Marcus Kopp
Mr. Vetter
AP English Literature
24 November 2015
Aristocrats or Revolutionists, Who Is More Violent? In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, a historical fiction about the two countries of England and France, he tells us some important things going on and also gives us important messages. Arguable one of the most important themes Dickens writes about in this novel is violence. More specifically he writes about the violence in France, a murder of a young child by a careless Marquis, the rape of a young girl by a pair of aristocrat brothers, the death of thousands of aristocrats and aristocrat sympathizers by the guillotine, and the dirty deeds done by Madam Defarge to “exterminate” the aristocrats and their sympathizers. Dickens
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A very violent scene given to the reader by Dickens is when he describes the crazed revolutionists sharpening their tools on the grindstone, “The grindstone had a double handle, and, turning at it madly were two men…and their hideous countenances were all bloody and sweaty,” (Dickens 272). Dickens paints in the readers mind that the revolutionists are savages and crazed for blood, they won’t stop killing until the job is done. It is known to the readers that Madam Defarge is the most blood crazed of them all. She and her husband are conversing when Defarge is wondering when it will all stop (the reader can tell that he is starting to feel remorse for what he has started), but Madam Defarge replies with “At extermination,” (Dickens 353). Such a small quote, but it means so much to the novel, it shows that Madam Defarge will not stop what she is doing until all aristocrats have been put to death because of what had happened to her as a young child. This is the point in Dickens’ novel when the reader can tell that Dickens’ point of view on the Revolutionary has changed, it is now evident that he believes that the Revolutionists are taking what they are doing too far. It’s important to the novel as a whole because it helps to picture the unjust of how far the revolutionists go to “get back” at the
She thought the only way she could get revenge would be if every party involved in her family’s suffering was punished and this is demonstrated when Madame Defarge says that ‘[she] care[s] nothing for this Doctor. He may wear his head or lose it, for any interest [she has] in him; it is all one to [her]. But, the Evrémonde people are to be exterminated, and the wife and child must follow the husband and father’(Dickens 356). If Defarge does not succeed in harming every last member of the Evrémonde family, she will feel like she has failed avenging her family’s legacy. The riches and happiness of this family are not deserved in the eyes of Defarge as peasant blood was spilled as a costly
Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities follows the cruelties of the French Revolution. Mobs in France relentlessly imprison and kill citizens, including the novel’s main character, Doctor Manette, who stays in prison for 18 years before Lucie retrieves him. Only Lucie, can keep him young and free from his past. Doctor Manette and Lucie testify at the trial of Charles Darnay, defended by the lazy alcoholic, Sydney Carton. Both Darnay and Carton love Lucie, but Darnay ultimately wins her, and Carton never stops loving her. Meanwhile in Saint Antoine, Defarge and his wife plan the French Revolution. Darnay goes back to France, and Parisians immediately throw him in prison for being an Evrémonde. The novel ends with Carton sacrificing himself to save Darnay to show Lucie he loves her. Dickens creates chaotic and deadly crowds in A Tale of Two Cities in order to convey the theme of mob mentality’s destructiveness.
The French Revolution was a time of chaos and uprising in France during the mid-19th century that divided the French people. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a novel that is set during this tumultuous time in history. During this period of time, the people of France made many sacrifices. Sacrifice is a common theme that is developed throughout this novel. One reason many people make sacrifices is for love, and throughout the novel this theme is developed through the characters Miss Pross, Doctor Alexandre Manette, and Sydney Carton.
...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.
The Reign of Terror, a time prior to the French Revolution, is a scary time. Almost 20,000 people were executed, due to the high standards people are held to, while countless others die in prison or without a trial. Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens shows numerous eye opening encounters of what occurred prior and during the revolution in France. It covers many of the horrific punishment methods and things people do to be considered prisoners. The Reign of Terror and French revolution are a time of extreme violence, and because of this there need to be prisons, punishment systems, and protocols in place to help regain peace within the country.
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
Mob mentality is the idea that when a big group of people are together they loose their sense of individualism and moral constraints to follow blindly what they are told. During the French Revolution mobs were highly prevalent as many of the population were starving, poor, and angry. In A Tale of Two Cities the author, Charles Dickens criticizes mobs by showing how dangerous they can be in many scenes.
