Chapter 1
This year opens the novel and is described as both hopeful and terrible.
1775
Who is Jerry Cruncher?
The Messenger
Who is Mr. Lorry waiting for in Dover?
Miss Manette, a young lady from London.
Describe Defarge and his wife.
Defarage is described as “Good-humoured” but “implacable.” He has a strong purpose which he will do anything to fulfil. His wife is described as not making any mistakes and is often seen knitting (24).
What is Dr. Manette doing when they enter the room?
He’s making shoes.
These two cities serve as the primary settings introduced in Chapter 1.
London and Paris
Who is Cruncher’s message for, and what is this gentleman’s occupation?
Mr. Jarvis Lorry. He’s a banker at Tellson’s and Co.
Describe Mr. Jarvis Lorry’s dress and physical appearance.
“gentleman in brown” (12) wearing a flapped waistcoat, brown stockings, and buckled shoes. He is also wearing a flaxen wig.
Why do the men in the wine shop refer to each other as Jacques? Bonus what does “jacquerie” mean?
It stands for the French peasant class. Jacquerie means uprising or revolt. These men are all revolutionaries who are speaking in code names.
What are the people’s reactions to the broken wine cask? CH 5
They try to drink the wine from the ground; “Some men kneeled down, made scoops of their two hands joined, and sipped, or tried to help women, who bent over their shoulders, to sip, before the wine had all run out between their fingers” (21).
What was the attitude of British and French nobility concerning the future of their rule?
They believed that their rule was “settled forever” (1); in other words, they were not worried about any rebellion or overthrow of government despite their incompetence.
What question does Mr. Lorry ask the spectre?
“Buried how long?” “Almost eighteen years”
What is the woman's reaction to the news she receives from Mr.Lorry?
She faints
The spilled wine is a symbol of what?
The bloodshed of the French Revolution; “Those who had been greedy with the staves of the cask, had acquired a tigerish smear about the mouth; and one tall joker so besmirched…scrawled upon a wall with his fingers dipped in muddy wine lees- BLOOD” (22).
Describe the Doctor’s physical appearance. What does this say about his prison experience?
He has a white beard and a long, hollow face with “exceedingly bright eyes” (30). He is wearing a yellow ragged shirt. His prison experience was cruel and unpleasant.
In France, what was a common punishment for not kneeling to honor monks?
Offenders had their hands cut off, their tongue torn out, and their bodies burned.
What was Cruncher’s message, and what was the reply?
“Wait at Dover for Mam’selle.” He replies, “Recalled to Life.”
What news does Mr. Lorry have for the young Lady?
Her father is alive
Why have Mr. Lorry and Miss Manette come to Defarge’s wine shop? Why was Defarge chosen for this duty?
To find Doctor Manette. Defarge was his servant (19).
What physical characteristic tells us that Lucie is indeed the Doctor’s daughter?
She has golden hair; “He opened this carefully, on his knee, and it contained a very little quantity of hair; not more than one or two long olden hairs, which he had, in some old day, wound off upon his finger” (33).
What was the crime situation in England at this time?
Crime was so commonplace that capital punishments were given excessively to both petty and capital crimes.
What is Cruncher’s reaction to the message he is to take to Tellson’s?
Jerry Cruncher is confused by the message; “His messaged perplexed his mind to that degree that he was fain, several times, to take off his hat to scratch his head” (9).
Have Mr. Lorry and the young Lady met before? If so, when and under what circumstances?
Yes, Mr. Lorry was the man who brought Miss Manette from France to England when she was an infant; “…a sudden vivid likeness passed before him, of a child whom he had held in his arms on the passage across that very Channel, one cold time…” (14). This was 20 years ago.
What is the power that has ground the people down? What does this tell us about conditions in France?
Hard labor and hunger; “The mill which had worked them down was the mill that grinds young people old; the children had ancient faces and grave voices; and upon them, and upon the grown faces, and ploughed into every furrow of age and coming up afresh, was the sign, Hunger” (22). France is in extreme poverty.
When the doctor compares the strands of golden hair in his “locket” to Lucie’s hair, what is his first conclusion? Does he finally figure out the truth?
“It is the same. How can it be!” (33). He realizes that Lucie is his daughter and they are united in an embrace.