Having read Thomas Carlysle's The French
Revolution: A History, Charles Dickens, like others, felt that conditions
were ripe in his own country of England for an uprising of the lower classes. In fact,
his opening chapter draws several parallels between France and England as he writes of
the similarities of the rulers of both countries:
There were a king with a large jaw and a queen
with a lain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a
queen with a fair face on the throne of
France.
Likewise, Dickens
writes of the lawlessness of both countries. And, with the justice systems, Dickens
clearly draws parallels between the capriciousness of the courts that hear Darnay's
treason trials in both countries. Also, as a social reformer, Dickens firmly believed
that the poor of England, and especially London, whose work conditions were
horrible, might rebel against their subjugation in society, which itself Dickens
considered a prison.
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