For example, both the English and French monarchs - George III and Louis XVI, respectively - seem indifferent to the plight of their people and cannot comprehend any power being great enough to eclipse their divine right to rule. Both countries are simultaneously experiencing very similar and very different situations. His pairings of contrasting concepts such as the "best"and "worst"of times, "Light"and "Darkness,"and "hope"and "despair"reflect the mirror images of good and evil that will recur in characters and situations throughout the novel.Įngland and France in 1775 embody the concept of duality that Dickens outlines in the first paragraph. From the first paragraph, Dickens begins developing the central theme of duality. This first chapter presents the sweeping backdrop of forces and events that will shape the lives of the novel's characters. While the English and French kings and queens carelessly ignore the unrest and misery prevalent in their countries, silent forces guide the rulers and their people toward fate and death.
Meanwhile, in England, people give spiritualists and the supernatural more attention than the revolutionary rumblings from American colonists, and an ineffective justice system leads to widespread violence and crime. The breaking point - riotous rebellion - is near, and the populace of France secretly but steadily moves toward revolution.
In France, inflation is out of control and an oppressive social system results in intolerable and extreme injustices being committed against average citizens, who believe they have the worst of life. The rulers and ruling classes of both countries may have the best of life, but they are out of touch with the common people and believe that the status quo will continue forever. The year is 1775, and life in England and France seems paradoxically the best and the worst that it can be.
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