Justice and revenge tend to go hand in hand, but it always ends in death as shown in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Dickens uses the setting of the two cities and opposing characters to create a suspenseful novel. The novel follows the social injustices and revolutions in both England and France in the 1700s. Characters such as Monseigneur the Marquis and Old Foulon represent the wealthy and privileged oppressors while characters such as Gaspard and the peasants of Saint Antoine represent the poor and oppressed lower class citizens. The novel also tells the story of Dr. Manette, Lucie, Charles Darnay, and Little Lucie. Dickens shows us throughout the novel that revenge is never justified through the characters of Gaspard, the peasants Madame Defarge desires revenge on the Evremonde family to avenge the death of her brother. Her brother was wounded and dies in a dual with a peasant, which was a shame to the family because nobles are not to fight with someone of the lower class. This is revealed in a letter that was written by Dr. Manette while he was imprisoned in the Bastille. Madame Defarge claims the letter to be true when she says “Defarge, that sister of the mortally wounded boy upon the ground was my sister, that husband was my sister’s husband, that unborn child was their child, that brother was my brother, that father was my father, those dead are my dead” (264). Her anger for her dead brother leads her to knit Dr. Manette, Charles Darnay, Lucie, and Little Lucie’s names into a registry of people she wants to die. Madame Defarge plans to catch Lucie while she is mourning for Charles Darnay’s execution because it is crime to mourn for someone who is killed or to be killed by the guillotine: “’She will now be at home, awaiting the moment of his death. She will be mourning and grieving. She will be in a state of mind to impeach the justice of the Republic. She will be full of sympathy with its enemies. I will go to her.’” (280-281). However, her efforts do not work. Madame Defarge goes to Lucie but Miss Pross gets in the way. The two fight and Madame Defarge pulls out the gun that she has hidden, and tries to shoot Miss Pross to get her out of her way. Miss Pross hits the gun in the shuffle, which ends up shooting Madame Defarge instead. In the end, Madame Defarge never receives her justice because she
In the first book of the novel, the goal of Madame Defarge includes exterminating the noble race. She is constantly knitting in the wine shop she owns. The knitting shows a passive way to express her hatred towards others. “Her knitting was before her, but she had laid it down to pick her teeth with a toothpick” (Dickens 55). The quote shows how even in her first showing in the book, she is knitting. Her knitting and constant plotting brings frequent fear to her husband, Ernest Defarge, and all other wine shop patrons. Considering even her own husband is afraid for his life, Defarge keeps death in secrecy and shows extremely negative qualities. Defarge knits a register for the intended killing of the revolution in secrecy to show her hatred towards certain people. She has negative characteristics in regard to the loss of her family and her plot to kill all of her enemies. Madame Defarge lasts as the leader attributed to all women fighting in the revolution and
Madame Defarge was taking out her anger on the whole family, which she thought had killed her sister. So Madame Defarge was going after all of the Marquis, no matter if they had anything to do with the murder or not.
The Evremonde family had ruined her life when she was a child; the marquis had raped Madame’s sister, Madame’s father died from grief, and her brother died attempting to avenge his dead sister ("Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities"). This tragic series of events in Madame’s life is what fueled her aristocratic hatred and philosophy that children should suffer for the “sins of their fathers.” Madame’s hatred for the marquis is still heavily prevalent following his death and she transfers it all to Darnay after hearing that he is alive and to marry Lucie. This aforementioned event is what transforms Madame into the antagonist of the novel, and thus also seals her fate as she chases down a way to ruin Darnay and the Manette’s. In the end, a simple and highly justified desire to avenge her family kills Madame Defarge and with her dies the threat of the novel and one of the most thought out and developed
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
...l of men. The oppressed male peasants join together to form a group of Jacques, or soldiers, to overthrow the aristocracy. The Jacques use The Defarge's wine-shop as a meeting place. Throughout the story, Madame Defarge is either murdering someone or knitting. She is always "sitting in her usual place in the wine-shop, knitting away assiduously" (162). Her friends are a twisted as she. Her closest confidant is known as The Vengeance. Both Madame Defarge and the Jacques fight until the end.
Monsieur Defarge is a revolutionary disguised as a mere bartender. He communicates secretly with his fellow revolutionaries in the bar and helps to orchestrate the plot to overthrow the French aristocracy. Despite the power he holds, he is overshadowed by his ruthless wife, Mrs. Defarge. Mrs. Defarge is a very powerful woman with a lot of influence, and she is ultimately the driving force behind the revolution’s plot. She decides who to kill and knits their name into a coded list. Monsieur Defarge is cooperative and submissive to her, as seen when he agrees with every part of the story she tells without being prompted. Monsieur Defarge is a masculine character with a lot of influence, but his relationship with his wife is not reflective of what was typical during the time period of the French revolution. This is used by Dickens to show that society’s attitudes towards masculinity and femininity are
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.
