Book III - Chapter XV. The Footsteps Die Out For Ever Practice Quiz — A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Book III - Chapter XV. The Footsteps Die Out For Ever
How many tumbrils carry prisoners to the guillotine in Chapter 15?
Six tumbrils carry the day's fifty-two condemned prisoners. Dickens calls them carriers of "the day's wine to La Guillotine."
What political argument does Dickens make in the opening paragraph of Chapter 15?
That the Revolution's horrors are the inevitable product of aristocratic oppression: "Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms."
In which tumbril does Sydney Carton ride, and why is the crowd interested in it?
The third tumbril. The crowd presses toward it because they want to see "Evremonde" (actually Carton), who stands at the back holding a young girl's hand.
Who is the young woman holding Carton's hand in the tumbril?
An unnamed seamstress, described as "a mere girl" and "naturally a poor little thing, faint of heart," who has been condemned to die.
What does Barsad (the spy) do when the tumbrils pass?
He watches from the steps of a church to confirm the substitution has not been discovered. He looks into the first two carts, then is relieved when he sees Carton (posing as Darnay) in the third.
Why is The Vengeance frantically searching for Madame Defarge at the guillotine?
Madame Defarge has "never missed before" an execution. The Vengeance does not know that Madame Defarge has been killed by Miss Pross in the previous chapter.
What does the seamstress tell Carton she believes about his presence?
"I think you were sent to me by Heaven." Carton replies, "Or you to me," suggesting they have been given to each other for mutual comfort.
What does the seamstress ask Carton about her cousin?
She asks whether, if the Republic does good for the poor, her young cousin in the south country might live to be old—and whether the wait in the afterlife will seem long. Carton comforts her: "There is no Time there, and no trouble there."
How does Dickens describe Carton's face as he goes to his death?
"The peacefullest man's face ever beheld there. Many added that he looked sublime and prophetic."—elevating his sacrifice to a spiritual, Christ-like level.
What Christian passage does Carton remember before his death?
"I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."—from the Gospel of John.
What does Carton foresee happening to the revolutionaries in his prophetic vision?
He sees Barsad, Defarge, The Vengeance, the Juryman, and the Judge all "perishing by this retributive instrument" (the guillotine)—the Revolution consuming its own.
What does Carton envision for the future of France?
He sees "a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss" and the evil of the Revolution "gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out."—eventual redemption through time.
What does Carton see in his vision regarding Lucie's family?
He sees Lucie with a child who bears his name, Dr. Manette "aged and bent, but otherwise restored," and Mr. Lorry "passing tranquilly to his reward." He sees himself held sacred in their hearts for generations.
What is the significance of Dickens's phrase "these two children of the Universal Mother"?
It describes Carton and the seamstress—two people "else so wide apart and differing" who "have come together on the dark highway, to repair home together, and to rest in her bosom." It universalizes their shared humanity in the face of death.
What are the novel's famous closing words?
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."—Carton's imagined final thoughts.
How does Dickens present Carton's last words—as spoken aloud or as imagined thoughts?
As imagined thoughts. Dickens writes: "If he had given any utterance to his [thoughts], and they were prophetic, they would have been these"—a literary device that elevates the moment beyond realism.
What does the title "The Footsteps Die Out For Ever" refer to?
The literal cessation of the condemned prisoners' footsteps, the echoing footsteps motif from Book 2 (foreshadowing the Revolution), and the eventual end of the cycle of violence itself.
How does the seamstress go to her death?
She kisses Carton, and "the spare hand does not tremble as he releases it; nothing worse than a sweet, bright constancy is in the patient face. She goes next before him—is gone; the knitting-women count Twenty-Two."
What imagery does Dickens use to describe the tumbrils cutting through the crowd?
He compares the carts to ploughs cutting a "long crooked furrow among the populace," with "ridges of faces" thrown to either side—agricultural imagery that contrasts productive labor with destruction.
How does the theme of resurrection appear in this final chapter?
Carton's death echoes Christ's sacrifice ("I am the Resurrection and the Life"), and his prophetic vision shows renewal arising from destruction—both personal (his wasted life redeemed) and national (France rising from the abyss).