Parallels between Tale of Two Cities and “The Bet”
Uploaded by sas108 on Sep 10, 2006
Parallels between Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, and “The Bet”, by Anton Chekhov
At the start of the short story, “The Bet”, we immediately see a correlation with Tale of Two Cities when discussion starts about life imprisonment at the party hosted by the banker; we think of Doctor Manette who was imprisoned at the Bastille for eighteen harsh years. The banker made a bet with a young lawyer, that he, the lawyer, could not stay voluntarily imprisoned for fifteen years for a reward of two million dollars. Doctor Manette was buried alive for almost eighteen years and this lawyer is about to be imprisoned, on much better terms however, for fifteen years. The two very long sentences that are almost comparable to a life sentence; if you live in Canada is only twenty-five years long. The lawyer to keep his sanity was permitted to have: a musical instrument of his choice, good wine, and all the books that he requested, however Doctor Manette had none of these luxury so he was forced to pick up a hobby. He mastered the art of shoemaking, in order to stay busy and keep his mind working.
Both men’s appearance was similar, the lawyer was described as: a skeleton with only skin over his bones, without a trace of muscle, hollow cheeks, and a yellow face with an earthly tint. While Doctor Manette is portrayed as a man with a thin and hollow face, who’s skin is the same shade as his yellow shirt, which was dulled down over the years. It is interesting how the two men look alike based on this description but largely their skin was of this hue because they were not in contact with the sun’s rays. Nor have they been exposed to fresh air for long periods of time. It is remarkable how Chekhov and Dickens would create two different characters with an almost identical appearances.