Revised Research Question

How was Dickens trying to caution the British government by writing A Tale of Two Cities?

Quote Question Comment

Quote: "It must burn"

Question: Why did the French Revolutionaries burn down everything in their path?

Comment: They hate anything to do with the royalty and the rich. They congregate and form a mob and enter the mob mentality, which compels them to kill and destroy anything in their path. They also want to destroy all traces of the corrupt monarchy that made them work and starve while they lived lavishly in their huge estates, like the chateau that belonged to Monseigneur of the Marquis. When they killed him, they wanted to rid all traces of him fron their town, and when some people wanted to save the mansion, the civilans watching the blaze said, "It must burn."

Annotated Bibliography

Citation: Frey, Linda S. and Marsha L. Frey "Civilians in Wartime Europe, 1618-1900: Civilians and Warfare during the French Revolutionary Wars" from Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Europe, 1618?1900. Daily Life Online: Exploring Everyday Life Past and Present. Greenwood Publishing Group. 12 February 2009. .

This source was extremely helpful because it went into great detail about what life was like during the French Revolution for the commoners. It covered topics from the daily lives of peasants to the global implications of the French Revolutionary war.
It was difficult to read at times, and extremely long as well. It provided far more information than was necessary, so we had to find the subtitles that fit our needs best. However, the parts of the article that we did read were immensely helpful in our search to understand the French Revolution.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The book takes place during the French Revolution, 1775, in London, and is centered around Lucie Manette, who cared for her once imprisoned and broken father. Three men, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Mr.Stryver, all wish to marry her. Meanwhile, tensions grow in France, and Nobles are being assassinated. Also involved are Mr. Jarvis Lorry, who is a banker at Tellson's bank, Mr.Cruncher, who is a messenger and robs graves, Mr. Defarge, who runs a bar and is investigating the murder of Monsieur the Marquis, and Madame Defarge, who knits Mr. Defarge's findings into patterns that only she can decipher. In France, there were tensions because the Lords lived lavishly while the peasants starved to death.
Possible Research Question: What were the similarities and differences between everyday peasant life in France and England?