A Tale of Two Cities
comparing a piece of classic literature with Greek Myths
About this classic
The year is 1775 and a young orphan named Lucy Manette finds her father in a mentally unstable condition. After a couple of years she brings him back to sanity and meets two suitors as well. One of the suitors named Sydney Carton, who could be described as a jackal, but he is actually soft at heart man who tries to drink his sorrows away. The other suitor's name is Charles Darnay and he has a secret. He is actually the nephew of a terrible aristocratic marquis who kills the citizens of France without any sympathy. These two men actually look very much alike. Right after Lucy's marriage to Darnay, he is condemned for the mistakes of his ancestors by a revolutionary. Darnay is sent to the guillotine, but Carton sacrifices his life for a woman he could never have.
Main Characters
Charles Darnay is a kind and considerate young man who is abosutely devoted to his family, but he disagrees with his aristocratic uncle and doesn't even want to be associated with him.
Lucy Manette is kind and helpful to everyone and seems to be the center of Mr. Manette's, Carton's and Darnay's lives.
Carton 'the jackal' says he deos not care for a single soul, but his heart belong to Lucy.
Connecting a Tale of Two Cities with Mythology by intunealways
Connection 1; The love that Charles Darnay and Lucy Manette have is like the lovers Pyramus and Thisbe. Both couples could not live without the other.
Pyramus and Thisbe's undying love
This picture shows how Thisbe weeps for her dead Pyramus. She eventually commits suicide, because she cannot live life without him.
Charles and Lucy's undying love
When Lucy finds out that Charles will go to the guillotine she would have gone into depression if it were not for Carton's sacrifice.
connection 2; Carton sacrificed everything for Lucy's husband, Charles, just like Perseus did for his imprisoned mother.
Connection 3; Both Sydney Carton and Perseus receive an apotheosis, which is a reward given to the hero after the heroe's death. Athena turns Perseus and his family into a constellation in the sky that every generation can look upon. Carton has a sense of peace after his death and he watches as each generation tells his story.
Conclusion about my book and Greek Mythes
I enjoyed this book greatly. It has so many plot twists that make it intriguing. There were only little things in the book that I wish Charles Dickens wouldn't have included. Besides that the book gets a 5 star rating from me.
Many fiction writers take the old stories of mythology and turn it into their own, because, the plot of Greek myths is so well developed they could be modernized for every generation to enjoy.
Kiss The Rain - Yiruma by ahzmieyoom