A Summary of The Movie Jarvis Lorry

In the movie Jarvis Lorry, an employee of Tellson's Bank, was sent to find Dr. Manette, an unjustly imprisoned physician, in Paris and bring him back to England. Lucie, Manette's daughter who thought that he was dead, accompanied Mr. Lorry. Upon arriving at Defarge's wine shop in Paris, they found Mr. Manette in a very bad state and took him back to London with them.

In 1780, five years later, Lucie, Mr. Lorry and Dr. Manette were called to testify against Charles Darnay, a tutor who made constant trips between France and England and was thus accused of treason, but Darnay was acquitted when a lawyer, named Sydney Carton, looked much like him and an eye witness faltered to positively distinguish between them. Carton loved Lucie but he was a drunk. Knowing that their relationship was hopeless, he stated that he would sacrifice himself for her or anyone she loved in an emotional conversation. Darnay ended up marrying Lucie. Darnay's uncle, the Marquiuis St. Evremonde, was assassinated by the father of a child he ran over and Darnay inherited the title, Marquiuis St. Evermonde, Now along with this title came power. Darnay would not take it because he did not want to exploit the French people as his uncle did. Around 1790, while the French Revolution was in full swing, Darnay decided to go to France to save a family servant. Upon his arrival, he was immediately jailed. Lucie and Dr. Manette soon showed up in Paris at the doorstep of Tellson's French office, where Lorry already was present. Dr. Manette managed to get Darnay released after a year, yet he was re-jailed the same day by Madame Defarge because his family, the Evremondes, had previously killed off her family. Darnay was tried the next day and sentenced to death.

Manette went back into his demented state with hopelessness. Carton arrived in Paris and heard a plot to also kill Lucie and Dr. Manette. Quickly, he made his way into the prison with the help of spies and, with his close resemblance, switched places with Darnay. Carton had arranged for the escape of Lucie, Darnay, and Dr. Manette. Madame Defarge had been killed by Miss Pross, a sort of nanny to Lucie, and escaped with Lucie. Carton sacrificed his life for Lucie, her father, and Darnay at the guillotine and then died in victory. Dickens attempted to show his readers the power and dangers of a revolution in the origonial novel, and it is even shown more in the movie. He had a clear underlying theme that oppression and exploitation by an aristocracy will cause a revolt by those being miss treated, a fact that made the French Revolution inescapeable. Throughout this movie, it was visible that Dickens drew a connection between cruelty and disorder. Yet the power of love and sacrifice were, in the end, linked with a renewal of society. The harsh treatment of the aristocracy towards the poor was constantly shown.

In one case, the Marquis St. Evremonde ran over a peasant child and just through a few coins at the father to make up for this loss. The anarchy of the revolution was shown by the many mobs that roamed the streets of Paris. Many nobles had left France and there was no powerful government. Therefore a direct connection was drawn between the cruelty by the high society and the outbreak of revolution turning quickly into chaos. Dickens was biased with a sympathy for the fooled, especially for children. The idea that the victimized, when forced for long enough, would revolt was a central idea behind this Dickins plot. The unjust imprisonment of Dr. Manette tore him apart. He could never truly escape from his prison experience and in moments of great stress he went back to the insanity which Mr. Lorry and Lucie had found him in at Book report..... 12thgrade.... A tale of 2 citiesDefarge's. Darnay had been tried often and came close to conviction a number of times all due to the past actions of his family. He was a mere victim of the past. Dickens clearly showed strong support for Darnay and Dr. Manette not only in the outcome, where they successfully escaped France, but also throughout the story. When the peasant child was run over by Marquis St. Evremonde, Dickens showed a great deal of contempt for Evremonde, when he merely offered a few coins as his remorse, and created a sense that this was a terrible act. I have learned a great deal about life during the early French Revolution and viewed the anarchy with much inner thought while watching this movie.

Members of the upper aristocracy were, in general, more conceited that I had previously thought them to be. The numerous mobs were more unstable then I had expected. They roamed, destroying at random, and went on to a new task with little persuasion. Many mobs cheered in joy for Darnay when he was acquitted at his first trial in France but were just as excited when he was condemned to death the second time.

Society in general during the French Revolution has become much clearer to me. The movie it self was originally a little difficult to understand until I became aware of the plot, and with help from you. At that point I had no problem following the plot, which actually became quite interesting. The French Revolution was very well displayed in all of its violence and anarchy. The underlying ideas of oppression and anarchy made it enjoyable to see how the characters interacted. I found Carton especially interesting. He knew that Lucie would never seek after him, before and after her marriage to Darnay, yet he devoted his life to her and gave it up in the end for her. Despite all of the depressing aspects of the movie, Dickens' theme of renewl became much more visible towards the end and actually was quite inspiring. As Carton gave his life for Darnay and Lucie, his final vision of a better society,wich was stated in the origonal novel left me with a hopeful attitude and seemed to be an very good way to close.