Charles Dickens was an English writer born in the 1800’s. Dickens named this book A Tale of Two Cities because it is a parallel between London and Paris. In A Tale of Two Cities, there are many wrongs done by peasants who want to do right. Dickens is very descriptive partly to get across the idea of mans inhumanity towards man. Charles Dickens creates scenes like the guillotine, the use of the blue flies analogy and Madame Defarge’s hate stricken heart to develop the theme of mans inhumanity to fellow man.
Have you ever witnessed or participated in an act of mob mentality? Many people without realizing it take part in a form of mob mentality, whether it is at a sporting event, concert, or even a protest or riot; these are all forms of mob mentality. The term “mob mentality” is usually something negative, where large groups of people deindivduate themselves. People lose control and are pressured to fit in with what the rest of the crowd is doing. In the book, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, mob mentality has a big impact on the plot. A Tale of Two Cities, shows how mob mentality ties in with history repeating itself, portraying manslaughter and homicide, and also depicting riots.
The time preceding and following the French Revolution was not only an era of change, but also a time of deceit and suspicion in England and France. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens thoroughly illustrates through symbols what every stage of the French Revolution looked like from the point of view of revolutionaries, aristocrats, and bystanders. The events that caused the changes in France were acts of injustice towards the peasant class. However, when the Revolution began, the revolutionaries started treating the aristocrats inhumanely. Blue flies, knitting, the shadow, and the grindstone are the symbols that best portray the theme of man’s inhumanity towards his fellow man in A Tale of Two Cities.
“People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take.” This quote by Emma Goldman not only perfectly sums up the French Revolution, but also reflects on the issue in society today with police racism and brutality. In Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities, the peasants suffer extreme injustice, they allow the revolution to go to their heads, and we see how violence only ever brings more violence .
The Tale of Two Cities, a novel written by English author Charles Dickens, shares the story of the horrific war of the French Revolution and social and political and social disruption of France.Dickens main theme that have a great impact on the story of the book was political injustice and revolution.. Dickens explanation of revolution is taken from a scene taken from the book of Tale of Two Cities,” the revolutionaries are at the grinding swords. It is a cycle, just like the earth turning, it is a never ending cycle. Dickens and other English authors have echoed their thought of revolution which is that it is inevitable in our world, that it is a cycle of revolution and peace because of humans and their own interactions not they system as
History has not only been important in our lives today, but it has also impacted the classic literature that we read. Charles Dickens has used history as an element of success in many of his works. This has been one of the keys to achievement in his career. Even though it may seem like it, Phillip Allingham lets us know that A Tale of Two Cities is not a history of the French Revolution. This is because no actual people from the time appear in the book (Allingham). Dickens has many different reasons for using the component of history in his novel. John Forster, a historian, tells us that one of these reasons is to advance the plot and to strengthen our understanding of the novel (27). Charles Dickens understood these strategies and could use them to his advantage.
The French Revolution was a time of unjustified bloodshed among the French nobility and the peasants. Lasting from 1787 to 1799, peasants revolted against the nobility because of unfair treatment and oppression. In A Tale of Two Cities, English writer, Charles Dickens, tells a story of the desperate lives the peasants live and their bloody rebellion against the nobles. In contrast, Dicken's novel also narrates the excessive lives of the aristocracy and their obliviousness to the coming change. The novel has many themes, however among those the most important is the theme of sacrifice. Many characters sacrifice things but the following are the major selfless acts done in the name of love. Charles Darnay’s choice to give up his family’s wealth and nobility, Mrs. Pross’ sacrifice of her ability to hear, and Sydney Carton’s sacrifice of life all support Dicken’s theme of sacrifice for people whom they love in the novel.
During the French Revolution, there were many controversies between the peasants and the aristocracy. In A Tale Of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, most of the peasants are revolutionaries fighting against their nobility. Dickens’ use of imagery throughout the novel tries to sway the reader’s opinions about the peasants. Charles Dickens depicts the French Revolution well with the images of the novel as well as the tone he uses. Throughout the novel, Dickens illustrates through his imagery how the peasants change from poor, secretive, and then on to vicious.