Unjustified Revenge in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

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Recommended: Revenge is retaliating in order to get even

Charles Dickens focuses on the revenge that put the bloody French Revolution in motion in his suspenseful story A Tale of Two Cities. The French Revolution was a revolt instigated by the peasants, who attacked the nobles with vengeful hearts starting in the year 1789, and going on until the year 1799. The settings of the book took place in both London and England, two parallels in novel, two cities where the plotting of the Revolution went into affect. Although the reasons behind the different examples of revenge are exposed, the actions taken with revenge in mind are inexcusable and not justifiable. Dickens portrays the theme of revenge successfully through the joker Gaspard, the brave younger brother who sacrificed himself to protect his family and the brilliant antagonist Madame Defarge. Gaspard the joker wants revenge against the nobilities, and the nobilities get revenge on Gaspard and the peasants because of Gaspard’s actions. Gaspard the joker has a son who is run over and tragically killed by a carriage. Inside the carriage is the stone-faced noble Marquis St. Evermonde after he has left the opera house and is on his way to his chateau. When the Marquis exits the carriage, he has no sympathy or moral regret for what happened, even at the sight of Gaspard wailing over his own dead child. He says, “It is extraordinary to me that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children. One or the other of you is for ever in the way. How do I know what injury you have done to my horses?” {Dickens 84). His comment proves how insignificant the peasants are to the nobles, because by having been more concerned for the animals, meant that the animals had a higher pedestal of importance than the peasants. The Marquis throws on... ... middle of paper ... ...ly leads to the brutal French Revolution. The reason behind revenge may be explained, but it is never justified. Those who retaliate in an unjust way will not be rewarded, but they will be punished because revenge only leads to unstable emotions and regrettably strong actions. Gaspard’s actions lead to brutal captivity before being hung. The younger brother, although his death is one of a true gentlemen, still lets his anger take over, and dies to a wound received in a duel. Madame Defarge’s vengeance is not a strong enough emotion to overcome the power of love and sacrifice, which leads to her ultimate death. Many people died in the French Revolution because of the want of revenge. The sacrifices many made during the French Revolution, because of many people’s choice to retaliate, caused an unnecessarily high number of deaths of the innocents unwillingly affected.

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