Irony in A Tale of Two Cities Someone once said "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This is a compelling message on which many writers have built their literature. An effective work that uses this theme is A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. This novel is set in Paris and London at the end of the 18th century. During this time, France was engaged in a revolution in which the otherwise common man rose up against the country's aristocracy. At the beginning, the novel reveals the motives behind the plebeians' actions. Dickens focuses on the conflict that citizens experience at the hands of the ruthless nobility. At the end of the novel, however, Dickens achieves an about-face. The working class exercises its new source of power to take revenge on the aristocracy. In an ironic twist, Dickens shows how power can corrupt those who were once threatened by it. To convince the reader of the oppression citizens face, Dickens uses motifs. By providing a recurring phrase, the reader gains a sense of the anguish that makes up every aspect of his life. An example of this is as follows: "The hunger was driven out of the high houses, from the wretched clothes hanging on poles and ropes; the hunger was patched in them with straw, rags, wood and paper; the hunger was repeated in every fragment." of the small quantity of firewood that the man sawed; Hungry looked down the smokeless chimneys, and walked down the dirty street that had no offal, among the rubbish, of anything to eat. Hunger was the inscription on the baker's shelves. written in every little loaf of his meager supply of bad bread; at the sausage shop, in every preparation of dead dogs that was offered to him... middle of the paper... and the particular reader approaches Darnay. The narrator says: "'On behalf of the assembled fellow sufferers,' said a gentleman of courteous appearance and manner, coming forward, 'I have the honor to welcome you to La Force [prison], and to condolence with you for the calamity that brought you among us. May it soon end happily!'" (p. 254-255). Surprisingly, Dickens manages to turn ruthless nobles into martyrs. The ironic role reversal is very effective in representing Dickens' theme. People naturally try to find a protagonist and an antagonist. in every story. The reader quickly becomes perplexed, until he finally decides that it is simply human nature to both abuse positions of power and demand them in society. Works Cited: Dickens, Charles A Tale of Two Cities London: Orion Publishing Group, 1994.