Language and Imagery in "A Tale of Two Cities"

According to Bjorn Tysdahl’s “Europe is Not the Other: A Tale of Two Cities”, the figurative language employed by Charles Dickens is the kind that is fluid, boundless and all-embracing. I could not agree with the statement more because the imagery employed has several layers to it, and the reader slowly and cautiously peels one layer to discover the second layer of meaning, yet it is all connected and cannot be separated or compartmentalized.

For instance, when Darnay is taken to court, one would have expected clear distinctions between the people present and in the application of the law itself. However, when Darnay is taken to court in London, “all the human breath in the place, rolled at him, like a sea, or a wind, or a fire.” And Jerry’s ugly-smelling breath “mingles with the waves of other beer, and gin, and tea, and coffee, and what not, that flowed at him, and already broke upon the great windows behind him in an impure mist and rain.”

As quoted above, it seems that ‘life’ cannot be compartmentalized. Tsydahl states that the imagery of the sea, waves and wind merges the human race together, the way wine flowing in the Saint Antoine street brought together humankind. “BLOOD” is written on the wall with red wine, and one is reminded not only of the cry for blood that will be heard in the streets, but how it is blood itself that makes us all human and makes us a part of each other, and connects us; the way wine brings the young and the old together (and connects them) to drink.

Furthermore, the sea imagery is very evident in the novel when it comes to the streets of Paris and the streets of London. In fact, according to Tsydahl the sea imagery allows the two different cities to connect through waves, water and sea. For instance, when people gather to attack Bastille, “the living sea rose, wave on wave, depth on depth, and overflowed the city on that point.” On the other hand, when the Old Bailey trial is over in London, “the crowd came pouring out.”

It is interesting to note the sea imagery in the names of the chapters itself. Chapter 22 of Book 3 is called “The Sea Still Rises”, and Chapter 24 is called “Drawn to the Loadstone Rock.”