How does this view stack up to reality during the French Revolution? Well, the nobility were cruel, and had been for... ... middle of paper ... ... Madame is a vengeful and blood-thirsty revolutionary that makes a list of people that must die in the Revolution. To say that neither figure existed in the Revolution would be a falsehood, but it seems Dickens overstated their power in the movement. This overstatement could come out of his personal feelings towards the working class that stem from his youth. Another possible bias when discussing the role of the lower class here is his bias toward the peaceful transition toward a more democratic system like that of Britain.
In fighting malice with malice, the peasants produce no real revolution; instead, they only continue the violence that they themselves have suffered. Although Dickens views the French Revolution as a symbol of revolution and rebirth, he stresses that its violent methods ultimately caused more harm than good in the end through his figurative language, tone, and Much of the action in A Tale of Two Cities takes place in Paris during the French Revolution, which began in 1789. In his novel, Dickens shows how the tyranny of the French aristocracy - unjust laws, high taxes, and little or no concern for the well-being of the commoners - fueled a wrath amongst the poor that in time exploded into rebellion. Dickens represents this
They demanded justice, and were determined to attain it one way or another. This impassioned murderous attack fanned the flame of a rebellion that is now known as the French Revolution. English novelist, Charles Dickens, understood the feelings of the French commoners, for he too was oppressed. Forced to end school and work in a factory when he was only a youth, Dickens got a first-hand taste of the injustice governments often deal out. Nevertheless, Dickens’ sympathies were provisional; he condemned the French for their lack of genuine respect for life.
There the students were mean, they had laughed at his Corsican accent and mocked his poor clothes and rough manners. When Napoleon had learned to speak French fluently, he went to study at Brienne, it a training school for the Military College in Paris. He found that the students there were even crueler. They looked down on him because he was of Corsican nobility. Taunting Napoleon, they called him a "slave" because his home had been conquered by the French.
The novel opens in the troubled year of 1775, with a comparison of England and pre-Revolutionary France. It conveys the sense of doom and chaos. Both countries go through extreme social turmoil. With sarcasm, Dickens condemns the nobles as responsible for the disorder. "Under the guidance of [France's] Christian pastors, she entertained herself, besides with such humane achievements as sentencing a youth to have his hands cut off because he had not kneeled down to a dirty procession of monks" (2) France has mostly political difficulties while in England the issues are largely social.
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. Works Cited A Tale of Two Cities
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.
He is referred to as "the Jackal" who is necessary in society, but not welcomed or wanted (77). Sydney loves Lucie Manette, but he is not ... ... middle of paper ... ...l of men. The oppressed male peasants join together to form a group of Jacques, or soldiers, to overthrow the aristocracy. The Jacques use The Defarge's wine-shop as a meeting place. Throughout the story, Madame Defarge is either murdering someone or knitting.
Dickens often conveys his deep sympathy towards the plight of the French peasantry and accentuates their need for liberation. The first fault that Dickens addresses in the social structure of society is the difference in classes between the aristocrats and peasantry. In the chapters including the Marquis Evrémonde or Monseigneur successfully portray how the nobilities abuse their power in society by shamelessly exploiting and oppres... ... middle of paper ... ...pilled blood. When the emotional turmoil caused by the aristocracies’ cruel oppression rose amongst the poor, it caused them to undertake the same horrendous actions of the aristocracies that they once despised. The author cleverly conveys to the reader how although the initial motive for the French Revolution may have been justified, quickly became just as corrupt as the system they were fighting against.
In the late nineteenth century many European, and especially British, authors, play writes and poets wrote about the inadequacies of the upper class. Often times the author will not blatantly express his feelings, but rather he will hide them behind the plot or characters in his story. In Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde mocks the values of the upper class. By fully exaggerating the flaws of the upper class, Wilde succeeds in expressing his beliefs that men and women of the upper class are shallow, foolish, and have no respectable values. Many traditionally accepted practices Wilde finds disgustingly unacceptable; therefore, he completely satirizes them to express how truly shallow those customs are.