A Tale of Two Cities: Character Mind Map & Summary
Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities: the key characters, the doubles, the three books, who dies and how, famous lines and the exam facts.
The Character Mind Map
Tap any name to open the details.
Sydney Carton
A brilliant but drunken, self-despising English lawyer who looks remarkably like Charles Darnay. Hopelessly in love with Lucie Manette, he promises to give his life for anyone she loves, and at the end he takes Darnay’s place at the guillotine.
It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done…Fate: guillotined in Darnay’s place
🏠 The Manette Family
The “golden thread”Lucie ManetteThe golden-haired heroine
Role: The “golden thread” who binds the family together; she brings her father back to life and marries Darnay.
SurvivesDr Alexandre ManetteLucie’s father
Role: Imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years, where he took to shoemaking. His secret prison letter later condemns Darnay.
Charles DarnayFrench aristocrat · Lucie’s husband
Role: Really Evrémonde, nephew of the cruel Marquis. He gives up his title, but returns to Paris and is condemned to death.
Saved by Carton🔥 The Revolution
Paris & Saint AntoineMadame DefargeThe knitting revolutionary
Role: Secretly knits a register of people to be killed. She wants revenge on the Evrémonde family, who destroyed her own family.
Killed by her own pistolErnest DefargeWine-shop keeper · her husband
Role: Once Dr Manette’s servant; a leader of the revolt in Saint Antoine.
Marquis St EvrémondeDarnay’s cruel uncle
Role: Runs over a poor child with his carriage and tosses the father a coin.
Stabbed in his bed by Gaspard🏦 Loyal Friends
Tellson’s Bank & beyondJarvis LorryClerk of Tellson’s Bank
Role: A kind “man of business” who rescues Dr Manette and protects the family.
Miss ProssLucie’s fierce nurse
Role: In a struggle she causes Madame Defarge’s death, and is left deaf by the gunshot.
Jerry CruncherTellson’s messenger
Role: Secretly a “resurrection man”, digging up bodies to sell.
Memory Hook: Doubles Everywhere
The novel is built on pairs. Spot the pair and you understand the book.
The Three Books
The novel’s own divisions.
Famous Lines
The lines most often asked about in exams.
Quick Summary
The plot in five stops.
Stage 1Recalled to Life
- Mr Lorry and Lucie bring Dr Manette from Paris to London.
Stage 2The Trial
- Darnay is tried for treason in London; he is freed when Carton shows how alike they look.
Stage 3Revolution
- The Bastille falls. Darnay marries Lucie, then returns to Paris to save a servant.
Stage 4Condemned
- Darnay is arrested; Dr Manette’s old letter, cursing the Evrémondes, condemns him to death.
Stage 5Sacrifice
- Carton drugs Darnay, swaps places with him and goes to the guillotine; Miss Pross kills Madame Defarge in a struggle.
Must-Know Exam Facts
Quick points for UGC NET, SET and PGT.
Publication
Published in 1859 as a weekly serial in Dickens’s new magazine All the Year Round, and also in monthly parts.
Sources
Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution (1837). Carton’s sacrifice was inspired by Wilkie Collins’s play The Frozen Deep, in which Dickens acted.
Genre
One of Dickens’s two historical novels (with Barnaby Rudge).
Setting
London and Paris, from 1775 to the Reign of Terror (1793–1794).
Style
Less comic than most Dickens; driven by plot, doubles and symbols such as wine, knitting and shoes.
Key Themes
Resurrection and sacrifice, revolution and violence, justice vs revenge, and doubles.
100+ Key Works of English Literature
All the character mind maps in one printed book.
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