Opening Paragraph of \"A Tale of Two

Opening Paragraph of "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens

In Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities," the characters and settings are doubled, and even the opening lines of the story sets the stage for an age of paradox. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness," wrote Dickens.

This opening paragraph describes the conflict in France that Dickens will later describe in greater detail. Basically, the peasants are being destroyed because of the needs and desires of the wealthy and affluent. Like exterminators killing roaches, the rich aimed to drive out the poor during this time.

The opening paragraph provides a strong start to a brief yet informative first chapter, which describes the era in which the novel takes place: England and France in 1775. This age was marked by contradiction and competition. It truly seemed to be the best time and the worst time. In England, the public was in an uproar over religious prophecies and messages sent by British soldiers in America. In France, the public was in a state of excess, both in spending and violence, bringing about the erection of the guillotine.

The opening paragraph reads:

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, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way -- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

This statement takes the reader through a world of paradox and contradiction. It is a crucial part of the book as its theme is later supported in several chapters through images and metaphors. Dickens shows, in the opening statement, that while he understands the need for revolution, he also sees the dangers of mass action. Dickens also used the terms "the best of times" and "the worst of times" to define the well-known sentimentality of the French Revolution.

After the opening paragraph of the book, Dickens sums up the state of two great nations in two sentences: