Book· 1859· Historical

A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities: 1 recorded work traces back to it.

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What A Tale of Two Cities influenced

Works that record this one as a source, with the evidence a contributor gave.

The Dark Knight Trilogy

Film · 2005

InfluenceMEDIUM

Christopher and Jonathan Nolan have named A Tale of Two Cities as the model for The Dark Knight Rises, and the film quotes it at the end: Gordon reads Sydney Carton's closing lines, "It is a far, far better thing that I do", at Bruce Wayne's funeral.

  • Bane's Gotham is the Terror: the rich dragged from their homes, a court of the people
  • The hero's sacrifice to save a city echoes Carton's
  • Dickens is the one text the film puts on screen

About the work

A Tale of Two Cities

The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie whom he had never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.