A Tale of Two Cities

Description:

Written for serial publication in 1859, Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities takes place in England and France in the years leading up to the French Revolution. It is one of Dickens's most powerful and widely taught novels, with one of the most famous first lines in all of literature: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." This updated volume presents a perceptive introduction by series editor Harold Bloom and a collection of full-length essays by respected scholars.

Dickens, master of stage fire, destroyed Madame Defarge in the grand manner, the only fate worthy of so vivid and so passionately desired a creation.

—Harold Bloom

It is not surprising that the most remembered scene in A Tale of Two Cities is the last, for this novel is dominated, even haunted, by its ending.

—J. M. Rignall

VIVA MODERN CRITICAL INTERPRETATIONS presents the best current criticism on the most widely read and studied poems, novels and dramas of the Western world, from Oedipus Rex and the Iliad to such modern and contemporary works as William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and Don DeLillo's White Noise. Each volume opens with an introductory essay and editor's note by Harold Bloom and includes a bibliography, a chronology of the author's life and works, and notes on the contributors. Taken together, VIVA MODERN CRITICAL INTERPRETATIONS provides a comprehensive critical guide to the most vital and influential works of the Western literary tradition.

Target Audience:

Students of English literature, English departments & libraries.