A Tale of Two Cities takes place in England and France, during the time of the French Revolution. A Tale of Two Cities is a classic novel, where Charles Dickens presents to the reader archetypal main characters. From the beginning of the novel, the reader can know whether the characters are evil or not. In the novel, the main character, Sydney Carton, also contributes a lot to the theme of the novel-every individual should have both moral and physical courage, and should be able to sacrifice everything in the name of love.
Madame Defarge, on the other hand, does not just hate Lucie, but she hates the Manettes and all the Evremondes. One would think that such a strongly fueled hatred would permit Madame Defarge to overpower Miss Pross, but, as the reader finds out, Miss Pross' determination to keep her darling "Ladybird" safe, from any harm that might come to her or her family, allows her to overpower and kill her enemy. This time, the power of good overcomes the power of evil due to Miss Pross' true love and dedication to Lucie. Another struggle between love and hate can be found within Monsieur Defarge. In this particular case, it is evil that eventually triumphs.
Lucie Manette, daughter of Dr. Manette and the perfect wife of Charles Darnay. Her strength could be derived from her early life and upbringing by Miss Pross. To Charles Darnay, she is the ideal wife. She even fights Madame Defarge when she exclaims ' “As a wife and mother…I implore you to have pity on me and not to exercise power that you possess against my innocent husband, but use it in his behalf. O sister-woman, think of me. As a wife and mother!"(278) This strong yet very compassionate woman is able to confront Madame Defarge who she clearly fears, especiall...
Throughout the book, Dickens portrays his objectivity between the classes through a series of graphic descriptions. For example, the horrid events that occur when the Marquis murders the child is a time when Dickens most definitely favors the rebels. Dickens’s attitude when Jacques kills the Marquis is that justice has been supplied. There is a definite tone of approval in his voice after these actions. On the other hand, Dickens’s attitude towards the mutineers is not always one of endorsement. When the activists nearly kill Gabelle and burn the Chateau, Dickens’s attitude changes from one of approval to one of disbelief. His disposition is almost one of sorrow for all the beauty being carelessly destroyed. As the reader can see, Dickens’s opinion varies greatly in accordance to the portion of the story the person is reading.
Dr. Manette starts his life as a young successful man but then is traumatized by imprisonment and again becomes successful with the comfort of, his daughter, Lucie. Lorry rescues Dr. Manette from his prison in St. Antoine and essentially brings him back to life. At first Alexandre seems unstable and much older than his years, but as Lucie nurses him back to life he transforms into the vibrant man missing throughout hers. Doctor Manette has no recollection of his successful past: “Doctor Manette, formerly of Beauvais . . . the young physician, originally an expert surgeon, who within the last year or two has made a rising reputation in Paris” (298). After his unnecessary imprisonment he is very weak and frail: “[h]e had put up a hand between his eyes and the light, and the very bones of it seemed transparent” (36). He is found in a dark garret hunched over a cobbler’s bench making shoes to pass time. At first Lucie is apprehensive about approaching her father, but as she observes his actions she is overcome with joy; she has now found her father whom she thought was dead for seventeen years. As he spends more time with Lucie and Miss Pross he gradually gains more and more strength and is beginning to reach his capacities in life. “This new life of the Doctor’s [is] an anxious life, no doubt; still the sagacious Mr. Lorry [sees] that there was a new sustaining pride in it” (253). The changes in Dr. Manette are not all by his own doing. He started life prosperous and fortunate, and after an ill-fated imprisonment it takes him a long while to accomplish the ability to endure life again.
The French Revolution was a period of time when the entirety of France went against the monarchy. King Louis XVI was taken down by the people at this time. The change brought along a replacement for the monarchial society (French Revolution 2). The now formed republic run by the people is now forever an example of what can happen to those whom live in places run by kings and queens, and that those who wish to escape tyranny can always make a change. The tyranny that was present brought along the eventual execution of the two royalties (2). This is evident in Dickens’s novel, in which the story centers around the revolution. Madame Defarge exists as on...
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, is a story set in the year 1775 and through the turbulent time of the French Revolution. It is of people living in love and betrayal, murder and joy, peril and safety, hate and fondness, misery and happiness, gentle actions and ferocious crowds. The novel surrounds a drunken man, Sydney Carton, who performs a heroic deed for his beloved, Lucie Manette, while Monsieur and Madame Defarge, ruthless revolutionaries, seek revenge against the nobles of France. Research suggests that through Dickens’ portrayal of the revolutionaries and nobles of the war, he gives accurate insight to the era of the Revolution.