ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Videos by Tag 4102 videos
GED Social Studies 1.1 Civics and Government
This video defines utopias and dystopias, and investigates how a utopia might become a dystopia. Can a seemingly perfect world actually be a dystop...
We may all be fools when it comes to love, but thankfully none of us will accidentally switch places with our twin brother and fall in love with ou...
A Tale of Two Cities 53959 Views
Share It!
Description:
It may be the best of times for Chuck Darnay, but it's pretty much constantly the worst of times for Sydney. Poor guy.
Transcript
- 00:01
A Tale of Two Cities, a la Shmoop: It was the best of videos, it was the worst of videos.
- 00:12
Even if you haven't read Dickens' immortal classic A Tale of Two Cities...
- 00:15
...you're no doubt familiar with that opening line:
- 00:18
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
- 00:22
How could it be the best of times and the worst of times... at the same time?
Full Transcript
- 00:28
What was Dickens trying to say here... or was he just trying to cover his butt?
- 00:34
Okay, considering that Dickens is one of the greatest writers who has ever lived...
- 00:39
...and taking into account that his opener is a pretty famous one...
- 00:43
...let's give him the benefit of the doubt and say that... he was likely trying to make
- 00:47
an important point here. But what?
- 00:52
Is he saying that it was the best of times for some, and the worst of times for others?
- 00:57
Dickens paints a picture with a pretty clear divide between the upper and lower classes.
- 01:02
One half of the population was the upper crust...
- 01:05
..while the other half had to settle for the upper crust's... crumbs.
- 01:11
Or is he insinuating that it's a matter of perception?
- 01:14
Some of the characters in this novel live in poverty, but are courageous, loyal, or
- 01:18
strong of heart.
- 01:20
Others... members of the aristocracy... live lavish existences, but are corrupt, unkind
- 01:26
or inhumane.
- 01:27
Were the folks Dickens writes about experiencing both the best of times and the worst of times...
- 01:33
simultaneously? Were their hearts full, but their stomachs
- 01:36
empty...
- 01:37
...or vice versa?
- 01:39
And why exactly were there so many empty stomachs... had these people never heard of Ramen noodles?
- 01:46
All right, so the line might be referring to a divide between the classes...
- 01:51
...or it could have to do with a sort of... duality of man...
- 01:54
...but consider a third option.
- 01:56
Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with people's lives at all.
- 02:01
Perhaps Dickens was commenting on the state of the world as a whole.
- 02:04
It was the worst of times, because the French Revolution was raging on, and evils such as
- 02:11
self-indulgence and brutality reared their nasty heads...
- 02:15
...but it was the best of times, because the human spirit rose up when faced with such
- 02:20
adversity and hardship...
- 02:22
...and remained strong even in the face of death.
- 02:25
And trust us... it's tough to be strong in the face of death. That is one ugly mug.
- 02:30
So... which way are you leaning?
- 02:33
Does Dickens' famous first line relate to the highs of the rich and the lows of the
- 02:38
poor...
- 02:38
...the differing perceptions of happiness that existed within each character in the
- 02:42
story...
- 02:43
...or to an all-encompassing assessment of the state of humankind?
- 02:48
Shmoop among yourselves.
Related Videos
This video defines utopias and dystopias, and investigates how a utopia might become a dystopia. Can a seemingly perfect world actually be a dystop...
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...