A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Summary (Question and Answer)

Chapter Three (A Tale of Two Cities)

Chapter 3

8) What crime was Charles Darnay accused of?

Darnay was accused of being a French Spy, and for collecting information about the British Army and Navy.

9) Why did nobody believe the evidence against Darnay given by Barsad or Cly?

Because their respective answers to the questions posed to each of them by Darnay’s lawyer, Mr Stryver, showed that Barsad was a liar and Cly was a thief. Barsad was a dishonest man who had been to prison many times as a debtor and owed money to Darnay. Cly had been to prison for theft.

10) Why did Luciette start to cry when giving evidence against Darnay?

Luciette started to cry when giving evidence against Darnay because he had been very kind to her father, and she hoped that her evidence would not do him any harm. Despite this, she feared that it would.

11) Who was Sydney Carton, and how did he help Darnay’s case?

Carton was Stryver’s assistant, and had previously prepared all of the clever questions which had been put to Cly and Barsad. He asked Stryver to point out that Darnay and Carton looked very similar. If it was hard to tell the difference between the two of them then, given the multitude of people in Portsmouth, how could the witness be certain of the identity of the person he had seen talking to the sailors.

12) Why do you think that Carton wanted to drink so much wine?

Because he wanted to be “out of this world” which was the only way he felt contentment. He appears to envy Darnay and long for Lucie.