Charles Dickens once stated: "My faith in the people who govern is, on the whole, infinitesimal; my faith in the people is, on the whole, unlimited." (Fido 102) , this is certainly reflected in A Tale of Two Cities, which is a historical novel written by Dickens that outlines the events of the French Revolution through the story of a French aristocrat named Charles Darnay. Darnay is a Parisian aristocrat who renounces his aristocracy to embark on a new life in London where he falls in love with a woman named Lucie Manette after escaping trial for treason with the help of a lawyer named Sydney Carton. In Paris there is a revolt among the citizens known as the French Revolution, caused by the bourgeoisie's idea that “the destination of the above is the involuntary homage of the below” (Dickens 146). They are a group that seeks to exterminate the bourgeoisie to gain freedom and take revenge at the same time. The central theme of man's quest for power is present in A Tale of Two Cities and is recurring in many literary works including Hamlet, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and 1984. In A Tale of Two Cities the main conflict is the revolution in which the proletariat aims to overthrow the bourgeoisie in an attempt to gain freedom as they are oppressed and in a state of poverty. Dickens has already stated numerous times that he supported the French Revolution; however he did not support the way citizens approached the revolution. Dickens comments on his views in the third book, when he describes what Lucie observes: "There were no less than five hundred people and they danced like five thousand demons." (Dickens 338). Dickens uses the image of demons to describe...... middle of paper......xford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Print.• Fido, Martin. The World of Charles Dickens: the life, times and work of the great Victorian novelist. Vancouver: Raincost Books, 1997. Print.• Hibbert, Christopher. The days of the French Revolution. New York: Morrow, 1980. Print.• Kesey, Ken. One flew over the cuckoo's nest. New York: Signet Classics, 1962. Print.• Marx, Karl. The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Rockville: Wildside Press LLC, 1852. Print.• Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Signet Classics, 2007. Print.• Pearson, Hesketh. Dickens, his character, comedy and career. New York: Harper & Bros., 1949. Print.• Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992. Print.• Yancy, Diane. Life in Charles Dickens' England. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1999. Print.