双城记的主要内容版.docx

1、双城记的主要内容版双城记的主要内容版 双城记主要内容英文版 A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a historical novel by Charles Dickens. The plot centres on the years leading up to the French Revolution and culminates in the Jacobin Reign of Terror. It tells the story of two men, Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, who look similar but a

2、re very different in personality. Darnay is a romantic French aristocrat, while Carton is a cynical English barrister. However, the two are in love with the same woman, Lucie Manette. Other major characters in the book include Dr. Alexandre Manette (Lucies father), who was unjustly imprisoned in the

3、 infamous Bastille for many years under a lettre de cachet, and Madame Defarge, a female revolutionary with a grudge against the Evrmonde family. Plot summary edit Book the First: Recalled to Life Jarvis Lorry travels to Dover to meet a young woman, Lucie Manette, in 1775. When he arrives, he inform

4、s her that her father, Doctor Manette, whom she previously believed to be dead, has actually been incarcerated as a prisoner in Paris for the past eighteen years, and has recently been released by the French government. Tellsons Bank is sending Lorry to identify the doctor (who had been one of Tells

5、ons clients) and bring him to England. The news upsets Lucie greatly; he tries to fort her, but Miss Pross takes over when she fears he has frightened Lucie too much. The story shifts abruptly to Saint Antoine, a suburb of Paris, where a cask of wine accidentally splits and spills on the ground. The

6、 poor seize the unexpected windfall, jubilantly drinking the wine off the street. Watching the degradation in disgust is Defarge, the owner of a wineshop and leader of a band of revolutionaries. Afterwards, she goes back into her shop and talks to a group of fellow revolutionaries, who call each oth

7、er Jacques. Mr. Lorry and Lucie Manette arrive and Defarge takes them to his apartment to see Dr. Manette. The doctor is, to all appearances, pletely mad. He sits in a dark room all day making shoes, as he did while in prison. Lucie takes him to England. edit Book the Second: The Golden Thread Five

8、years later (1780), Dr. Manette has recovered from his ordeal. French emigre Charles Darnay is tried at the Old Bailey for spying. Those testifying against him are a John Barsad and a Roger Cly, who claim that he had been reporting on English troops in North America to the French. Dr. Manette and hi

9、s daughter vouch for Darnay because he had sailed with them on their voyage to England. In the end, Darnay is acquitted because the witnesses are unable to tell him apart from junior defense counsel Sydney Carton, who bears a striking resemblance to him. Carton is depicted unflatteringly as a drunka

10、rd; conversely Darnay is set out as a handsome, gallant victim of a deficient British legal process. Carton es enamoured with Lucie and jealous of Darnay. In Paris, the Marquis St. Evrmonde, Darnays uncle, is returning from an audience with Monseigneur, one of the greatest lords in France, when his

11、coach runs over and kills the son of the peasant Gaspard; he throws a coin to Gaspard to pensate him for his loss; in the assembled crowd is the implacable tricoteuse, Madame Defarge. She throws the money back, enraging the Marquis and leading him to exclaim that he would willingly kill any of the p

12、easants of France. On his way back to his chteau, the Marquis passes through a village, where a road mender tells him that he saw a man clinging to the bottom of his carriage. The Marquis has his servant investigate, but no one is found. Darnay returns to France to meet his uncle. Their political po

13、sitions are diametrically opposed: Darnay is a democrat, while the Marquis is an adherent of the ancien rgime. The Marquis is portrayed as a cruel, heartless nobleman: Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend, observed the Marquis, will keep the do

14、gs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof, looking up to it, shuts out the sky. That night, Gaspard, the man who had ridden underneath the carriage, murders the Marquis in his sleep. Gaspard is later captured and hanged for his crime. Returning to England, Darnay asks Dr. Manette for his consent

15、 to marry Lucie. He is not the only suitor however. Both Stryver, Cartons patron (by way of ic relief) and, more seriously, Carton himself, are captivated by her. Carton is the only one who reveals his feelings directly to Lucie_Stryver is convinced of the futility of his aspirations, and Darnay pro

16、poses the marriage to Dr. Manette. When Carton confesses his love to Lucie, he admits he is incapable of making her happy; she has inspired him to lead a better life, but he lacks the energy to follow through. However, he promises to embrace any sacrifice for her or one that she loves. Meanwhile, Da

17、rnay agrees to reveal his true surname to Dr. Manette on the morning of his marriage to Lucie. In Paris, Monsieur and Madame Defarge foment Jacobin sympathies. Madame Defarge takes the long view, as opposed to her husband, who is impatient to bring on the revolution. They learn, from an informant wi

