A Tale Of Two Cities

The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a descriptive novel which makes wine it's symbol for poverty. Wine spills onto the dirty streets of Paris and the peasants scramble to sip the muddy luxury. There is a repetition of the word "Hunger" to emphasize the poverty in society also. The peasants in Paris are hungry for food, clothing, warmth, a better lifestyle, and most importantly, a triumph over misery. Charles Dickens provides imagery when he describes the hunger of the peasants. Dead dogs are offered as meals, the people are wearing rags, and living undesirable lives. 

The wine also serves as a foreshadowing device toward the French Revolution. The wine stained everything it splashed upon. The streets were dyed red and the word "BLOOD" was painted onto the wall, which symbolized that the streets will once again be dyed red, but with blood. Violent weapons like gallow-ropes, knives, axes, and guns, along with the word "murderous" are introduced. All these components of poverty and violence symbolize the events to come that the peasants are building up to. It all foreshadows the French Revolution. 

"It was a heavy mass of a building, that chateau of Monsieur the Marquis,with a large stone court-yard before it, and two stone sweeps of staircase meeting in a stone terrace before the principal door. A stony business altogether, with heavy stone balustrades, and stone urns, and stone flowers, and stone faces of men and stone heads of lions, in all directions. As if the Gorgon's head had surveyed it, wen it was furnished, two centuries ago" (90). 

This passage describes in descriptive imagery of the abode of Marquis. The repetition of the word "stone" is unavoidable. Everything, when describing the possessions of the man, is described as stone. There is even an allusion of the mythical Gorgon, or Medusa, who with a stare turns everything her eye touches into stone. The word is not only describing Marquis's home, but also Marquis himself as a cold, heartless, man made of stone. An example made to prove this was when he ran over a child, killing the child, and threw coins at the grieving father to make the pain and inconvenience go away. Marquis symbolizes the the evil side of the French aristocracy.

Though I did not enjoy reading this novel, it did provide excellent imagery. The repetition that occurred was also magnificent. The point was well proven. The subject of poverty greeted the reader within the first few chapters. I believe I would have enjoyed this novel more, for selfish reasons, like if it were shorter. Description has never been my forte, I've never liked it. Too much description intervenes with my interest with the novel. 

The Importance of Being Ernest

Oscar Wilde's play, "The Importance of Being Ernest" was a farce that criticized the importance of trivial things and etiquette. In the beginning of the play, the protagonist, Jack, was introduced. Jack lived in the country for half of his life and the city for the other part. Jack gave himself the name of Ernest when he visited the city in order to maintain two separate lives. It was evident that Jack was in love with the beautiful city girl, Gwendolin. Gwendolin, having had the same feelings for Jack in return, was most attracted to his "name" of Ernest. She even denied to love a man with a name of Jack because it was too common, while Ernest had a vibration to it. 

The scene was repeated when the character, Algernon, was introduced. Algernon went to the country and disguised himself with the name of Ernest to cause and altercation between Jack and Gwendolin. When Algernon arrived, he was greeted by the young beautiful county girl,  Cecily. Algernon and Cecily immediately fell in love. The naive Cecily, who only knew Algernon's false name of Ernest, admitted that she dreamed of marrying a man with the name of Ernest and that no other name would have been suitable. 

The trivial importance of a name to determine love is a symbol in the play. Each woman was in love with the men while their names were known to be Ernest, and fell out of love immediately when it was discovered that their names were different. Both men realized that in order to obtain the love of the women, their names must be Ernest. The issue of a name to be eligible for the marriage of the women is a very trivial matter. Love is of lesser importance in comparison to a name.

"In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing." In this quote, Gwendolin states that appearance and etiquette matters so much more than the truth of the whole matter. This plays a huge part in the play's trivial importance. It ridicules the importance of etiquette and appearance in society. Appearance is most significant in this play rather than the importance of an issue. 

I loved this play. I thought it was absolutely comical. The events that the characters were fighting over were astonishing to me. Everything was so trivial and the important things that were going on were casted aside for a muffin fight. I laughed while reading this and that does not often happen. The only criticism I have toward this farce is that the trivial matters were taken so seriously that it was hardly believable. The constant bickering over nothing, and the nonsense spoken by Lady Bracknell was just inconceivable.