Dax BlinnMrs. BallardEnglish 9H9 April 2014The Price of LibertyBefore the liberating events of the French Revolution, the French nobility were a feared source of grief and mourning, drawing anger against whomever they pleased with "letters de cachet" and the imprisonment of their enemies at the Bastille. Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities explores the lives of characters in various states of physical and mental incarceration who undertake journeys with the potential to "call" them back to life. The plight of Dr. Alexandre Manette and his inability to truly escape the ramifications of his physical imprisonment contrasts with the emotional resurrection of Sydney Carton from a self-centered drunk to a devoted savior of history. After serving eighteen years of imprisonment at the hands of the French nobility. , Dr. Manette is freed by his daughter, Lucie, but discovers that the prison's hold on him will not let go so easily. At first, Manette's newfound physical freedom will be her "recall to life" when Lucie promises: "I tell you, dearest, that your agony is over, and that I came here to get you out of it, and that we go to England must be at peace and at rest” (Dickens 49). Manette is now on a new path, able to do as he pleases with his beloved daughter and establish his new life in England, far from the confines of the Bastille. However, as Marie Rose Napierkowski points out, her release from prison may only be an illusion: “Manette cannot shake off the hold that her burial and rebirth have on her mind. He returns to his tinkering, a sign of his madness contracted in prison, during periods of stress” (Napierkowski 358). Dr. Manette loses contact with what "called him back to life" because...... middle of paper ......the Of Two Towns Charles Dickens uses the French Revolution as a vehicle to take his characters on a journey into the potential of a new life. As France itself frees itself from the grip of a tyrannical nobility, the characters of Dr. Manette and Sydney Carton are offered their own form of liberation from their own imprisonment. It is clear that Dickens makes it clear that being “recalled to life” and actually experiencing its fullness do not always go hand in hand. Dr. Manette never really escapes the realities of his imprisonment while Sydney Carton only finds life by giving it up. This is the price of freedom. Works Cited Ciccarelli, Sheryl and Marie Rose Napierkowski, eds. Novels for students. Vol 5. Detroit: Gale, 1999. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Internet. May 17, 2013. Dickens, Charles. A tale of two cities. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2004. Print.