Marcus Kopp
Mr. Vetter
AP English Literature
24 November 2015
Aristocrats or Revolutionists, Who Is More Violent?
In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, a historical fiction about the two countries of England and France, he tells us some important things going on and also gives us important messages. Arguable one of the most important themes Dickens writes about in this novel is violence. More specifically he writes about the violence in France, a murder of a young child by a careless Marquis, the rape of a young girl by a pair of aristocrat brothers, the death of thousands of aristocrats and aristocrat sympathizers by the guillotine, and the dirty deeds done by Madam Defarge to “exterminate” the aristocrats and their sympathizers. Dickens
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shows that he is sympathetic with the revolutionaries early in the novel, but near the end he knows they have taken it too far, it is evident that he feels sorry for the prosecuted when he writes about the injustice of the death sentence to Charles Darnay. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is full of violent acts, the violent acts help to depict the French Revolution in the late 18th Century, as a more historic fictional novel. In the part one of the novel, Dickens does not involve much violence. It is more about the introduction of characters and the main ones being Charles Darnay, Dr. Manette and Lucie, Sydney Carton, and the Defarges. Even though there isn’t much true violence that attributes the story as a whole, it is just as important to the end of the historically fiction novel. The most important reason for part one is to let the readers know how similar Carton and Darnay physically look. Also in part one, the reader gets a sense of foreshadowing when a wine barrel breaks open in the middle of the street and the lower class rushes to sip up the mess. Dickens explain that, “The wine was red wine, and had stained the ground of the narrow street in the suburb of Saint Antoine, in Paris, where it was spilled. It had stained many hands, too, and many faces, and many naked feet, and many wooden shoes,” (Dickens 32). This scene that Dickens paints in the readers mind, helps to foreshadow what was to come when the revolution starts. When Dickens finally introduces violence to the novel, the reader is taken to France, where the lower class already has a plan to revolt against the aristocrats. A major scene that happens at the beginning of their planning is when the Marquis runs over a young boy with his carriage. The Marquis has no sadness in his heart by his act and he responds to the young man’s father, “[The Marquis] threw out a gold coin for the valet to pick up, and all the heads craned forward that all the eyes might look down at it as it fell. The tall man called out again with a most unearthly cry, ‘Dead!’” (Dickens 115). And right after the Marquis leaves, another man comes to comfort the grieving father by saying, “…Be a brave man, my Gaspard! It is better for the poor little plaything to die so, than to live. It has died in a moment without pain. Could it have lived an hour as happily?” (Dickens 115). This quote shows how the lower class feels at this time in France, the consoler to Gaspard is saying that it is better for the child to die than to live in a time and place that they are in right now. This just proves the monumental difference between the poor/lower class and the aristocrats and how poorly the aristocrats treat the lower class. This act of violence adds to the novel because it is the beginning of the planning of the overthrow of the aristocrats and for the lower class to stand up for themselves. The main push for violence is when the revolutionaries storm the Bastille. Just looking at the surface of the attack, it seems useless because it doesn’t hurt the aristocrats at all. After digging a little deeper, the reader will understand that storming the Bastille proved to the aristocrats that the revolutionists weren’t messing around and can overthrow a big building such as the Bastille. The Defarges lead the attack and were telling the revolutionists what to do when saying, “Work, comrades all, work! Work, Jacques One, Jacques Two, Jacques One Thousand, Jacques Two Thousand, Jacques Five-and-Twenty Thousand; in the name of all the Angels or the Devils-which you prefer-work!” (Dickens 224). The Defarges are leading the revolutionists in their overthrow of the aristocrats. Defarge wants the Jacques to work there hardest to be able to storm the Bastille to prove to the upper class that they are able to overthrow something so large. The violence happening in France helps to supply to the plot because it is the beginning of why everything at the book happens, with Darnay going home to France, which later causes his sentence to death by the guillotine. All of part three is about violence, the revolutionist are killing aristocrats and aristocrat sympathizers by the guillotine, Darnay has been sentenced to death, and Madam Defarge is going insane wanting to keep killing.
