Tale of Two Cities Lecture Notes: Collaboration

Lupe's Notes

• Lecture idea brought upon by French and London student swap (London to France for architecture, France to London for music based on architecture)
• Dickens conceived main idea whilst acting with his children and friends the drama of "The Frozen Deep" > gives it personal significance for Dickens
• Preface: story shaped itself, had complete possession of him, he has done and suffered what is on the pages > personal intensity
•  1857, Wilkie Collins + Dickens directed an amateur play > Dickens played the protagonist > inspired by 1845 Franklin Expedition to the North Passage (all perished)
• Dickens returns to the theme of sacrifice in the Tale of Two Cities
• 1857, production in Manchester > Dickens didn't want the play to be done by amateurs, crew: Ternans, fell in love with the daughter (Ellen Ternan and divorced to be with her)
• Lucie in Tale of Two Cities based off of Ellen
• doubleness of characters (CD, DC), considered naming character Richard or Dick
• 1858 > public readings  for profit as opposed to charity readings > established new relationship, became greatest reader of greatest writer of the age
• November 1858 > separate from publishers
• New journal 75% ownership
• April 30 > Chapters 2 and 3 of the Tale published
• suffering documented, first brought to London at age 10 (father's work), vile place yet important to his creative purposes, London is his inspiration

My Notes

• Dickens was seeing connections and principles of organization in his early writing of the city of London, London was like a "newspaper" 
• Develop the darkening vision of the city throughout the later of his writing
• First visited Paris on August 1844, made a big impression on Dickens and 'reconstructs' pre-revolutionary Paris , the one he was used to. Narrow streets and tall houses- like 19th Century London
• Dickens visited Paris approximately 15 times between 1844 and 1868
• His visits spanned a time of geographical and political changes undergoing in Paris
• Fascinated by Paris' darker side, 'wicked' + 'wonderfully attractive'
• Liked visiting the morgue, always drawn by attraction of repulsion whether at home or abroad
• Dickens has amazing attention to detail, especially exemplified in his visit to Italy
• Visualized Paris and London in 'Two Tales' and set them back them in time
• Leads us to Childs' Bank, Temple Bar, Hanging Sword Alley, New Gate with topographical enthusiasm in story
• Dickens makes it clear in his famous opening of "Two Tales" that London and Paris are very similar 
• "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,"

Jisu's Notes

• First stage of the novel in March, 1860
• The most famous adaptation was called "The Only Way"- dramatization done by two clergymen with influential images
• 1935- First sound film by Ronald Coleman: The only way it was shown was through BBC Television
• Hard to overestimate the importance of Thomas Carlyle in 19th century
• Thomas Carlyle- Essayist, biographer, social thinker and historian
• Carlyle and Dickens met in 1840 and became friends
• In 1870 after Dickens' death, Carlyle described Dickens as clear sighted, loving man
• Dickens loved Thomas Carlyle's literary works- "Wonderful piece"
• Carlyle's history of French Revolution- full of flashing insights and full of events happening at night
• "Footsteps"-symbol 

Yesenia's Notes

Millicent's Notes

• seven faces, seven "dead" faces, gloomy eyes and bloodless lips
• black ferocious sea
• Dickens was very "thorough" in his researches and has that driving quality
• Dickens received a critical letter from his friend and always respond with factual backup
• Dickens writes a character not from their voice but from his own voice
• writes characters with depth and personal intensity (produces another layer of the story's true theme)
• "face was in the same one face"
• "you know you are recalled to life, they tell me so"
• Charles Dickens met Ellen Turner in 1857 while he was 45 years old and she was 18 years old
• echoes of Ellen Turner in the words with highly personal points
• "the last movement" Sydney Carton puts himself to escape to spend the rest of his life with Lucy, his wife
• "winning that path of life I thought was mine"
• "I hear him tell the child my story..."

Collaboration between Lupe Pliego, Millicent Angulo, Jisu Yoon, Yesenia Beas, and Edgar Rodriguez