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The Duality of Man
With their weapons and their suffering state, Charles Dickens, in the novel A Tale of Two Cities, shows the two sides of a revenge-driven and poor peasant life. Charles Dickens did not always have a good life, but he knew what was right and wrong. His family went through a number of troubles related to debt, but his struggle never led him to violence. In the beginning of the novel, Charles Dickens showed off the peasants as victims of circumstance, but as the plot rolled out, their villainy was shown and Dickens began to show them as the rats who had decided to bite back once they were pushed too far in a corner.
In both fictional literature and the real world, humans are told to believe that good will always triumph over
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The line can be interpreted as many things, but the most striking meanings are the two very different lives that the two classes of people live in. The meanings lead into each other during the book. For the peasants, it was a period of great struggle and sacrifice, but for the nobles, it was a breezy era. The line later means that it was the best of times for the peasants, who were finally striking back against those who had squashed them like ants who were only trying to live life without too much pain. Their revenge meant that the nobles would be slaughtered in a way that would send fear into the hearts of even the purest of imperial Frenchmen. The changing of the meaning in the book is to show that Dickens felt bad for the bumpkin struggle, but did not agree with the punishment of death that the wealthy and their families were struck down with. The first instance of fully inhumane abuse the peasants were subjected to was the death of a young child. Dickens writes in “Monseigneur in Town”, “He threw out a gold coin for the valet to pick up, and all the heads craned forward that all the eyes might look down at it as it fell. The tall man called out again with a most unearthly cry, ‘Dead!’” (Dickens X) The death of the child at the hands of the Marquis in the chapter “Monseigneur in Town” darkly parallels the …show more content…
While the only true evil nobles are the Marquis line and the older Evremondes, poor folk like Madame Defarge, The Vengeance, the Jaques, and the women who rioted down the streets are littered everywhere throughout the novel. Their actions, like ripping people apart, putting people underneath the blade of the guillotine, and stuffing people with grass, are more feral and uncaring than the type of evil that most nobles live in. Along with this, the scene where the wine is spewed onto the ground foreshadows that the humanity of the peasants goes out the window at the sight of something rare that they might be able to get. The fact that a man writes “blood” with the wine pounds this in further. Many nobles who live in excess do it without even realizing they do. Monseigneur lives a posh lifestyle, but it is all he knows. Charles Darnay, a noble who is highlighted in the book, treats his peers kindly and fairly. Even though he is an Evremonde, he shows that a noble does not have to be like their blue blood would suggest. The fact that more peasants were written to be out of their minds in the middle and latter thirds of the book shows that Dickens’s opinion was really slanted to the peasants being the real terrors from the
In this passage, Dickens’ juxtaposition, personification, detail, and diction reinforce Dickens’ tone of empathy and pity for the social conditions of the people of lower class France. When a large cask of wine spills open on the streets of France there is a mad rush to collect a taste of the spoiled wine. The people’s reactions consisted of “...frolicsome embraces, drinking of healths, shaking of hands, and even joining of hands and dancing a dozen together.” This exciting and scene of much happiness is juxtaposed by the “gloom that gathered on the scene that appeared more natural than sunshine” that occurs after all the wine has run out. This juxtaposition of the momentary happiness that the peasants of St. Antoine experience provide a contrast
Dickens has a complex, multifaceted view on masculinity. In the book, he creates many male characters with differing personality traits who each serve different roles. Doctor Manette is a character who embodies strength. After being imprisoned for nearly 20 years in the Bastille, Doctor Manette’s mind was severely damaged. Once he’s released, he does manage to recover his former self with the help of his family and friends. Though on multiple occasions, Doctor Manette experiences intense stress. This causes him to relapse into a disturbed state. Despite these setbacks, Doctor Manette is always able to find himself again. This makes him arguably the strongest male character in the book.
To support a major theme of this novel, scarecrows and birds of fine song and feather, wine and knitting, all represent the theme of man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man. The Revolution was a tragically devastating time full of senseless and meaningless violence, deception of neighbors as well as treason towards the government, and blissful ignorance of the surroundings. Many scenes and dialogue from this novel point out what contributed to make the revolution a period of intense political destruction. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens includes many themes pertaining to the French Revolution and the moralities and immoralities that goes with violence, betrayal, and ignorance, by using many different types of symbolism.
The first statement about the cyclic nature of violence is in line 3. Dickens states that “the new era began; the king was tried, doomed, and behead”. This shows cyclicity because it states that a new era had begun, meaning that there was one before it, and it is a “new era” not the final era, thus more will follow it thus showing the cycle of these ‘eras’. In this example, the concept of cyclicity represents the cycle of oppression, a characteristic of which, is extremism, thus showing how the concept of cyclicity shows the return to immorality from extremism. Another example of cyclicity in the passage, can be seen through the literary technique of universality, as “three hundred thousand men, summoned to rise against the tyrants of the earth, rose from all the varying soils of France”. This quote demonstrates extremism leads to universal immorality, as it shows how when the masses of people change their state (from prior state to revolutionary state or “rise against” state), they become immoral (seen through their merciless slaughter). Thus, the concept of cyclicity shows the return to immorality from extremism. Another example of cyclicity can be seen in the second paragraph’s description of the executions. Dickens used the literary device of repetition to describe them as having “no pause, no pity, no peace, no interval of relenting rest, no measurement
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
A Tale of Two Cities Essay Throughout history, the powers of love and hate have constantly been engaged in a battle for superiority. Time and time again, love has proven to be stronger than hate, and has been able to overcome all of the obstacles that have stood in the way of it reaching its goal. On certain occasions, though, hate has been a viable foe and defeated love when they clash. In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents several different power struggles between love and hate.
