A Tale of Two Cities- English vs. the French yet again 

So far the novels we have studied specifically Jane Eyre have commented on the differing moralities of the French and the English societies, with the ideal bent in favour of the English. We saw this contrasting morality in Jane Eyre through the character of Blanche Ingram in some sense who is portrayed as the beautiful love interest of Mr. Rochester, who is attracted to her for purely superficial reasons, highlighting how the French are more frivolous in a way as opposed to the great depth exhibited by an English character such as Jane Eyre. In other places, Mr. Rochester's morality is defined in his own words to be at its lowest ebb when he is in France, interacting with the French women and their frivolous ways.

Similarly, A Tale of Two Cities also serves a didactic purpose in contrasting the two moralities. However, here I felt that my history class was coming alive, only in a fictional setting with contrast between the two societies themselves as opposed to specific characters that portray an English or a French morality. The novel initiates on this very note, with the opening chapter defining France to be, 'less favored on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident', signifying a certain lack of morality in the French community that has to do with distance from religion amongst other evils. Further on, the entire scene of the wine casket projects how rationally is somewhat shunned when the people rush to take a sip of the wine, leaving behind their work etc. It is true that this scene somewhat depicts the unity in the new emerging class of the French Revolution that demanded greater luxuries similar to the aristocracy, but I cannot help but notice how the language used to describe the scene exhibits somewhat condescension towards the French frivolity. For instance, the men and women ,'were dipped in puddles' of wine and some were, 'licking and champing the moister wine-rotted fragments with eager relish'. Such language wreaks of disapproval towards the French in general. 

With this being the case of how France is depicted, England on the other hand, even though plagued with legal troubles of its own is represented in a slightly different fashion. In their peaceful abode at Soho in London Doctor Manette begins to regain his old self back to some extent. This is primarily played out through the institution of family as stressed in the English setting. In the chapter 'Hundreds of people', the concept of a family dinner is highlighted with Miss Pross preparing marvelous meals for the family that regains its unity once settled in London. Interestingly the wine as a symbol resurfaces in this chapter and again but this time in a more civilized setting as opposed to the French madness in the street. Similar to the people in the streets of Paris, the Manettes are not exactly the aristocracy yet they are shown to consume wine 'out in the air' with proper conversation amongst the family members accompanying the activity.

Hence, a tale of two cities  again serves as a didactic novel to highlight the contrasting moralities of the French and English at various points in the novel, with the most screaming evidence coming from the use of wine in the novel as symbol that aids the understanding of the moralities in the two societies.