A Tale of Opposites

In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens immediately establishes at the onset of the novel the recurring element of contrast through the imposition of a sharp contrast as the first section of text:

 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 (Dickens 13).

Dicken’s use of this prolonged antithesis to the extent where a paradox begins to take shape highlights the notion of binary opposites so stylistically significant to this work.  The juxtaposition of opposing ideals uncovers the idea of opposition and the clash between ideologies that will resonate throughout the narrative, whether between specific characters or social attitudes.  The utilization of this contrast as the description of setting also introduces a chaotic structure into the arena within which the elements of the novel will unfold.  In his description, Dickens utilizes diametrically different means of referring to the exact same situation such that his proximate placement of opposing ideas demonstrates that characters can view the same events with complete differences in attitude and perspective.  Perspective shifts or multiplication result in dilemma and undesired choice, conflicts that will eventually pepper the narrative.  Lastly, the description resides in the “superlative degree of comparison only” and the realm of the extreme (Dickens 13).  This extremism thus acts as foreshadowing for the French Revolution and its radicalism, a central basis of the story.  Lastly, through the employment of anaphora and parallelism, Dickens draws heightened attention to this important excerpt of text.

When Mr. Lorry receives a message in the darkness of night, he responds with the message “recalled to life” (Dickens 19).  After this first appearance, this expression is later continually echoed throughout the narrative.  This very concise message again reinforces the element of contrast so elaborately developed at the onset of the novel.  The conciseness of the expression itself is a contrast against the highly ornamented character of the introduction.  “Recalled to life” symbolizes a movement about the boundary between the darkness of death and the vibrancy of life (Dickens 19).  The line, by being a beckon to motion, conveys an origin and a destination in a set of two images, one of lively vigour and the other of lifeless dilapidation, establishing a vivid light and dark imagery.  The use of the word “recall” also emphasizes the importance of memory, and its association to the sense of richness.  Memory enriches the psychological groundwork from which the emotions of love and hate grow.  This may foreshadow that the narrative will feature many interpersonal emotions that are activated purely by the motivation of memory.

As Mr. Lorry waits in Dover, he observes the sea changing to a very thunderous state of existance:

The little narrow, crooked town of Dover hid itself away from the beach, and ran its head into the chalk cliffs, like a marine ostrich.  The beach was a desert of heaps of sea and stones tumbling wildly about, and the sea did what it liked, and what it liked was destruction.  It thundered at the town, and thundered at the cliffs, and brought the coast down, madly (Dickens 27).

The sea imagery featured again establishes the element of contrast.  However, in this case, the contrast is ordered into a sequential progression of events.  Although not explicitly described, the image of the sea theoretically develops from a calm state to a very destructive state.  A jumbled orchestral disunity gradually overtakes the silence and tranquility of the initial state, in a rising crescendo that grows with strength and might.  This development is emblematic of the shift from innocence to violence and from a pacifist atmosphere to a warlike atmosphere.  In this sense, the imagery of the sea represents a volta based upon imagery, foreshadowing sinister developments to the plot.  This foreshadowing is twofold, having both a short term and long term effect.  At its point of presentation, the narrative of the story remains very simple and undeveloped.  As such, the presence of this imagery signals the immediate development of an ominous event, which translated as Lucie Manette’s sudden realization that her father remains alive.  However, a longer term variant of foreshadowing based upon the implied movement from innocence to violence and from quiet to loud suggests the broader themes of and the forebodingness of the approaching French Revolution.  The initially peaceful state is influenced by increasing stresses and tensions, leading to the eventual eruption of revolutionary violence.  This increase in tension is further reinforced by the order of titles to the different books, “Recalled to Life”, “The Golden Thread”, and “The Track of a Storm”.