A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy are two very different books written in very different styles about a the same time in history. I am going to briefly explain the French Revolution, and then I will talk about the authors of A Tale of Two Cities and The Scarlet Pimpernel, Charles Dickens and Baroness Orczy. I will then give a brief, spoiler-free overview of each book and state my opinion of each one, before I wrap up the essay with a comparison between the two books about the French Revolution.
The French Revolution was a large important movement in French history, and the history of the world as well. The lower classes French people would not tolerate the abuse that they were subjected to by the aristocrats of their country any longer. King Louis XVI and his nobles taxed the lower classes out of every single frank they possessed to build their palaces and giant buildings, and it was all that the poor people could do to keep from dying, as many did. They had not money to buy food, or anything else to sustain themselves. The poor people had seen the success of the North American colonies in freeing themselves from their British oppressors, so why couldn’t the French do the same for their own country? Here is why: The Americans had a very smart structure created by some of the smartest men during that time to make their efforts purposeful and directed. They also had a government that would replace the old one already decided upon before they even began their revolution. The French did not have any organization at all. They only knew three things: They wanted to make their bad situation change; They wanted everyone in the country to be equal so that there weren’t aristocrats oppressing them; They hated the aristocrats that had been oppressing them for many a year. So what did the people do? They revolted. They overthrew the monarchy, executed King Louis XVI, and killed nobles and aristocrats and anyone even suspected of helping aristocrats escape France to other nations. Ariostos (a shortened term used to refer to Aristocrats) escaping France to other lands is the main topic of both A Tale of Two Cities and The Scarlet Pimpernel. The revolution eventually came to a close when Napoleon decided he wanted to be the dictator (renamed king) of France, and, overall, not much changed from the way it had been before the revolution. The people were still oppressed (although slightly less so) and they were still taxed (slightly less so), so there was change, but it was small change.
I am now going to talk about the authors of each of these books quickly. A Tale of Two Cities was written by Charles Dickens in 1859. Charles Dickens was born on February 7th 1812 in England. In 1830 C Dickens wrote his first work in 1833 called A Dinner at the Poplar Walk. It ran in The Monthly Magazine (yes that was the name of the magazine). In 1836 Charles Dickens married. Charles wrote his first book in 1836 as well, compiling a lot of old stories that he wrote a while ago into one longer book. In 1837, he and his wife had their first of ten children. Charles produced some lesser known works between his first and A Christmas Carol, but A Christmas Carol was written in 1843. Again, some less notable works were written between big ones, but A Tale of Two Cities was written in 1859. Charles Dickens died eleven years later in 1870 from a stroke.
Baroness Orczy was born in Hungary in 1865. After living in a few countries, her family eventually moved to London, England, where she studied art and married. Orczy then decided she did not like art very much, and, to supplement her husband’s income, she took to writing. Her first work, The Emperor’s Candlesticks was a failure, but then she went on to write The Scarlet Pimpernel, which gained great success. She would go on to write three sequels to the book, titled as follows: I Will Repay; The Elusive Pimpernel; and The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Baroness Orczy died on November 12th, 1947.
A Tale of Two Cities focuses on the family and friends of Lucie Mannette. The story is set during the time of the French revolution, and tells how Lucie’s father was accused of aiding an aristo and so he was sent to prison and served a long sentence there. It also talks about Lucie’s husband Charles Darnay, and his problems with his family. Charles was related to one of the nobles of France, and so he was technically an aristo. I didn’t really like A Tale of Two Cities that much, but that was mostly because the plot is a little bit hard to understand and slow to develop. It was really hard for me to understand what was happening, and also the reading assignments were very, very, long so I got sick of the book quickly. The book was really over my head, so I would recommend waiting longer than I did to read it so that you can understand it better.
The Scarlet Pimpernel tells the story of Lady Blakeney, who was a French aristocratic woman, her brother, Sir. Armand St. Just, and her husband, Sir. Percy Blakeney of England. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a figure whose identity is unknown to the public that helps French Aristocrats escape over the English channel into England. He is very cunning, and nobody knows who he is. In contrast to A Tale of Two Cities, I really enjoyed The Scarlet Pimpernel, and hope to read the other three books in the series by Baroness Orczy. The book is a really fun and enjoyable read, and the plot is clearly understandable, but not dull by any means; rather, its simplicity makes it more exciting and enjoyable than had it been complicated. I would definitely recommend this book to most average readers.
I enjoyed both of these books. Although they take place during the same historical event, they don’t have as many similarities as you would expect them to. The books are written in very, very different styles, and from different perspectives as well. Lucie is a French girl who moved to England and her father had been in prison for many years. Lady Blakeney is the French wife of and English lord, and is much smarter and more involved in the story than Lucie is. The Scarlet Pimpernel is told in from the third person omniscient point of view, while A Tale of Two Cities is told in objective point of view. I think I would recommend The Scarlet Pimpernel, but not A Tale of Two Cities.
The Scarlet Pimpernel and A Tale of Two Cities are both phenomenal books. I think, if I was a little bit older, I would have enjoyed A Tale of Two Cities much more than I did, simply because it was really complicated and slow to develop, and I like books that focus on building action quickly and in a straightforward way better. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a perfect example of a book that builds action fairly quickly, is very easy to understand, and is very interesting, enjoyable, and entertaining. I would definitely recommend you read The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, as it is one of the best books that I have read.