Most of the imagery described the terrible conditions of the people during this time. The main form of imagery I found that really showcased the terrible outlooks for these people was one used to describe wine as blood. In chapter 5, page 22, Dickens writes “The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there.. The darkness of it was heavy- cold, dirt, sickness, ignorance, and want.” (Dickens, 22) This quotation summarizes the events that are too come. That soon, the wine- which is really the blood- will be spilled and people will start to die at an alarming rate because of this famine and true ignorance. When it talks about the description of Saint Antoine, it mentions sickness and want, like the people will never receive any of their desires and either will die from sickness or famine. This is what comes to mind when I think about the ties between the wine, which represents famine, and the blood, which represents the future events of the French
Charles Darnay is a French aristocrat who decides to move to England because he could not deal with the cruel ways of the French, especially his uncle, the Marquis. He is an ambiguous character because he is seen by society a negative person because he is a part of the Evrémonde family while he is actually the complete opposite. That was the reason he left his country, “because he had voluntarily relinquished a title that was distasteful to him” (Dickens 288) to get away from his family
Although the passage foreshadows the events later throughout the novel, Dickens ultimately uses a pathetic tone toward the social conditions of France before the French Revolution through the use of anaphora in the first half of the passage and the diction throughout the second half of the passage.
The blue flies, Madame Defarge’s knitting, and the sea are just three of Dickens’ many symbols that develop the theme of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man in A Tale of Two Cities. Although Revolutions are not particularly humane in themselves, the individual characters and the majority of the peasantry in this book took inhumane to its extreme. Because the revolutionaries follow their ruthless leader, Madame Defarge, they do not question the humanity or morality of the massacre of the aristocracy. In a Revolution meant to free peasants, peasants should be last on the list of those being murdered, and this injustice should be realized. In the French Revolution as well as A Tale of Two Cities, the oppressed become the oppressors and the main cause behind the revolution is lost.
During a time of conflicting warfare, a person’s social position and temperament play a significant role in the ideals of society. A Tale of Two Cities manifests society’s response to the French Revolution. Times like this result in two options, either to keep moving on with life, or give in to the vengeance. Charles Dickens portrays both sides of humanity through his characterization. Madame Defarge is the most prominent character that represents the inability to resist violence during the Revolution. In Madame Defarge’s quest for revenge, her continuous knitting and dominance prompt her character development, establishing her character as the antagonist.
With imagery revealing the poor straits and desperation of the peasant class of France, Dickens influences the reader to pity them. He writes, “The cloud settled on Saint Antoine, which a momentary gleam had driven from his sacred countenance, the darkness of it was heavy—cold, dirt, sickness, ignorance, want were the lords waiting on the saintly presence—nobles of great power all of them; but most especially the last” (Dickens 22). Through hunger, want, etc. being personified and compared to nobles through language such as “nobles” and “lords”, Dickens shows the extent of the suffering of the peasants, their deserving to be pitied, and the human nobles’ apathy towards them. The peasants of Saint Antoine suffer in the 1770s, and the town’s name is made into a play on words with “saintly presence”, with the cloud of cold, dirt, sickness, ignorance, and want looming forming the imagery of irony. Another description of the peasants’ plight is revealed in the quote saying, “Ploughed into every furrow of age and coming up afresh, was the sign Hunger. It was prevalent everywhere...Hunger was the inscription on th...
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a classic novel written in the 1850’s by Charles Dickens. The novel is set in London and France during the French Revolution. The novel features an amazing use of themes as well as sensational development of characters. Charles Dickens and his feature style of the poor character who does something great is very evident in Sydney Carton, a drunken lawyer who becomes the hero of the book.
Throughout the book, Dickens portrays his objectivity between the classes through a series of graphic descriptions. For example, the horrid events that occur when the Marquis murders the child is a time when Dickens most definitely favors the rebels. Dickens’s attitude when Jacques kills the Marquis is that justice has been supplied. There is a definite tone of approval in his voice after these actions. On the other hand, Dickens’s attitude towards the mutineers is not always one of endorsement. When the activists nearly kill Gabelle and burn the Chateau, Dickens’s attitude changes from one of approval to one of disbelief. His disposition is almost one of sorrow for all the beauty being carelessly destroyed. As the reader can see, Dickens’s opinion varies greatly in accordance to the portion of the story the person is reading.
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.