A very violent scene given to the reader by Dickens is when he describes the crazed revolutionists sharpening their tools on the grindstone, “The grindstone had a double handle, and, turning at it madly were two men…and their hideous countenances were all bloody and sweaty,” (Dickens 272). Dickens paints in the readers mind that the revolutionists are savages and crazed for blood, they won’t stop killing until the job is done. It is known to the readers that Madam Defarge is the most blood crazed of them all. She and her husband are conversing when Defarge is wondering when it will all stop (the reader can tell that he is starting to feel remorse for what he has started), but Madam Defarge replies with “At extermination,” (Dickens 353). Such a small quote, but it means so much to the novel, it shows that Madam Defarge will not stop what she is doing until all aristocrats have been put to death because of what had happened to her as a young child. This is the point in Dickens’ novel when the reader can tell that Dickens’ point of view on the Revolutionary has changed, it is now evident that he believes that the Revolutionists are taking what they are doing too far. It’s important to the novel as a whole because it helps to picture the unjust of how far the revolutionists go to “get back” at the
aristocrats. For a sympathetic reader, the sentence of the main character, Charles Darnay, seems to be the most violent part of the book. They sentenced him because he was related to Monsieur Evremonde, but an important thing about that situation that the Defarges didn’t know was that Darnay renounced his family’s name and land in France. Most readers see this as such violence because the revolutionists are putting to death a man who is arguably the protagonist of the novel. This is now the third time that Darnay has gone to court throughout the book. He is taken in again and accused by the two Defarges and an unknown person. The Doctor asks who the accusers were and the arrestor replied, “He was accused by Saint Antoine,” (Dickens 303). When Defarge finally reveals the he uses the papers found in Dr. Manette’s old cell in the Bastille (Kubal). The third accuser ends up being Dr. Manette’s letter from when he was in the Bastille about his hatred to the entire Evremond family. He was accused and put to death by the guillotine and now he is busy counting down the hours until his death. This violent scene of unjustly accusing an aristocrat provides the novel with a little history of the French Revolution, proving that they were actually killing anyone who didn’t sit well with the revolutionists, without a valid reason for the death of the accused. This scene shows how bad it really was in France during the Revolution. Dickens feelings towards the Revolution were that it started out acceptable with revolutionists standing up for themselves, but took it too far when they began to kill the innocent wealthy people. The revenge that the revolutionists took part in was justifiable to a point, but once they pass the point and start killing innocent people it becomes immoral. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is full of violent acts, they help to portray the novel as a great historical fiction about the French Revolution back in the late 18th century. Work Cited Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. New York: Penguin, 2010. Print. Kubal, David L. “A Tale of Two Cities.” Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3 Literary Reference Center. Web. 23 Nov. 2015
The relationship formed between these two characters intensifies their ultimate intentions in support of the Revolution. With provocation from The Vengeance, Madame Defarge’s thirst for the execution of Lucie and her child and the Revolution as a whole is amplified. Madame Defarge, her cronies,and her stitches “knitted, in her own . . .symbols, [it] will always be as plain to her as the sun” (Dickens 303) play a significant role in the headway of the
Charles Dickens writes this book explaining the French Revolution, in which the social and economic systems in France had huge changes and the French monarchy collapsed. This causes high taxes, unfair laws, and the poor being mistreated. Charles Dickens shows that cruelty of other people will lead to a revolution and in addition to the revolution more cruelty will occur. He explores the idea of justice and violence through the use of ambiguous characters with positive and negative qualities, meaning that they have to different sides to them; for example, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Dr. Manette. Throughout the story of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles dickens uses ambiguous characters to shows how violence and cruelty can be stopped through the power of true sacrifice.
...to revenge. She turned into this cold killer to kill the entire Evermonde family for what they had done to her family. She uses her power in the revolution to take revenge on the Evermonde family. Madame Defarge loses her true self and becomes someone who disregards the lives of people include hers. Dickens’s theme of how history repeats itself appears again when Madame Defarge kills innocent people similar to what the Marquis of Evermonde did.
She thought the only way she could get revenge would be if every party involved in her family’s suffering was punished and this is demonstrated when Madame Defarge says that ‘[she] care[s] nothing for this Doctor. He may wear his head or lose it, for any interest [she has] in him; it is all one to [her]. But, the Evrémonde people are to be exterminated, and the wife and child must follow the husband and father’(Dickens 356). If Defarge does not succeed in harming every last member of the Evrémonde family, she will feel like she has failed avenging her family’s legacy. The riches and happiness of this family are not deserved in the eyes of Defarge as peasant blood was spilled as a costly
Have you ever witnessed or participated in an act of mob mentality? Many people without realizing it take part in a form of mob mentality, whether it is at a sporting event, concert, or even a protest or riot; these are all forms of mob mentality. The term “mob mentality” is usually something negative, where large groups of people deindivduate themselves. People lose control and are pressured to fit in with what the rest of the crowd is doing. In the book, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, mob mentality has a big impact on the plot. A Tale of Two Cities, shows how mob mentality ties in with history repeating itself, portraying manslaughter and homicide, and also depicting riots.
The French Revolution was a time of chaos and uprising in France during the mid-19th century that divided the French people. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a novel that is set during this tumultuous time in history. During this period of time, the people of France made many sacrifices. Sacrifice is a common theme that is developed throughout this novel. One reason many people make sacrifices is for love, and throughout the novel this theme is developed through the characters Miss Pross, Doctor Alexandre Manette, and Sydney Carton.
