双城记英文书评材料

This novel shapes three deep figures.
One is the Marquis St. Evrémonde's brother, as a representative of the feudal aristocracy, the only unshakable philosophy for them is oppressing people, and they are the object for the author to put pain and lash.
Another is the revolutionary masses like Mr. and Mrs. Defarge. It must be pointed out that their image is distorted. For example Mrs. Defarge, she was born in a farm family who was insulted and persecuted by the feudal aristocracy, with depth regret. The author deeply sympathizes with her misery, and before and after revolution broke out he very admire her strong character, best talents and special organization and leadership skills. But when the revolution further, it shows her cold, fierce and narrow. Especially when she went to the doctor's to search Lucie and her little baby, she is a bloodthirsty lunatic. Finally, she died in her own gun.
The third type is idealized person: they are in the author's mind use humanitarian resolving social contradictions, use love overcome hate. Including Dr Manette and his daughter, Charles Draney, Sydney Carton, etc. Love can advance everything. Like Dr Manette's family was destroyed by the Marquis St. Evrémonde, but for the love of his daughter, he abandon the feudal hate; Darney is marquis's nephew, but he relies the guilty his family did, then he give up what he would get and determine use his own action to atonement. Those person one is victim of noble's tyranny, tolerate everything; another is the heir to the marquis. That is the love, almost their daughter and wife, Lucie, let them forget the sin. They make a happy life! It is an opposite way to solve the social problem by violence. The style of the novel is solemn, depressed, full of worried and indignant.
As is common in English literature, good and evil are symbolized with light and darkness. Lucie Manette is the light and Madame Defarge is darkness. Darkness represents uncertainty, fear and peril. It is dark when Mr. Lorry rides to Dover; it is dark in the prisons; dark shadows follow Madame Defarge; dark, gloomy doldrums disturb Dr. Manette; his capture and captivity are shrouded in darkness; the Marquis’s estate is burned in the dark of night; Jerry Cruncher raids graves in the darkness; Charles's second arrest also occurs at night. Both Lucie and Mr. Lorry feel the dark threat it is Mrs. Defarge. "That dreadful woman seems to throw a shadow on me," remarks Lucie. Although Mr. Lorry tries to comfort her, "the shadow of the manner of Mrs. Defarges was dark upon herself". Mrs. Defarge is "like a shadow over the white road", the snow symbolizing purity and Madame Defarge's darkness corruption. Dickens also compares the dark color of blood to the pure white snow: the blood takes on the shade of the crimes of its shedders
A tragedy of the history 历史悲剧
Crazily, but truthfully, I finished reading the most part of the novel "A Tale of Two Cities" in just one day. Lost in the story, I felt like being together with the characters and experiencing the same exciting events. Soon it came to an end. To tell you my feelings, it’s infinite sadness and a strong emotion that can drive me to cry.
The story is set in London and Paris at the time of the great French Revolution. It shows the causes of revolution and its effects on people's day-to-day lives. Before the
revolution, the King and the aristocracy treated their people cruelly in France. The common people were extremely poor and miserable. The crops in the fields were poor as if even the land shared the misery of the people. And there were so heavy taxes that all the villagers had nothing to hand over at last. On the other hand, the aristocracy made their will as the law by using money and gold. There were no justice, no equality and no fairness. Just as what happened to Dr Manette, he wrote to the Minister to show the crime what Marquis St. Evrémonde had done, resulting in himself being arrested and sent to the prison Bastille without any reason.
Then this situation of darkness was needed to be changed. As people such as the Defarges prepared and arranged, at length the Revolution came to break out. When the Bastille was captured and the King was tried and put to death as well as many other aristocrats, things didn't go on as what they had been expected. The situation stayed the same or even worse. The prisoners from the Bastille were set free while more prisons were filled with people who had done no wrong again. People who once lived on the bottom of class took the charge now and their heart had been full of evil. The only thing they wanted to do was to revenge. And these so-called "patriots" would like to see more and more innocent prisoners going to the guillotine and that's their joy. As the novel wrote, “In everything they did were merciless, for they had been hardened in the fires of suffering and the touch of pity could make no mark on them".
Equality and fairness is what people seek, which led to the French Revolution. As a consequence, neither equality nor fairness was got after the revolution. And that's the tragedy of the history. I was heavyhearted when reading what Sydney Carton said before death and I burst into tears finally.
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens. The key events take place just before and during the French Revolution. The novel is set mostly in London and revolutionary Paris.
In my opinion, it is a tale about love, tolerance and revenge.
First of all, let's turn to love. It is the love of Sydney Carton that makes this book so impressive. When Sydney Carton hears that Lucie Manette will get married to Charles Darnay, instead of being angry, he promises Lucie that he would give his life to keep someone she loves alive because he loves her so much. This kind of love is beyond love itself. In the end, he keeps his promise. He exchanges places with Charles Darnay and is sent to the Guillotine. His sacrifice for love makes the story reach the climax. Besides, it is etched in the mind of all the readers forever. We can forget every character in this story except him.
Then it comes to tolerance. The old man, Dr. Alexander Manette, father of Lucie Manette who cannot escape the memory of being held in the Bastille. However, He deserves our respect and admire. Though he suffers a lot of pain which is from the Evremonde Brothers ---- Charles Darnay's father and uncle, he doesn't change his qualities. He is kind and tolerant as before. He agrees on the marriage of Lucie and Charles and at last try his best to save Charles. Compared to the revenge of Madame Therese Defarge, the tolerance of Dr. Alexander Manette is precious and meaningful.
Revenge comes at last. Madame Therese Defarge, a key revolutionist who seeks revenge all her life. She sits all day in the wine shop, silently knitting. Names of the enemies are carefully knitted into her work. She is very stubborn and unforgiving in her revenge on the Evremonde family. It is nothing to her that an innocent man was going to the Guillotine because of his father's and his uncle's crimes. She says:" all the Evremonde people must go to the guillotine. The wife and the child must follow the husband." How terrible and mad she is!
Dickens has a gift for telling about the aspects of contemporary society. It is common sense to regard a revolution as a progressive social movement which causes great changes in culture, economy, and politics. However Dickens maintains a special perspective on the French Revolution. The acts of violence done by the revolutionists are among the most memorable scenes in the novel. Castles are burned, laws are changed and the rich powerful nobles are sent to the Guillotine. The Guillotine cut off the heads of many, many people-the powerful and the cruel, but also the beautiful, the innocent and the good.
The young woman who are sent to the Guillotine with Sydney gives me a great impression. She says:" I am innocent. I am not afraid to die, but I have done nothing. They say that the Revolution will do so much good for the poor people, how can my death help the poor? If it is true, I am willing to die, but I do not know how that can be." Y es, how can the death help the poor people? The revolutionists fight to win power, now they use it to kill more people, whether good or evil. Their violent actions makes the society more disordered.
Everything has two sides, the same goes for the revolution. It removes something bad, laggard and evil, and to some extent it removes something good, nice and fair inevitably.。