Painful Irony

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“Republic One and Indivisible, Liberty, Fraternity, Equality or Death!” This was the phrase that resounded through the streets of France in the momentous, intense book by Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities. Yet though these Revolutionaries who attempted successfully to over throw the former aristocratic government held this phrase as their catchphrase, the actions they performed ran ironically in contradiction. From their excusable version of a Republic formed by elitism, to their frightful example of liberty in needless dictatorship, Dickens captures the terrible irony of the French Revolution through this classic book.
The first word that the French Revolutionaries used in their campaign motto was the word republic. According to the Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, a republic is “a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitle to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.” An orthodox example of a republic is the United States of America. Citizens in the U.S. are the ones who elect officials into power, and not one is chosen without consent by the citizens. Ironically, the members of the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities have no voice at all. Instead, the wine shop owner Defarge and Jacques’ 1-3 simply start leading the Revolution against the aristocratic establishment (pg. 165-166). Then, a few chapters later, when Defarge enters a room that already holds other French citizens, they all stand to their feet, as if in salutation and honor to him, as he gives direct orders to them (pg. 170-171). In addition, throughout the whole book Defarge and his associates named Jacques give orders to the “citizens” absolutely: no one...

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...sserted that though the whole Revolution’s phrase was “Republic One and Indivisible, Liberty, Fraternity, Equality or Death,” the results were completely different of this phrase. Firstly, the Revolution did not produce a Republic where citizens elected leaders, but instead wherespecial citizens set themselves up as leaders. It was elitism, not a republic. Secondly, the Patriots did not promote liberty through their actions. Instead of their rebellion ending the tyrannical reign of aristocrats, the Patriots made only greater tyranny through ridiculous laws, and unjust sentences of death and imprisonment. Finally, though the Revolution did indeed result in many men dying, one man, Sydney Carton, ended up escaping death by resting upon Christ’s sacrifice. Through the course of A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens demonstrated the great painful irony of the French Revolution.

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