Name: A Tale of Two Cities
Author: Charles Dickens

How you explore A Tale of Two Cities on Literah

The cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words — each one a card in a feed you scroll on your phone. One at a time, at your pace, in any order you like.

Built for your phone. Literah is designed for mobile, so your worlds travel with you. On a laptop it shows a QR code to carry the world to your phone.
A feed, not a wall of text. 34 characters, 26 places, 25 objects and 7 plot beats, each its own card with its own illustration.
The author’s own words. 39 passages of A Tale of Two Cities sit in the feed verbatim, exactly as Charles Dickens wrote them, each with a short reading of what it is doing. The map is ours; the prose is always the book’s.
The same scroll, a better world. The gesture you already give away to feeds, spent on Charles Dickens instead.

9:41

The Cast

Lucie Manette

Main · Manette household

A golden-haired daughter whose tenderness gathers broken lives back toward light.

Locations

London

city

A fogged, watchful city where banks, courts, and guarded homes keep their secrets.

Passage

How can an age promise salvation while rushing whole nations toward ruin?

Read →

The Author’s Pen

The Best and Worst of Times

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.

It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.

Reading

The narrator refuses to tell you whether this was a good age or a bad one, and that refusal is the whole point. Every grand claim he makes he immediately cancels with its opposite, so that by the end you cannot say anything definite except that people at the time were sure they knew. Then he quietly turns the joke on his own readers: this age was "so far like the present period" that the loud voices of 1775 sound exactly like the loud voices of Dickens's own day, each insisting the world had never been so wonderful or so terrible. And the men who run England and France, guarding their "loaves and fishes," are the most certain of all that nothing will ever change, which is the surest sign it is about to.

World Index

The Plot

Recalled to LifeThe Trial and Two MenThe Marquis and the RenunciationCarton's ConfessionThe Revolution RisesCondemnedA Far, Far Better Thing

The Cast

Lucie ManetteDoctor Alexandre ManetteCharles DarnaySydney CartonMadame DefargeJarvis LorryErnest DefargeMiss ProssJerry CruncherMrs. CruncherMr. StryverJohn BarsadRoger ClyMarquis St. EvrémondeMonsieur GabelleGaspardThe Mender of RoadsThe VengeanceThe SeamstressThe JacquesSaint Antoine CrowdYoung JerryLittle LucieMonseigneurGaspard’s ChildJacques ThreeJoe the GuardTom the CoachmanFoulonThe Elder Evrémonde BrotherMadame Defarge’s SisterMadame Defarge’s BrotherMadame Defarge’s FatherLucie’s Mother

Locations

Cruncher HomeDefarge’s Wine-ShopDoctor Manette’s GarretDover RoadEvrémonde ChâteauEvrémonde VillageFrench Countryside RoadLa Force PrisonLondonLucie’s Paris LodgingMonseigneur’s Reception RoomsOld BaileyParisParis ApothecaryParis Street and FountainRevolutionary TribunalRoyal George Hotel, DoverSaint AntoineSoho HouseStryver’s ChambersTellson’s Bank, LondonTellson’s Bank, ParisTemple BarThe Bastille, North TowerThe Place of ExecutionThe Wood-Sawyer’s Street

Objects of Note

Carton’s Final Letter / Written InstructionsCarton’s Purchased DrugDoctor Manette’s Prison ManuscriptDoctor Manette’s Shoemaker’s BenchDover Mail CoachEvrémonde CarriageExchanged ClothingGabelle’s LetterGaspard’s KnifeGuillotineMadame Defarge’s KnittingMadame Defarge’s RoseMarquis’s CoinsOld Bailey Trial PapersPassports and Escape PapersPistol in Paris LodgingPrison Papers and RegistersTellson’s Ledgers and PapersThe “Recalled to Life” MessageThe Arm-Chest and BlunderbussThe Broken Wine CaskThe Château NoteThe GrindstoneTumbrilWood-Saw

Core Concepts

History returns through buried wrongsJustice becomes monstrous when memory loses mercyMemory can heal, preserve, or destroyNames and doubles decide fatePrivate love can resist history, but cannot remain untouched by itResurrection is real, but never simpleSacrifice gives meaning where success cannot

The Author's Pen

The Steaming MistLorry Reads the MessageDigging Someone Out Of A GraveGoing To See His GhostThe Red Wine StainWeep For ItOne Hundred and FiveThe Rose and the FliesDoctor Manette at WorkEchoes of Hope and DoubtThe Attack on the BastilleBring Him To The LampLeaving All That Was DearTellson’s Proud ShabbinessHer Power Had FailedEmigrants Have No RightsThe Mirror OverheadThe Bloody GrindstoneCarton Unmoved Amid ExcitementThe Man In The GlassAfter the Coach Drove AwayDoctor Manette's TestimonyMonseigneur Takes His ChocolateThe Blow Upon the DoorThe Marquis Pays OffRenouncing France and PropertyThe Man Under the CarriageOne Stone Face Too ManyThe Losing GameA Paper in the BastilleCarton’s Final SupplicationCarton Takes His PlaceLook Back and SeeThat Summons Descends To MeMiss Pross DesperateRegistered As DoomedThe Poor Little SeamstressA Far Better Rest

Plot point 01

Recalled to Life

A banker escorts young Lucie to Paris to reclaim the father she thought dead — a doctor buried alive for eighteen years in the Bastille.

