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60 free A Tale of Two Cities trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This A Tale of Two Cities trivia quiz covers Charles Dickens's 1859 novel of London and Paris in the shadow of the French Revolution. The easy questions are the ones every reader remembers: the two cities, the famous opening words, the man who has been recalled to life, the woman who knits beside the guillotine and the barrister who does a far, far better thing. From there it moves through the plot book by book: Tellson's Bank, the trial at the Old Bailey, the Marquis and the coin, the storming of the Bastille, La Force prison, the letter that lures Darnay back, the manuscript in the cell and Miss Pross's fight with Madame Defarge. The harder end is for Dickensians: the periodical it was serialised in, the play by Wilkie Collins that inspired the love triangle, the rival play that prompted talk of plagiarism, Thomas Carlyle's history, the dedication to Lord John Russell, the meaning of Jerry Cruncher's night work, Gabelle's name, the house on Greek Street, the Borges quip, and the many films, radio plays, musicals and even a Batman film that borrowed from it. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries on the novel, its characters and its adaptations before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. If you enjoy this one, try our Charles Dickens, French Revolution and classic literature quizzes next.
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Q 01Which two cities give A Tale of Two Cities its title?
London and Paris
Borges quipped that Dickens really could not write a tale of two cities, being a resident of just one: London.
Q 02In which year was A Tale of Two Cities published?
1859
It is Dickens's best-known historical novel and one of the best-selling novels of all time.
Q 03How does the novel's famous first sentence begin?
It was the best of times
The sentence piles up contrasting pairs that foreshadow the book's theme of doubles.
Q 04For how many years was Dr Manette imprisoned in the Bastille?
18
He emerges barely able to talk and obsessively makes shoes, a skill learned in prison.
Q 05What cryptic three-word message does Jarvis Lorry send back with Jerry Cruncher at the start of the novel?
Recalled to Life
It refers to Dr Manette's release, and gives Book the First its title.
Q 06Jarvis Lorry and the messenger Jerry Cruncher work for which London bank?
Tellson's
Lorry is put in charge of its Paris branch during the Revolution, which puts him in position to save the Manettes.
Q 07What craft does Dr Manette practise obsessively in his garret after his release?
Shoemaking
He relapses into it on the morning of Lucie's wedding after learning her husband's true name.
Q 08What business do Ernest and Thérèse Defarge run in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine?
A wine shop
Defarge had been Dr Manette's servant as a youth and gives him lodgings on his release.
Q 09On what charge is Charles Darnay tried in London in 1780?
Treason against the Crown
Two British spies testify against him.
Q 10How does Darnay's lawyer undermine the spy Barsad's claim that he would recognise Darnay anywhere?
He notes Carton looks just like the prisoner
The near-perfect resemblance between the two men drives the whole plot.
Q 11What does the Marquis St. Evrémonde do after his carriage kills a child in the Paris streets?
He tosses a coin to the grieving father
The coin is flung back into the carriage as he drives on.
Q 12Darnay is an anglicised version of what?
His mother's maiden name, D'Aulnais
He dropped St. Evrémonde out of disdain for his aristocratic family.
Q 13Who kills the Marquis St. Evrémonde in his bed?
Gaspard, the bereaved father
Q 21What does Darnay reveal to Dr Manette on the morning of his wedding to Lucie?
His real name and lineage
The revelation sends the doctor back to his old prison craft for days, a relapse kept secret from Lucie.
Q 22In which month and year do the Defarges help lead the storming of the Bastille in the novel?
July 1789
Defarge searches Dr Manette's old cell thoroughly and finds a manuscript.
Q 23Whose pleading letter lures Darnay back to Paris in 1792?
Gabelle the tax collector
Gabelle is named after the hated salt tax and has been coerced into writing.
He evades capture for nearly a year before being hanged in the village.
Q 14What note is pinned to the murdered Marquis?
Drive him fast to his tomb
It mocks the careless speed that killed Gaspard's child.
Q 15What pet name does the governess Miss Pross use for Lucie?
Ladybird
She has looked after Lucie since the girl was ten and believes her scoundrel brother is the one man worthy of her.
Q 16What is Jerry Cruncher's secret night-time occupation?
Resurrection Man, or body-snatcher
His son follows him one night and aspires to the same trade.
Q 17What does Jerry Cruncher accuse his very religious wife of doing against him?
Praying, which he calls flopping
He blames her prayers for his failures at work and abuses her for it.
Q 18What is the title of Book the Second?
The Golden Thread
The golden thread is Lucie, who holds her family together and has hair like her mother's.
Q 19What nickname does Dickens give Sydney Carton because of his deference to the barrister Stryver?
The Jackal
He is a hard-drinking cynic who has watched Stryver advance while wasting his own gifts.
Q 20Whom does the ambitious barrister Stryver end up marrying after talking himself out of proposing to Lucie?
A rich widow
Jarvis Lorry had suggested that marrying Lucie would be unwise.
Q 24In which Paris prison is Darnay held after his arrest as a returning aristocrat?
La Force
His family follow him to Paris and take lodgings near Lorry.
Q 25Who turns out to be Miss Pross's long-lost brother Solomon?
John Barsad
Carton blackmails him into helping by threatening to expose him as an English spy.
Q 26How does the Bastille manuscript read out at Darnay's retrial conclude?
Denouncing the Evrémondes and all their descendants
The jury takes it as irrefutable proof of Darnay's guilt and condemns him to the guillotine.
Q 27What is the source of Madame Defarge's hatred of the Evrémondes?
They raped her sister and killed her brother
She is revealed to be the surviving younger sister of the peasant family the brothers destroyed.
Q 28What does Madame Defarge secretly encode in her knitting?
The names of people to be killed
She is a ringleader of the tricoteuses who knit beside the guillotine.
Q 29How does Madame Defarge die?
Her own pistol fires as she fights Miss Pross
The shot permanently deafens Miss Pross.
Q 30What is the name of Madame Defarge's lieutenant and shadow?
The Vengeance
Carton foresees her, Defarge, Cly and Barsad all perishing on the guillotine.