robbers. So when he hears a horse galloping towards the coach on the road, he becomes fearful.
Jerry Cruncher, the rider of the horse, asks for Mr. Lorry, giving him a paper message to wait at Dover for a young lady. Mr. Lorry's cryptic reply is, "recalled to life." After this exchange, Mr. Lorry gets back in the coach, which continues to Dover. Jerry pauses and reflects on the long, hard gallop he had from London and muses to himself that he has been given a very strange message.
The Night Shadows
All humans are mysteries to one another. Despite the availability of their outer appearances, the three passengers remain a mystery to one another as they advance upon Dover. Jerry Cruncher returns to Temple Bar remaining uneasy about the cryptic message.
Mr. Lorry dozes off and begins to dream in the coach, imagining the comforting environment of Tellson's Bank. He is then confronted by what he calls a spectre: a man who has been buried for eighteen years and has dug his way out. A conversation that Mr. Lorry's brain repeats three times with this spectre confirms that he has been buried for eighteen years. As the sun rises, Mr. Lorry wakes up from his dream and surveys the vivid countryside, pitying a man who would be locked away from nature for eighteen years.
The Preparation
Mr. Lorry arrives in Dover in the mail coach, settles in, and takes his breakfast alone in the coffee-room. A conversation with a waiter establishes that Tellson's Bank operates both in London and Paris, but Mr. Lorry has not traveled to Paris for fifteen years. Mr. Lorry finishes his breakfast, strolls by the ocean, and then returns for a bottle of claret. His peace is disrupted by a lady referred to as Mam'selle (Miss Manette), who requests to see him immediately.
He sees her in her room and expresses emotion at the sight of her, recalling that he carried her as a babe in arms across the Channel. Miss Manette is an orphan whose financial affairs are managed by Tellson's Bank, and she was informed that Mr. Lorry would accompany her on a journey to France--and that he would have some surprising news for her. After a few false starts, Mr. Lorry manages to compose himself and tell Miss Manette that her French father (who had married an Englishwoman, who was Miss Manette's mother) was still alive in France. He was recovered after years of imprisonment and is now living in the house of an old servant in Paris.
Miss Manette understands what a wreck her father must be, and she is distressed to imagine that she is being carried to see her father's ghost, rather than her real father. Mr. Lorry describes their mission as one to spirit him away from France to England--and that they should avoid naming the matter, explaining the rescue as the enigmatic experience of being "recalled to life." Miss Manette is overcome, and she swoons. Her servant comes to her rescue, pushing Mr. Lorry out of the way to administer smelling-salts.

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