Examples Of Madame Defarge In A Tale Of Two Cities

In the Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens utilizes Madame Defarge to show the theme that revenge has the capability of corrupting an individual.

At the beginning of the novel, Dickens portrays Madame Defarge as, “a stout woman ... with a watchful eye ... a steady face, strong features, and great composure.” Defarge seems to be no more than a common spouse in the novel, merely occupied with her knitting. As the novel progresses, however, we find that she is anything but the average housewife. She’s the bloodthirsty leader of the revolution. The true evolution of Madame Defarge isn’t seen until the revolution begins. Madame Defarge and the oppressed peasants recently turned patriots, drunk with their newfound power, begin the pursuit of justice

for the crimes committed by the aristocracy.

Though originally in pursuit of a noble goal such as justice, it quickly deteriorates into a bloodbath. Madame Defarge not only kills, but also relishes in watching the torment and execution of people for her entertainment. Evidence of this is shown after the storming of the Bastille where Dickens writes, “down on the steps of the Hotel de Ville where the governor’s body lay—down on the sole of the shoe of Madame Defarge where she had trodden on the body to steady it for mutilation.” Madame Defarge couldn’t just kill the man, she had to excessively harm it by stomping on the body. The bloodthirsty rage elicited by Madame Defarge is derived from the desire of vengeance, first formed at witnessing the torture, rape, and death of her family at the hands of the aristocracy and more specifically the Evrémondes’. Clearly as shown above, her desire

for revenge on the Evrémonde family has turned into a heartless revenge plot on anyone in a position of power supporting the aristocracy in France.
At the end of the book we see the enraged Madame Defarge caring less about seeking justice and more about seeking revenge against the Evrémondes and anyone remotely associated with them. Reflected through the quote, “It was nothing to her, that an innocent man was to die for the sins of his forefathers; she saw, not him, but them. It was nothing to her, that his wife was to be made a widow and his daughter an orphan; that was insufficient punishment, because they were her natural enemies and her prey, and as such had no right to live.” In this quote she’s described as a predator hunting its prey. This animalistic description the reader is presented with makes them realize that Defarge has become less than human, showing her degression that the path of revenge has led her down. It is the path of vengeance that leads Defarge to her demise. In the effort to find and kill Lucie and her child she is shot in struggle with Mrs. Pross by her own gun. The actions of Defarge in the novel no longer seem to justify her desire to avenge her family and the reader is left with images of a vengeful and brutal woman, which overpower that of a woman eclipsed with painful memories.
In conclusion, Madame Defarge was utilized by Charles Dickens in The Tale of Two Cities to show the theme that revenge has the capability of corrupting an individual.