A Reading of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens in The Dark Knight Rises

Two leading actors in The Dark Knight Rises, a film with a lovely reading from Dickens.

The Dark Knight Rises is a very long film indeed, and Bane is a horrible character. But I got through it. Towards the end – I won’t give away any spoilers – there was a moment that helped me get through it. A character was reading from a book, a Penguin Classics edition judging by the white stripe. I wasn’t sure of the quote’s origin, but as soon as I got out of the cinema I looked it up, and found it to be the ending of A Tale of Two Cities.

Below are the passages that I think were read aloud in the film, although I cannot be entirely sure if it was a longer or shorter section.

“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long long to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.”

“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.”

The ending of A Tale of Two Cities does match the film well, and the reference did seem to add a lot more depth to the plot, I felt. Have you seen the film? Did you enjoy this Dickens quote?

Enjoy more from me

• Retreat into my new book, Your Life in Bloom: Finding Your Path and Your Courage, Grounded in the Wisdom of Nature.


• I'm also the author of Mountain Song: A Journey to Finding Quiet in the Swiss Alps, a book about my time living alone by the mountains.


• If you love books, are feeling a little lost right now, and would love some gentle comfort and guidance, join The Sanctuary, my seven-day course to rebalance your life.