Tale Of Two Cities Essay

The French Revolution was the rebellion of the French peasant class against the French Aristocracy in the late 1700s. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens tells the story of people from very different backgrounds whose paths intertwine in various and seemingly unbelievable ways before and during the Revolution. Dickens uses complex characters, an entertaining plot, and creative end-of-chapter hooks to leave the reader enthralled after each chapter. Historical facts add life and emotion to the settings, but the best thing Dickens does is use extremely powerful imagery. Throughout the entire novel, Dickens uses imagery to sway the readers’ sentimentality and sympathies for the cause of the rebellion in the beginning of the book, the rise of

In the beginning of the novel, the French Revolution is just an idea waiting to be put into action. The peasantry class during this time period is poor, worn down, and oppressed by the French Aristocracy. The aristocrats have taxed the peasants relentlessly and left them to die of starvation. Dickens tells us, “The mill which had worked them down, was the mill that grinds young people old… and ploughed into every furrow of age and coming up afresh, was the sign, Hunger” (Dickens 22). This imagery shows that the aristocracy does not care for the peasants and readers begin to hate the nobles just as much as the peasants. Also, the aristocracy seems to feel like nothing will ever interfere with their power and they do not feel threatened by the peasants at all. Proof of this is shown when Dickens says, “But, time was not come yet; and every wind that blew over France shook the rags of the scarecrows in vain, for the birds, fine of song and feather, took no warning”

Dickens uses different scenarios to put the revolution into a different perspective and sway the emotions of the readers towards the devastated nobles. The new form of government led by the rebels is deceitful and rigged, and under it new and unfair laws are constantly passed and innocent people are arrested. Dickens is showing that the new leaders are just as brutal and cold hearted as the old aristocracy was. The peasants are so caught up on revenge that stopping and making peace is not part of the picture, “Defarge, a weak minority, interposed a few words for the memory of the compassionate wife of the Marquis; but only elicited from his wife a repetition of her last reply, ‘Tell the Wind and the Fire where to stop, not me’” (265) Madame Defarge’s hate towards the Evrémonde family is just like the peasant class’ hate for the aristocrats; it has enveloped their souls. The peasants are now just as brutal and inhumane towards their fellow man as the nobles were before them. The innocent seamstress is a perfect example of where the revolutionaries have gone too far, “I am not afraid to die, Citizen Evrémode, but I have done nothing. I am not unwilling to die, if the Republic which is to do so much good to us poor, will profit by my death; but I do not know how that can be, Citizen Evrémonde. Such a poor weak little creature”