A Tale of Two Cities vs. The Scarlet Letter - Dell

Dickens & Hawthorne: Comparing and Contrasting A Tale of Two Cities and The Scarlet Letter

          The first thing to be noticed about the similarities in these two novels is the fact that they were written very close together. Cities was published in 1859, and Scarlet Letter was from 1850. However, they both discuss very different topics from different time periods, Cities being the late seventeen-hundreds as from the line “It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.” (Dickens 5). The Scarlet Letter states the year at some point, but the location of that statement is unknown. However, we can infer that the book takes place mid-century sixteen-hundreds due to the Puritan era.

          While this is more than a century of time, the styles of the writing seem very similar to me due to the period in which they were written. For example, there is a plethora of metaphors and imagery that both authors use. This one describes the conception of Pearl in Scarlet Letter: “Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion.” (Hawthorne, Kindle Locations 1119-1120) This sentence tells of how something light and beautiful was created out of something evil, much like the little girl herself. It also paints a more familiar picture of what Pearl should be. This sentence from Cities is chock-full of description, stating “That, hereupon he had ascertained, through the registers on the table, that his son-in-law was among the living prisoners, and had pleaded hard to the Tribunal—of whom some members were asleep and some awake, some dirty with murder and some clean, some sober and some not—for his life and liberty.” (Dickens 350) The description of the judges who decided Charles’ fate appears to be a metaphor of the revolution itself: sleepiness, drunkenness, and murder—understandable from the insanity of the time. Yet Dickens over-abundance of description also makes this book incredible difficult to read. One could zone out for a moment and become completely lost the next.

          Another similarity surprisingly is the plot of both stories. Cities describes the guilt of the aristocrats who took the land from the French people, and Scarlet Letter discusses Hester Prynne’s guilt over her sin. Charles did not mean to cause harm to the people by wasting their land, and Hester did not mean any harm in her adulteress sin. This connection shows that guilt can be an incredible driving force in one’s actions, especially in Dimmesdale:

“And thus, while standing on the scaffold, in this vain show of expiation, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart. On that spot, in very truth, there was, and there had long been, the gnawing and poisonous tooth of bodily pain. Without any effort of his will, or power to restrain himself, he shrieked aloud: an outcry that went pealing through the night, and was beaten back from one house to another, and reverberated from the hills in the background; as if a company of devils, detecting so much misery and terror in it, had made a plaything of the sound, and were bandying it to and fro.” (Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter (Kindle Locations 1859-1864).  . Kindle Edition.)

          Dimmesdale is so full of guilt from is sin that he goes up on to the perch where the prisoners are forced to face their actions, and lets out a scream. This should remind one of how Charles goes to France to relieve his imprisoned friend and take credit for the actions committed by his family. This shows that guilt is a very common theme in life, no matter the time period or location.

          Lastly, there is something about Pearl and little Lucie that seem strangely similar. Perhaps it is that they are both little girls in a whirlwind of war and pain, but they also seem to be similar in appearance with their striking beauty. However, Pearl seems to be much less innocent than little Lucie, most likely due to the strange situation she was raised in (and perhaps the fact that she is a bastard child, but that is mainly blamed on the time period). Lucie is much more sweet an innocent, although she is rarely discussed in the book as much as Pearl is.

          In conclusion, A Tale of Two Cities and The Scarlet Letter, while they are quite different, both have very similar characteristics due to the time period they were written in, the themes they discuss, and even some of the present characters. Both books are also fairly difficult reads, but classics that are definitely worth putting some time into.