A Tale of Two Cities
“'...if Monsieur Manette had not died; if he had suddenly and silently disappeared; if he had been spirited away; if it had not been difficult to guess to what dreadful place, though no art could trace him; if he had an enemy in some compatriot who could exercise a privilege that I in my own time have known the boldest people afraid to speak of in a whisper, across the water, there; for instance, the privilege of filling up blank forms for the consignment of any one to the oblivion of a prison for any length of time; if his wife had implored the king, the queen, the court, the clergy, for any tidings of him, and all quite in vain;-then the history of your father would have been the history of this unfortunate gentleman, the Doctor of Beauvais (p. 22).’”
“'...if Monsieur Manette had not died; if he had suddenly and silently disappeared; if he had been spirited away; if it had not been difficult to guess to what dreadful place, though no art could trace him; if he had an enemy in some compatriot who could exercise a privilege that I in my own time have known the boldest people afraid to speak of in a whisper, across the water, there; for instance, the privilege of filling up blank forms for the consignment of any one to the oblivion of a prison for any length of time; if his wife had implored the king, the queen, the court, the clergy, for any tidings of him, and all quite in vain;-then the history of your father would have been the history of this unfortunate gentleman, the Doctor of Beauvais (p. 22).’”
This quote blatantly shows the absolute fear of the French government during the Victorian era. The English government had a lot of power over its people, but it was not as corrupt as the French government during the Victorian era. As shown in this quote, the French government was awful to its people during this time. People were abducted out of their homes never to be seen again, sent to jail, or killed for reasons that were never told to the families, even if the families begged the king, queen, or clergy. Even “the boldest people [were] “afraid to speak of [it] in a whisper.” During this time the French government had the power to do whatever it wanted. Some people in the government or wealthy enough people could send another to jail (“filling up blank forms for the consignment of any one to the oblivion of a prison for any length of time.”). There was no evidence to show that this had in fact happened to Monsieur Manette, but it was extremely likely that it had. Now that Monsieur Manette has been found, he needs to be taken away from France so that he cannot be sent to jail again. This is the first major part of the plot. This gives the reader knowledge into what the characters are setting off to France to do. This quote also shows that the characters are going to face a lot of danger and obstacles in France, because Monsieur Manette was sent to jail once, and he is at risk of being sent back to jail again. This quote sets the stage for the entire plot to follow.
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