It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. . . .
As its title promises, this brief chapter establishes the era in which the novel takes place: England and France in 1775. The age is marked by competing and contradictory attitudes-"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"-but resembles the "present period" in which Dickens writes. In England, the public worries over religious prophecies, popular paranormal phenomena in the form of "the Cock-lane ghost," and the messages that a colony of British subjects in America has sent to King George III. France, on the other hand, witnesses excessive spending and extreme violence, a trend that anticipates the erection of the guillotine. Yet in terms of peace and order, English society cannot "justify much national boasting" either-crime and capital punishment abound.

In a brief note, Dickens mentions the source of inspiration for A Tale of Two Cities: a play in which he acted, called The Frozen Deep, written by his friend Wilkie Collins. He adds that he hopes that he can further his readers' understanding of the French Revolution-"that terrible time"-but that no one can truly hope to surpass Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution (published in 1837).