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One’s past can be the main cause that drives one’s actions, either moral or immoral, and transforms themselves into an angel or a devil. In A Tale of Two Cities, a well-known novel written by Charles Dickens, good battles against evil in the form of the French Revolution and leaving the two countries, France and England, exposed of their heinous crimes. The mastermind behind the death of the Evremonde, the epitome of the French aristocracy, is none other than Madame Defarge, the most notorious villain of her time. At first, Madame Defarge is only seen knitting quietly in a wine shop, but later it is revealed that she was knitting the names of the intended victims of the Revolution. To Madame Defarge, justice for her deceased family is only
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
Villains have been a quintessential part of the novel for generations, ranging from deranged madmen to methodical criminals. Dickens does a particularly good job in formatting his villains, and due to the levels of complexity and detail put into them, he is able to express more through them than what appears at face value. In particular, Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities is one of his most well thought out villains in terms of character design and development, conflict creation and supporting characters, and thematic representation. Dickens created Madame Defarge’s character as one of great importance to the novel and thus needed to elaborate on her character immensely.
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
On the subject of the French she says, “I am a subject of His Most Gracious Majesty King George the Third and as such, my maxim is, Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks…God save the King.” (338) Since she is such, she is the perfect foil for Madame Defarge. Madame Defarge epitomizes chaos and violence. With her unrelenting bloodthirstiness and unceasing desire for revenge she symbolizes the intensity and bloodiness of the French Revolution. “The Evrémonde people are to be exterminated, and the wife and child must follow the husband and father.” (418) Madame’s chilling certainty and willingness to kill an innocent mother and child show the hatred that makes up the revolution she personifies and the peasants that were a part of it. Although Madame Defarge and Miss Pross are foils they share a common ground. They both have an uncompromising sense of duty; Miss Pross to Lucie’s safety and happiness, and Madame to a new and better France. They are both willing to do anything for these causes, including lying down their lives. As Miss Pross says, “I don’t care an English Twopence for myself. I know that the longer I keep you here, the greater hope there is for my Ladybird.” (427) Dickens uses these similarities he suggests that even seemingly opposites can have underlying
...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
A Tale of Two Cities In every great novel, there is a theme that is constant throughout the story. One of the better known themes portrays the fight of good verses evil. Different authors portray this in different ways. Some use colors, while others use seasons to show the contrast. Still, others go for the obvious and use characters.
...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.
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.
In Book II ch.16, Charles Dickens uses metaphors, personification, and other literary devices to show Defarge and Madame Defarge’s contrast outlook on the revolution. This then deepens Madame Defarge’s characterization as the dominant character in this chapter. Defarge is weary that the revolution is taking too long and won't come during their lifetime. Whereas, Madame Defarge is confident about the soon to be revolution and tries to comfort Defarge by describing the revolution as a growing earthquake and personifying revenge.
Before the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, the Evremondes committed terrible crimes to Madame Defarge’s family, “[The Marquis de Evremondes brother] took [Madame Defarge’s sister] away--for his pleasure and diversion...When [Madame Defarge’s brother] took the tidings home, [Madame Defarge’s] father’s heart burst…[Madame Defarge’s brother] climbed in [the chateau]...[the Marquis de Evremondes brother] drew to defend himself--thrust at [her brother] with all his skill for his life” (331). The Evremondes could get away with these crimes because their social class of monseigneur far exceeded her family's social class. Her deceased brother said it best, “we were so robbed [by the Marquis de Evremonde], and hunted, and were made so poor, that our father told us it was a dreadful thing to bring a child into the world” (330). This oppression of her family happened to all the other peasants living on Evremonde land, and other peasants living around France. She becomes focused on one goal, the downfall of all aristocrats, especially the Evremondes. In the end, Madame Defarge’s downfall was her own gun. In the struggle between Miss Pross and herself, “Miss Pross…struck at [Madame Defarge’s gun]....as the smoke cleared, leaving an awful stillness, it passed out on the air...like the soul of [Madame Defarge] whose body lay lifeless on the ground” (374). Her death symbolizes Dickens’s belief that hatred, and vengeance in
Theme about good vs. evil: Fagin wants to use Noah because Noah and Oliver have similar characteristics, which is that they both look innocence
Evil exist in the world; evil is something humans created, the definition was defined by humans, not nature. There is no presence of evil in nature, therefor nature before humanity was pure. This brings up the question that if an all-powerful and knowing God created humanity, then why he would have created evil to go alongside with that. There are established theories that say evil exist because free will exist, and the theodicy of soul-building, which means to prove Gods existence through building religious muscle (building faith and falling, but getting back up; you must suffer for God’s love etc.) But what is in question is if there are any reasons an all PKG would put evil on earth, and why would a creator put something bad on their domain.
Every character’s life was changed as a result of the societal corruption, violence, and inequality. Dickens created a story that was not only engaging and well structured, but also accurately portrayed the pain that citizens had to go through during the time of the French Revolution by bringing his characters to face that same struggle. “The Evremondes rape a young peasant girl, wound her brother, then summon Dr. Manette to treat their victims. When Manette tries to report these crimes, he is incarcerated in the Bastille. He writes a full account of this experience. Defarge finds the document and uses it as evidence against Charles Darnay (Hutter 125).” Not only does the rape and murder of these peasants cause Madame Defarge to become unhinged
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.