Tale Of Two Cities Rhetorical Analysis

In his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses antithesis throughout his opening paragraph, contrasting multiple phrases, such as “the best of times” and “the worst of times,” “the age of wisdom” and the “age of foolishness.” The words, “best” and “worst,” “wisdom” and “foolishness, “belief” and “incredulity,” “Light” and “Darkness,” “hope” and “despair,” “everything” and “nothing,” and “Heaven” and “the other way” are opposites that are used to convey the stark contrast between the wealthy nobles and the poor peasants during the time of the French Revolution. By using these contrasts, Dickens uses extremes to create an atmosphere of chaos, which creates deeper insight to the background and setting for the rest of the novel. Further,