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A Tale of Two Cities
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BetaBook 3, Chapters 13-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 3: “The Track of a Storm”
Book 3, Chapter 13 Summary: “Fifty-two”
Darnay is to be executed at 3 o’clock the following day. As he waits in his cell, he tries to compose himself; he isn’t afraid of dying, but he is troubled by the thought of leaving his family. He writes a letter to his wife explaining that he didn’t know his family was behind her father’s imprisonment and urging her to remind Manette that he isn’t responsible for Darnay’s fate. After writing to Manette and Lorry as well, Darnay goes to bed, dreaming that he has reunited with his wife and child. The next day, he remains calm by counting off the hours until it’s time.
Shortly after 1 o’clock, Darnay hears footsteps, and Carton appears inside his cell. Carton claims that Lucie has sent him, and that Darnay must do exactly as she asks. He persuades Darnay to exchange boots with him, and to untie his hair; Darnay protests all of this, saying any escape is impossible, but Carton overrides him with “a strength, both of will and action, that appear[s] quite supernatural” (364). Finally, Carton asks Darnay to compose a letter he (Carton) will dictate: the letter reminds its recipient (Lucie) of a promise the writer (Carton) once made to her, and urges her not to feel “regret or grief” (365)that he has been able to keep that promise.
As Darnay writes, Carton reaches for a chloroform-like sedative in his pocket. At the last minute, Darnay realizes what Carton is trying to do, but is unable to prevent it and falls unconscious. Carton finishes dressing himself like Darnay and calls for Barsad, who carries Darnay away under the pretext that “Carton” fainted from emotion.
Shortly afterwards, Carton is taken to a room along with fifty-one other condemned prisoners. One—a young seamstress—approaches Carton and explains that they met at La Force. She says she doesn’t understand how “the Republic, which is to do so much good to [the] poor, will profit by [her] death” (368), and asks if she can hold his hand for strength. As they talk, however, she suddenly realizes that Carton isn’t Darnay. He admits that he has exchanged places with Darnay for the sake of the latter’s family but reassures her that he will stay beside her regardless.
Meanwhile, the coach carrying Lucie, Darnay, their child, Doctor Manette, and Mr. Lorry is leaving Paris. Their papers are examined, and no one suspects who Darnay actually is. The coach continues on, and although Lucie is terrified that they will be stopped at some point, nothing “pursue[s]” them except “the whole wild night” (372).
Book 3, Chapter 14 Summary: “The Knitting Done”
On the afternoon of the executions, Madame Defarge meets with Jacques Three, the Vengeance, and the wood-sawyer in the wood-sawyer’s home. She explains that her husband has a soft spot for Doctor Manette, and that she has therefore decided to pursue vengeance against Lucie Manette and her child without his knowledge or help. The wood-sawyer, who is clearly frightened of Madame Defarge, demonstrates the “signals” he supposedly saw Lucie making, and everyone pretends to agree that the evidence is damning. Finally, Madame Defarge makes arrangements to meet with the Vengeance at the guillotine later that afternoon; in the meantime, she is going to visit Lucie in the hopes that the knowledge of Darnay’s impending death will have put her “in a state of mind to impeach the justice of the Republic” (375).
Meanwhile, Miss Pross and Jerry Cruncher are preparing to leave Paris. To avoid drawing attention to the Manettes’ house, Miss Pross proposes that Cruncher and the coach wait for her at a nearby cathedral. He agrees, amidst many promises to mend his ways when they are back in England.
Cruncher leaves and Miss Pross prepares to do the same, but she is interrupted by the arrival of Madame Defarge, who demands to see Lucie. Although she can’t understand French, Miss Pross senses that Madame Defarge means harm and places herself in front of Lucie’s room; Madame Defarge has already noted the other rooms are empty, and Miss Pross doesn’t want her to know for certain that the family has fled. Madame Defarge lunges for the door, and the two women struggle. Just as Madame Defarge tries to pull a revolver from her dress, Miss Pross strikes at it, shooting Madame Defarge.
Miss Pross rushes to the cathedral, making sure to throw the house keys in the river. When she reaches Cruncher, she asks him whether the streets are noisy, but it quickly becomes clear that she can’t hear his response; the gunshot has rendered her permanently deaf.
