Chapter 1: The Period
* Introduces the novel's setting: London and Paris in 1775, during the French Revolution.
* Establishes the tumultuous atmosphere of the period, with rumors of revolution on the rise.
Example: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
Chapter 2: The Mail
* Introduces Mr. Jarvis Lorry, a bank clerk traveling to Paris to deliver an urgent message.
* Along the way, Lorry encounters a mysterious passenger named Sydney Carton.
Example: Lorry is described as "a man of business with a business breast."
Chapter 3: The Night Shadows
* Lorry arrives in Paris and witnesses the oppressive conditions under which the French people live.
* He meets Dr. Manette, a man who has been imprisoned for 18 years and has lost his mind.
Example: Manette's release is described as "the sign of the coming of the Dawn."
Chapter 4: The Preparation
* Introduces Charles Darnay, a French aristocrat who is Lorry's intended recipient of the message.
* Darnay reveals his secret identity to Lorry and the danger he faces in Paris.
Example: Darnay's dilemma is captured in the phrase, "If he were the poorest of the poor, I would urge no other course but flight."
Chapter 5: The Wine-Shop
* Introduces Madame Defarge, a revolutionary woman who is determined to seek revenge for her brother's death.
* Darnay is arrested and imprisoned in the Bastille.
Example: Madame Defarge's knitting symbolizes the Revolution's "seamless web of intrigue."
Chapter 6: The Shoemaker
* Introduces Jerry Cruncher, a dissolute porter who also secretly serves as a spy for the government.
* Darnay's trial begins, and he is found guilty and sentenced to death.
Example: Cruncher is described as "a man with a pair of eyes in the back of his head, with a pair of ears on the top of his head, and a pair of hands on his chest."
Chapter 7: Monday
* The day of Darnay's execution arrives.
* Sydney Carton sacrifices himself by taking Darnay's place on the scaffold.
Example: Carton's last words are, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
Chapter 8: Sydney Carton's Likeness
* The novel concludes with a reflection on Carton's extraordinary selflessness.
* The true nature of his sacrifice is revealed in a glimpse of his childhood.
Example: The final lines of the novel resonate with the power of redemption: "Carton had given up so much, for so long, that he had grown to forget it, and to content his mind with the first remembrance of it."
