Leadership in the Best and Worst of Times: Lessons From A Tale of Two Cities

• In Event: Leader Identity: Insights from Dickens, the Book of Matthew, and Current Studies

Short Description

A Tale of Two Cities is a case study on leadership in turbulent times. Dickens’ historical novel identifies controversies and contradictions found in every society. This paper explores Dickens’ insights on the French Revolution and provides principles for leaders to promote human flourishing in the best and worst of times.

Detailed Abstract

This paper is the third in a series that gleans insights from great works of literature to understand historical contexts and perceptions of leaders and make connections to contemporary leadership literature and practices. Great literature remains a source of guidance on how to live life well. Sample (2002) astutely observed that people are what they read and goes on to state that “leaders should read and reread the supertexts as frequently as possible” (p. 66). Stories provide fresh perspectives, challenge assumptions, and even inform lived experiences. A student of great novels can vicariously live multiple lives in his or her lifetime.

Smith-Seymour (1998) describes the power of great works of literature in that they “have changed or colored the ways in which people, even whole nations – as well as individuals – think of themselves” (p. xvii). Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is such a novel. Dickens’ classic is regularly recognized as one of his best novels and as one of the top novels in the English language. Yale University Humanities professor and literary critic Harold Bloom included it in his classic work The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages.

A Tale of Two Cities, is a classic case study on leadership in turbulent times. Set right before and during the French Revolution (1789-1799), Dickens’ historical novel identifies various controversies and contradictions found in every society and explores the universal causes and consequences of societal strife. This paper explores Dickens’ portrayal of the rewards and costs of liberty, equality, and fraternity and provides compelling principles for leaders to promote human flourishing in the best and worst of times.

Dickens’ opening paragraph introduces the ubiquitous contradictions found in every society and that were especially pronounced at the time of the French Revolution.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. (p. 1).

Dickens uses the remainder of the story to juxtapose a variety of opposites within and between London and Paris in the late 1700s to reveal how beliefs lead to consequential policies and practices that either promote or undermine human flourishing. Dickens captures why turbulent times are inevitable and provides intellectual and visceral insights for leaders to manage the turbulence so as to avoid anarchy and chaos.

Dickens contrasts of life in the major hubs of civilization and power at the time of The French Revolution makes Brussels, Europe’s capital city, an ideal place to evaluate the timeless lessons from A Tale of Two Cities. AL-Zuhair (2016) rightly observed that

Dickens’ universal appeal indicates that whoever is in authority, aristocracy or masses, will get lavishly tempted to practice their full power depressingly and be obsessed with the dilemma of the establishment of the supremacy and dictatorship at any costs ignoring other’s right in decent life, freedom, and equal opportunity. (p. 1123)

Dickens’ cautionary tale underscores that wherever power and influence reside it is far too easy for in control to become self-referencing and self-serving at the expense of others. Readers gain a visceral understanding of the travails from injustices, especially extreme oppression, and how violence begets violence and leads to a different form of tyranny. Dickens also provides leaders with optimism that societal transformations can happen when liberty, equality, and fraternity are championed.

The French Revolution, albeit more extreme, was one of many in the age of the democratic revolution (1760-1980), including, but not limited to the American and Belgium revolutions (Palmer, 1956). The high ideas of the Enlightenment (i.e., freedom, democracy, and reason) challenged the status quo then and now. The history lessons from both the Enlightenment and the French Revolution provide contemporary leaders with the cultural context shaping historical and contemporary expectations for what makes a just society. Much of leadership is about appreciating and meeting societal expectations, while at the same time knowing when to challenge society in order to advance liberty, equality, and fraternity.

This paper begins with a brief biography of Charles Dickens and the historical context for A Tale of Two Cities, including the Enlightenment ideas informing the French Revolution. The authors then present an overview of the main storylines and characters. The heart of the paper focuses on the following themes and lessons from Dickens’ tale, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution with the assumption that fiction enhances the study of history to make the lessons all the more vivid.

• The vice and virtue of power
• The value and contradictions of liberty, equality, and fraternity
• Transformative power of ideology and narrative
• The limits of pure reason in governing
• Why turbulent times are inevitable and how to avoid anarchy

The paper concludes with parallels to contemporary politics across the globe where discontent among the people has led to micro revolutions against the insular policies of contemporary aristocrats (i.e., Arab Spring, Brexit, Duarte’s election in the Philippines, and Trump’s election in the United States). The lessons from the French Revolution and A Tale of Two Cities prepare people for the perpetual overthrow of the established status quo and that turbulent times are the norm. The paper provides insights and principles for leaders and society to avoid the extreme turbulence as documented in A Tale of Two Cities in the ongoing quest for liberty, equality, and fraternity for all.

Participants

• John R. Shoup, California Baptist University

• Troy Hinrichs, California Baptist University