Book 3, Chapter 15 Summary: “The Footsteps Die Out For Ever”
The carts full of prisoners make their way toward the guillotine, which the narrator describes as the culmination of the suffering that preceded the Revolution. As the carts pass through the crowd, many spectators want to know which of the prisoners is Evrémonde. One of these onlookers asks Barsad, who points out a man whose attention is fixed on a young woman next to him. The onlooker begins to jeer at “Evrémonde,” but Barsad quiets him: “He is going to pay the forfeit; it will be paid in five minutes more. Let him be at peace” (386).
Meanwhile, the Vengeance waits with a crowd of knitting women seated near the guillotine, concerned that Madame Defarge will miss her crowning achievement: Evrémonde’s death.
As the executions begin, the seamstress thanks Carton for lending her strength, and he urges her to look at him rather than at their surroundings. She does, but also expresses one final concern: she has a cousin, and she is afraid that “it will seem long […] while [she] wait[s] for her in the better land” (388). Carton assures her that “there is no Time there, and no trouble there” (388), and kisses her as she is led away. He mounts the scaffold next, reciting John 11:25, and the knitting women count “twenty-three” (388) as he is executed.
The narrator remarks that those who witnessed Carton’s execution said that he “looked sublime and prophetic” (389). He then imagines what Carton’s “prophetic” thoughts might have been, if he had been allowed to give voice to them before his death. Carton looks out over the crowd, foreseeing that many of the people gathered there will eventually die by the guillotine themselves, but that “a beautiful city and a brilliant people [will rise] from this abyss” (389) and atone for all of the suffering that has come before. He then envisions Lucie and her friends and family happy and thriving as they grow older and takes comfort in knowing that they will remember him lovingly and even name a son after him. He concludes: “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known” (390).
Book 3, Chapters 13-15 Analysis
As famous as the final lines of A Tale of Two Cities are, what precedes them is equally significant. The final fight between Miss Pross and Madame Defarge, for instance, is central to the novel’s overall meaning. The narrator is quite clear that it is love that allows Miss Pross to prevail: “It was in vain for Madame Defarge to struggle and to strike; Miss Pross, with the vigorous tenacity of love, always so much stronger than hate, clasped her tight, and even lifted her from the floor in the struggle that they had” (382). Madame Defarge’s death renders her “victory” over the Evrémondes hollow, since she doesn’t live to see Darnay’s execution (the fact that it isn’t even Darnay being executed adds an additional layer of irony). Since Madame Defarge is in many ways a figurehead for the worst and most violent impulses of the French Revolution, the implication is that these too will be defeated.
This is certainly what Carton’s final vision suggests, since he foresees a reborn and even utopian society rising out of the current bloodshed. However, it’s not simply the content of Carton’s speech but also its placement that underscores the ultimate hopefulness of the novel; in a final nod toward the theme of resurrection, Carton actually “speaks" after the moment of his execution, and consequently seems to have survived his own death. The message is therefore not only of societal but also of personal rebirth, and Carton’s redemption isn’t just a matter of overcoming his particular apathy and despair, but also of overcoming a kind of isolation common to all people.
Early on in the novel, the narrator describes death as “the inexorable consolidation and perpetuation of the secret that was always in [each person’s] individuality” (15). Ultimately, however, this proves to be untrue; after being trapped inside his own mind for the entire novel, Carton finds authentic human connection only in the moments before his death (in his interactions with the seamstress) and in death itself (by speaking directly to the readers in a way no other character does). Carton’s death, in other words, is the culmination of the novel’s Christian symbolism, not only because it involves a sacrifice on behalf of others, but also because it portrays physical death as far less terrible than the “spiritual” death that in Carton’s case preceded it.
The novel’s last few chapters also contain a final warning to readers. As the carts approach the guillotine, the narrator lingers once again on the inevitability of this violence, given what preceded it: “Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression ever again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind” (385). Carton’s conversation with the seamstress offers a spiritual solution to this problem; heaven is a place with “no time” (388), and therefore, none of the historical trends that have brought France to this point. Dickens, however, is also clearly concerned with what happens in this life, and therefore wants his readers to understand what caused the Revolution, so that they can prevent another like it.
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