More violence quickly follows, with the killing of a government official and the arson of the Marquis’s former mansion. By the time the child is 6 events have come to a head in France led by the Defarges, the French peasantry storm the Bastille and execute its guards.

Several years pass in domestic bliss, and Darnay and Lucie have a daughter (also named Lucie). The man-Gaspard-is arrested and executed, but the events surrounding the murder generate further interest in a revolutionary society headed by Defarge and his wife Thérèse.ĭarnay and Lucie marry, with Doctor Manette’s permission, although Manette suffers a brief relapse after learning Darnay’s true name. On the night of Darnay’s visit, however, the Marquis was killed by the father of a peasant boy he had run over with his carriage earlier that day. Shortly after his trial, Darnay had visited his uncle, who is revealed to be a corrupt and cruel nobleman: the Marquis St. Darnay and Lucie eventually become engaged, while Carton, in confessing his love for Lucie, swears that he would give his life to keep her and those she loves safe. Over the next several months, Darnay and Carton pay several visits to the Manettes at their London home both men fall in love with Lucie, but where Darnay is hardworking, courteous, and noble, Carton is a cynical and depressed alcoholic. To prove the plausibility of this, one of the lawyers-a man named Sydney Carton-stands up, revealing himself to look very much like Darnay. It initially seems likely that Darnay will be convicted of being a French spy, but at the last moment Darnay’s legal team asks whether Darnay might have been misidentified by a witness. The defendant is a young Frenchman named Charles Darnay, whom they initially met on the crossing from Calais. His daughter’s arrival seems to spark some signs of recognition in him, however, and the group departs for England.įive years later, Lucie and Manette (now largely recovered) are witnesses in a treason case in London. Doctor Manette’s long imprisonment has left him in a bad psychological state he is largely unaware of his surroundings and constantly busies himself making shoes. He has now been released and is in the care of a former servant named Ernest Defarge, who now runs a wine-shop in the impoverished Saint Antoine district of Paris. Once a successful doctor, Manette was, for unknown reasons, imprisoned 18 years ago in the infamous Bastille prison. Together, the pair travel to Paris to recover her father, Alexandre Manette. In 1775, a banker named Jarvis Lorry travels to Dover, where he meets a young, half-French woman named Lucie Manette.

A tale of two cities cliff notes