SparkNotes A Tale of Two cities Book 3 Chapter 4

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Volume III, Chapter Four – Calm in a Storm

• Dr. Manette doesn’t return for four days.
• When he finally makes it back to the house, he tells Lucie a condensed version of what he’s seen.
• Mr. Lorry, however, gets the full story: Dr. Manette went to the Tribunal that tries all the prisoners.
• He announced himself as a former prisoner of the Bastille, and was awarded special status in the Tribunal.
• From his seat, he saw Darnay brought before the court and almost released.
• At the last minute, however, the President of the Tribunal got some new information.
• He ordered that Darnay be held in prison. He won’t be executed, but he won’t be set free.
• Dr. Manette describes the Tribunals as madness. There’s not any justice or even any attempt at observing any laws.
• Finally, however, he decides to use all the influence he has to save Darnay.
• In fact, for the first time since he was released from prison, he seems like a socially powerful man.
• The doctor becomes the head medical inspector of three prisons. In that position, he’s able to bring back occasional news of Darnay.
• Strangely enough, Mr. Lorry observes that the doctor begins to take pride in his ability to do things for his family.
• For a long time, Lucie took care of him. Now he’s able to return the favor.
• Nonetheless, despite all the doctor’s efforts, Darnay remains in prison.
• Time passes without any real markers.
• And now, friends, we’re introduced to the real star of this novel: the guillotine.
• Our narrator takes a good, long time to describe the ways that it influences and symbolizes the new Republic.
• It’s actually a really good bit of the novel—we recommend that you check it out for yourselves.
• The doctor moves through all the madness of this time. The guillotine chops off heads right and left, Darnay remains in prison, and Lucie…waits.

After four days, Doctor Alexandre Manette finally returns from the prison. He tells Mr. Lorry how he tried to influence the court tribunal to free his son-in-law, but only secured a guarantee of Darnay's safety. He also recounts the erratic behavior of the mob, which one minute would violently attack condemned prisoners and the next minute would exuberantly cheer the freeing of other prisoners. Feeling strong in his power as a Bastille survivor, Doctor Manette is confident that he will be able to free Darnay. Despite the Doctor's efforts, though, Darnay remains in prison for a year and three months. In the meantime, the Doctor becomes well known throughout Paris and gains status as the inspecting physician for three prisons.

Analysis

Darnay has been imprisoned at one of the most dangerous times in the Revolution for political prisoners. In September 1792, revolutionaries killed between 1,110 and 1,400 prisoners, about half of Paris' prison population at that time. Without Doctor Manette's influence, Darnay's captors almost surely would have killed him. The year that passes takes France into the Reign of Terror and places the Manette and Darnay family in the heart of the most violent period of the Revolution.

Dickens deliberately chose the timing of the story to correspond with the September Massacres and the Reign of Terror. By doing so, he is preparing a face-off between the forces of love and the forces of hate. He positions the Doctor, Darnay, and Lucie, who are bound by faith and love, against mobs motivated by violence and vengeance. His technique may seem dramatic, but it is good storytelling — it builds suspense and allows his characters to evolve and shine in ways they never could have if they had remained in their quiet Soho home.

Dickens' allusion to the dechristianization movement that was occurring at this time is also significant. In an attack on the Catholic religion, the new government stated that the only religion of France was the religion of liberty and equality. As a result, the French vandalized churches, forced priests to marry, and renamed the Notre-Dame cathedral as the "Temple of Reason."Dickens refers to the dechristianization trend when he mentions the "Year One of Liberty"and the people's worship of the guillotine instead of the cross. He sees the devil in such changes, stating that "the deluge of the Year One of Liberty"was "rising from below, not falling from above,"and referring to the guillotine as "a toy-puzzle for a young Devil."

By naming the executioner Samson, a name from the Old Testament, Dickens indicates that the people of France are living by the vengeful law of the Old Testament — an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. They have turned away from the cross, the symbol of the New Testament, which teaches the Golden Rule — love thy neighbor. Additionally, in replacing the cross with the guillotine, the revolutionaries have transferred their faith from resurrection and redemption to retribution and death.

Glossary

Year One of Liberty the new government of France created a new calendar, based on the inception of the French Republic in 1792 rather than on the birth of Christ. Consequently, 1792 was Year One.

the head of the king…the head of his fair wife Louis XVI was executed on January 21, 1793. His wife, Marie Antoinette, was executed on October 18, 1793.

What happens in a tale of two cities Book 3 Chapter 4?

In what chapter does Dr. Manette save Darnay?

What Chapter does Darnay get imprisoned?

Who accused Darnay?