In many books, writers and authors use different strategies
and techniques in their writing to convey messages to their readers. Some
common strategies in writing include archetypes and allusions. In The Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
uses many archetypes and allusions in his writing to communicate his messages
and themes to his readers well.
Many of the allusions Dickens makes in his book refer to the
bible. For example, in the book there is a line that says “…his oath on the
two Testaments…” which obviously refers to the two testaments of the bible.
Instead of saying “The Bible”, he says, “the two Testaments” because he knows
the readers will understand what he is referring to and that he doesn’t have to
make a direct reference to the bible. The Bible consists of the Old Testament, containing the books of the old or Mosaic
Law, and the New Testament, containing the new or Christian covenant. The
Bible is a common book of law that many people around the world are familiar
with, so it was easy for him to allude to this book and the power it beholds,
proving why the oath was so valuable and important.
Another classical
allusion made to the Bible in The Tale of
Two Cities, was the line where it said, “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.”
This particular line refers to a passage in the bible Revelations 21:11. In
this passage, the vision of Jerusalem descending from Heaven is described: the
city has “the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious,
even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” The “loaves and fishes,” on the
other hand, refers to the miracle performed by Christ in Matthew 14:17-21, the
multiplication of loaves and fishes to feed the faithful. Again, Dickens
references to the Bible in order to find a common ground that many of his
readers can relate to so that they can understand the message and theme of the
book better.
Yet another
allusion made in the book to a passage of the bible is in the line, “…as the ocean is one day to give up its dead.” This is an allusion to Revelations
20:13, which describe part of St.
John’s
1 comment:
Maddie, I really enjoyed reading your post! You did an excellent job picking out and analyzing the various allusions to the bible made throughout this novel. Many of these references I did not pick up on during my initial reading. However, after reading your post, I was wondering what may have been the motivation for Dickens to use such biblical allusions. In your post, you claim that the examples you found were used as a common ground to allow the reader to relate and understand the book better. On the contrary, I would argue that this was not actually his main purpose, but it was rather to put into perspective the severity and magnitude of the events of the book. For example, I believe Dickens makes his reference to Revelations 21:11 not to be relatable to the reader, but rather to portray the significance of the situation to the descending of Jerusalem, thus giving the whole scene a far more grand affect. The same is true for the reference to Matthew 14: 17-21, where he references a miracle, again making the events of the book seem biblical in importance. With that being said, your ability to discover the connection between what Dickens writes and the Bible, even when the reference is heavily veiled, is very impressive. As a result, your post gave me a new understanding and appreciation for the book I would not have had otherwise. Nice work!
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