Genre

A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities: Genre 1 key example

Genre
Explanation and Analysis:

A Tale of Two Cities is a work of historical fiction. The novel is set in London and Paris in the years leading up to the French Revolution, and it explores how large-scale historical movements like the Revolution influence (and are influenced by) the lives of individuals. Historical fiction was a relatively new genre in 1859, when Dickens published this novel. This literary mode was first popularized by Sir Walter Scott in his 1814 work Waverly, which is set during the Jacobite uprising in Scotland. Dickens was likely inspired by Waverly, as well as Thomas Carlyle’s history of the French Revolution, when writing A Tale of Two Cities.