18、thin the police, that a spy is to be quartered in Saint Antoine. He is John Barsad, one of those who had given false testimony against Darnay. The following morning, Barsad enters the Defarges wine shop, but Madame Defarge recognizes him from the description she had been given. Barsad acts as an age

19、nt provocateur and tries to lead her into discussing the impending execution of the unfortunate Gaspard. In the course of the conversation, he mentions that Darnay is to be married to Lucie Manette. On the morning of the marriage, Darnay, at Dr. Manettes request, reveals who his family is, a detail

20、which Dr. Manette had asked him to withhold until then. Unfortunately, this unhinges Dr. Manette, who reverts to his obsessive shoemaking. His sanity is restored before Lucie returns from her honeymoon; to prevent a further relapse, Lorry destroys the shoemaking bench which Dr. Manette had brought w

21、ith him from France. Later, in mid-July 1789, Jarvis Lorry visits the Darnays and tells them of the uneasiness in Paris. The scene cuts to the Saint Antoine fauborg for the storming of the Bastille, with the Defarges in the lead. With the hated prison in revolutionary hands, Defarge enters Dr. Manet

22、tes former cell. He uncovers a manuscript which the inmate had written during his confinement, hidden by that same inmate on the inside of a chimney, condemning the Evrmondes, pere et fils (father and son), for his wrongful imprisonment and the destruction of his family. In the summer of 1792, a let

23、ter is delivered to Tellsons bank, addressed to the heir of the Marquis of Evrmonde. The letter recounts the news of the imprisonment of one of the Marquis retainers, Gabelle, and beseeches the new Marquis to e to his aid. By chance, though the bank is unaware of his identity, Darnay receives the le

24、tter. He makes plans to travel to Paris, where the Reign of Terror is running its bloody course, blithely indifferent to the danger. Lorry is sent on ahead with a (cryptic) message to the imprisoned Gabelle that he is on his way. edit Book the Third: The Track of a Storm In Beauvais, erstwhile home

25、of Dr. Manette, Darnay is denounced by the revolutionaries as an emigrant, an aristocrat, and a traitor. His military escort takes him to Paris, where he is imprisoned. Dr. Manette and Lucie along with Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, and the daughter of Charles and Lucie Darnay, Little Lucie, leave Lond

26、on for Paris and meet with Mr. Lorry. Dr. Manette tries to use his influence as a well-known former prisoner of the Bastille to have his son-in-law freed. He manages to protect Darnay on the night that mobs kill thousands of less-fortunate prisoners. After a year and three months, Dr. Manette succes

27、sfully defends Darnay at his trial. However, that evening, Darnay is put on trial again, under new charges brought by the Defarges and one unnamed other. While Miss Pross and Mr. Cruncher are on their way to the market, they stop at a tavern to buy wine. There, Miss Pross finds her long-lost brother

28、, Solomon Pross, now a revolutionary official. Neither is happy with the meeting. Jerry Cruncher then recognizes him as John Barsad. Sydney Carton, to their surprise, joins the party and confirms this. He then blackmails Solomon Pross, telling him that he knows that he is a spy, as he had overheard

29、his conversation inside the tavern, and a double agent, working for both the French and British governments at different times. Pross reluctantly gives in to Cartons demands. When Darnay is brought back before the revolutionary tribunal, he is confronted by Defarge, who identifies Darnay as the Marq

30、uis St. Evremonde and reads from the paper found in Dr. Manettes cell. The document describes how he had been locked away in the Bastille by the deceased Marquis Evrmonde and his twin brother for trying to report their horrific crimes against a peasant family. The younger brother had e infatuated wi

31、th a girl. He had kidnapped and raped her and killed her husband, brother, and father. Prior to his death, the brother had hidden the last member of the family, his younger sister, somewhere safe. The paper concludes by condemning the Evrmondes and all of their descendants, therefore adding Dr. Mane

32、ttes condemnation to those of the Defarges. Darnay is consigned to the La Force Prison and is sentenced to be guillotined within twenty-four hours. Carton, while wandering the streets at night, stops at the Defarge wine shop, where he overhears Madame Defarge talking about her plans to have Darnays

33、entire family condemned. Carton discovers that she was the survivor of the ill-fated family mentioned in Dr. Manettes letter. He quickly informs Mr. Lorry and urges him and the others to leave France as soon as possible. On the day of his execution, Darnay is visited by Carton, who, because of his lo