The Reign of Terror, a time prior to the French Revolution, is a scary time. Almost 20,000 people were executed, due to the high standards people are held to, while countless others die in prison or without a trial. Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens shows numerous eye opening encounters of what occurred prior and during the revolution in France. It covers many of the horrific punishment methods and things people do to be considered prisoners. The Reign of Terror and French revolution are a time of extreme violence, and because of this there need to be prisons, punishment systems, and protocols in place to help regain peace within the country.
The time preceding and following the French Revolution was not only an era of change, but also a time of deceit and suspicion in England and France. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens thoroughly illustrates through symbols what every stage of the French Revolution looked like from the point of view of revolutionaries, aristocrats, and bystanders. The events that caused the changes in France were acts of injustice towards the peasant class. However, when the Revolution began, the revolutionaries started treating the aristocrats inhumanely. Blue flies, knitting, the shadow, and the grindstone are the symbols that best portray the theme of man’s inhumanity towards his fellow man in A Tale of Two Cities.
Charles Dickens was an English writer born in the 1800’s. Dickens named this book A Tale of Two Cities because it is a parallel between London and Paris. In A Tale of Two Cities, there are many wrongs done by peasants who want to do right. Dickens is very descriptive partly to get across the idea of mans inhumanity towards man. Charles Dickens creates scenes like the guillotine, the use of the blue flies analogy and Madame Defarge’s hate stricken heart to develop the theme of mans inhumanity to fellow man.
“People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take.” This quote by Emma Goldman not only perfectly sums up the French Revolution, but also reflects on the issue in society today with police racism and brutality. In Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities, the peasants suffer extreme injustice, they allow the revolution to go to their heads, and we see how violence only ever brings more violence .
Throughout the novel, Dickens employs imagery to make the readers pity the peasants, have compassion for the innocent nobles being punished, and even better understand the antagonist and her motives. His use of personified hunger and description of the poor’s straits made the reader pity them for the situation caused by the overlord nobles. However, Dickens then uses the same literary device to alight sympathy for the nobles, albeit the innocent ones! Then, he uses imagery to make the reader better understand and perhaps even feel empathy for Madame Defarge, the book’s murderous villainess. Through skillful but swaying use of imagery, Dickens truly affects the readers’ sympathies.
The French Revolution was a time of unjustified bloodshed among the French nobility and the peasants. Lasting from 1787 to 1799, peasants revolted against the nobility because of unfair treatment and oppression. In A Tale of Two Cities, English writer, Charles Dickens, tells a story of the desperate lives the peasants live and their bloody rebellion against the nobles. In contrast, Dicken's novel also narrates the excessive lives of the aristocracy and their obliviousness to the coming change. The novel has many themes, however among those the most important is the theme of sacrifice. Many characters sacrifice things but the following are the major selfless acts done in the name of love. Charles Darnay’s choice to give up his family’s wealth and nobility, Mrs. Pross’ sacrifice of her ability to hear, and Sydney Carton’s sacrifice of life all support Dicken’s theme of sacrifice for people whom they love in the novel.
History has not only been important in our lives today, but it has also impacted the classic literature that we read. Charles Dickens has used history as an element of success in many of his works. This has been one of the keys to achievement in his career. Even though it may seem like it, Phillip Allingham lets us know that A Tale of Two Cities is not a history of the French Revolution. This is because no actual people from the time appear in the book (Allingham). Dickens has many different reasons for using the component of history in his novel. John Forster, a historian, tells us that one of these reasons is to advance the plot and to strengthen our understanding of the novel (27). Charles Dickens understood these strategies and could use them to his advantage.
The Tale of Two Cities, a novel written by English author Charles Dickens, shares the story of the horrific war of the French Revolution and social and political and social disruption of France.Dickens main theme that have a great impact on the story of the book was political injustice and revolution.. Dickens explanation of revolution is taken from a scene taken from the book of Tale of Two Cities,” the revolutionaries are at the grinding swords. It is a cycle, just like the earth turning, it is a never ending cycle. Dickens and other English authors have echoed their thought of revolution which is that it is inevitable in our world, that it is a cycle of revolution and peace because of humans and their own interactions not they system as
During the French Revolution, there were many controversies between the peasants and the aristocracy. In A Tale Of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, most of the peasants are revolutionaries fighting against their nobility. Dickens’ use of imagery throughout the novel tries to sway the reader’s opinions about the peasants. Charles Dickens depicts the French Revolution well with the images of the novel as well as the tone he uses. Throughout the novel, Dickens illustrates through his imagery how the peasants change from poor, secretive, and then on to vicious.