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A Reality In Fiction

In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens contrasts the Manettes' life during the French Revolution in both London and Paris. The story follows them throughout the trials of the Reign of Terror in Paris, to the safety and security of London. He also compares the cities themselves, one being overrun with poverty and oppression, and the other being safe and economically sound. He shows the differences in the quality of life in both cities, while developing a love story in which the lives of the characters are twisted within the French Revolution.

In France before the revolution, many changes had been made to help the country, but the Deficit of Revenue was not one of them. Many of the aristocrats and clergy were exempt from paying taxes, yet the poorer citizens were taxed heavily to make up for it (Carlyle vii). Louis XIV gave the upper class special power and privileges and ultimately caused France to weaken (Wright 31). Soon the common people were poor and starving. France had been suffering inflation for years; therefore, the government tried to tax the upper classes, but they refused to pay since they had been exempt for so long. Soon after, France endured many hardships, including drought and famine, and France became even poorer (Wright 31). In order to reform the financial status of France, Louis summoned the Etates-Generaux, who had not met since 1614. The Etates-Genereaux, or the General States, was a representative assembly that dealt with the matters of the state. It was made up of three groups: the church, the aristocracy, and the remaining ninety five percent of the population (Wright 33). On July 14, 1789, the French Revolution officially began by the storming of the Bastille. The reason the Bastille was attacked was because it was seen as a symbol of the King's power (Wright 34). This led to ten years of attacks made upon the privileged because of the abuses the common people felt from the ruling classes. Soon after the Bastille was...