Charles
Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities
which was published in 1859. The novel takes place in Paris and London
before and during the French Revolution. Through the actions of the characters,
Dickens compares the social and political situations of the two cities. Below
are the opening paragraphs of the book. He describes the opening time period of
the book which is 1775.
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It was
the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was
the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was
the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going
direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period,
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good
or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
There
was a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England;
there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne
of France. In
both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves
of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.
