Violence In A Tale Of Two Cities

Justice in terms of revenge and supposed equal penalty is not always able to be validated. In the time period of A Tale of Two Cities, the late eighteenth century to early nineteenth century, people were so blindly fixated to the idea of social hierarchy, be it good or bad, that it eventually led to the French Revolution. The steps to the explosion of violence and revenge by the hands of the common folk consisted mainly of the smaller numbers of the high class living so much better lives than the majority of people who fit into the lower class. The higher class lived in luxury while the lower class were starving and being mistreated as less than people. Though the revolutionaries had the right to express their mistreatment, they went about

Dickens very effectively shows violent imagery and gruesome intentions as the first condemning point of the methods of the revolutionaries. The first real taste of the revolution is experienced while storming the Bastille, a famous prison of France. The Defarges are assisting in leading the people, and the first major blood is spilled at the hands of Madame Defarge. While the people rush through the Bastille, Madame Defarge “stood immovable close to the grim old officer, and remained immovable close to him” while he was trying to remove himself out of the situation, and “began to be struck at from behind,” Madame Defarge continued to be “immovable close to him when the long-gathering rain of stabs and blows fell heavy”. (Dickens Book 2 Ch.21) Here we can see Madame Defarge waiting for her chance to strike, and as she became “suddenly animated, she put her foot upon his neck, and with her cruel knife—long ready—hewed off his head.” (Book 2 Ch.21) Dickens goes on to display the bloodlust and cruelty of the revolutionaries when Madame Defarge and all passersby mindlessly “trod on the body to steady it for mutilation.” (Book 2 Ch.21) It is obvious that this scene is intended to show how desensitised the lower class has become, and how low they are willing to stoop in terms of brutality to achieve revenge. Near the end of the story, Madame Defarge’s “justice” ultimately brought about her downfall. She pursued