Objects of Note

Dover Mail Coach

Strangers who trust no one, and a message summoning a lost man back to life.

The Cast

Doctor Alexandre Manette

Main · Manette household

A recovered prisoner whose white hair and shoemaker’s bench reveal that freedom is not the same as healing.

You’ve seen 6 cards

There are 138 waiting

for you to explore

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 127 classics in the Literah library

A Tale of Two Cities feed, as it appears in your mobile

The plot of A Tale of Two Cities

The story beat by beat, as Literah maps it.

Recalled to Life
The Trial and Two Men
The Marquis and the Renunciation
Carton's Confession
The Revolution Rises
Condemned
A Far, Far Better Thing

The author's pen in A Tale of Two Cities

The passages themselves, Charles Dickens's own words, as Literah maps it.

The Best and Worst of Timesch. 3
The Steaming Mistch. 4
Lorry Reads the Messagech. 4
Digging Someone Out Of A Gravech. 5
Going To See His Ghostch. 6
The Red Wine Stainch. 7
Weep For Itch. 7
One Hundred and Fivech. 8
The Rose and the Fliesch. 18
Doctor Manette at Workch. 20
Echoes of Hope and Doubtch. 23
The Attack on the Bastillech. 23
Bring Him To The Lampch. 24
Leaving All That Was Dearch. 26
Tellson’s Proud Shabbinessch. 27
Her Power Had Failedch. 27
Emigrants Have No Rightsch. 27
The Mirror Overheadch. 28
The Bloody Grindstonech. 28
Carton Unmoved Amid Excitementch. 29

The characters of A Tale of Two Cities

Who is who, as Literah maps it.

Lucie Manettemajor
Doctor Alexandre Manettemajor
Charles Darnaymajor
Sydney Cartonmajor
Madame Defargemajor
Jarvis Lorrymajor
Ernest Defargesupporting
Miss Prosssupporting
Jerry Crunchersupporting
Mrs. Crunchersupporting
Young Jerryminor
Mr. Stryversupporting
John Barsadsupporting
Roger Clysupporting
Marquis St. Evrémondesupporting
Monsieur Gabellesupporting

The locations in A Tale of Two Cities

Where it happens, as Literah maps it.

Londoncity
Pariscity
Tellson’s Bank, Londonbank
Tellson’s Bank, Parisbank
Dover Roadroad
Royal George Hotel, Doverhotel
Defarge’s Wine-Shopwine shop
Saint Antoinedistrict
Doctor Manette’s Garretgarret
Soho Househouse
Old Baileycourt
Stryver’s Chamberslegal chambers
Cruncher Homehome
Monseigneur’s Reception Roomsaristocratic salon

The core concepts in A Tale of Two Cities

What the book keeps returning to, as Literah maps it.

Resurrection is real, but never simple
Private love can resist history, but cannot remain untouched by it
Justice becomes monstrous when memory loses mercy
Names and doubles decide fate
Memory can heal, preserve, or destroy
Sacrifice gives meaning where success cannot
History returns through buried wrongs

The objects of note in A Tale of Two Cities

The things that carry meaning, as Literah maps it.

Dover Mail Coach
The “Recalled to Life” Message
Tellson’s Ledgers and Papers
Doctor Manette’s Shoemaker’s Bench
Madame Defarge’s Knitting
Madame Defarge’s Rose
The Broken Wine Cask
Old Bailey Trial Papers
Evrémonde Carriage
Marquis’s Coins
Gaspard’s Knife
The Château Note
Gabelle’s Letter
Doctor Manette’s Prison Manuscript

The offer

Explore A Tale of Two Cities. And 126 more.

Literah maps the classics into worlds you can walk through: the cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words, passage by passage. Every book is there to read in full too. One payment, no subscription, yours to keep.

$99.99one time · 127 Worlds

Or start with its collection

The collectionThe Great Victorian Novels10 Worlds

This collection includes A Tale of Two Cities, along with Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, Middlemarch, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd, North and South, Oliver Twist, The Mill on the Floss and Vanity Fair.

$19.99

Counts in full toward the library. See the collection · Give it as a gift

Not ready? first.

How you explore A Tale of Two Cities on Literah

The plot of A Tale of Two Cities

The author's pen in A Tale of Two Cities

The characters of A Tale of Two Cities

The locations in A Tale of Two Cities

The core concepts in A Tale of Two Cities

The objects of note in A Tale of Two Cities

Explore A Tale of Two Cities. And 126 more.

A Tale of Two Cities in the Classics collections

Some of the titles in our library