The French Revolution was a period of social and political uprisings in France from 1789 to 1799, which is when the novel A Tale of Two Cities written by Charles Dickens takes place. The French Revolution marked the decline of powerful monarchies and the rise of democracy and nationalism. As it is said in the first sentence of the novel, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. During the extensive period of time during the conflicts of the revolution, every man is fighting for themselves. Due to this state of helplessness and solitude of the men in the revolution, many symbols in the novel were concocted and displayed to demonstrate a specific and powerful theme. In the novel, the symbols of scarecrows and birds of fine song and feather, wine, and knitting all demonstrate the theme of man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man.
Primarily, scarecrows and birds of fine song and feather are a compatible pair of symbols that uniquely contrast each other greatly. It is stated, “But, the time was not come yet; and every wind that blew over France shook the rags of the scarecrows in vain, for the birds, fine of song and feather, took no warning” (Dickens 23). This quote is regarding that the scarecrows represent the peasants and their frightening features, as they scare away the aristocrats, who are the birds of fine song and feather. In addition, the birds of fine song and feather are the aristocrats. They are gaudy like the male birds, and are entertained all day long with fine song, as the aristocrats are entertained with rich entertainment and food. In comparison, it is stated, “Such ample leisure had the stone faces, now, for listening to the trees and to the fountain, that the few village scarecrows who, in their quest fo...
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... many people including the man dear to a friend of her husbands, and who is not part of the aristocracy.
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 symbolism used in this play is directed at the need for equal rights for women, and the role many men played in squashing that dream. The bird and bird cage are metaphors for the laws in place which prevent women from voting and the need to be free from those oppressors. The singing of the bird is symbolically the crying of a nation of women who demand the right to vote. Also the husband, who broke the bird’s neck, represents the men who oppressed and opposed women, and who ultimately met their demise. The last truly symbolic instance is the knotting of the rope and the knotting of the stitches.
The “Little Bird” by Imogen Heap, represents the human effort to hide ugliness. Humans are attracted to beautiful things, yet they themselves are not. Humans are naturally bitter and are without morals; it is society that puts us into place. So human effort is focused on fixing themselves and their surroundings. The little bird symbolizes a metaphysical being that humanity looks towards for help.
In conclusion, the motif of alcohol used by Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities predicted the atrocity that was initiated by the rebellion of the laborers to gain equivalence in France. The way of life in the country of France was definitely influenced by the quality of alcohol the people owned and drank. Charles Dickens throughout his book does a great job to illustrate the differences between the poor and the rich through wine, which ultimately triggered the commencement of the French Revolution and the death of a plethora of people.
I think the canary symbolized Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale describes her; "She -- come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself - real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and - fluttery. How - she - did - change"; and like a bird, Mrs. Wright even sang in a choir. But after she got married, every thing stopped. She didn't sing anymore or attend social functions. Like a bird, her house became her cage. The only happiness that she appears to have is with this bird. The bird probably sang when she could not. He was probably a companion to her, she had no children. And like her, he was also caged. Because we do not know, we can only guess that her husband killed her bird. If he killed the bird then he would have killed the only thing that was important to her. He killed her once when he married her and caged her in that house, and he killed her again when he destroyed her bird. "No,. Wright wouldn't like the bird - a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too." When Mrs. Wright was used to its singing and her world became quiet again, it was too much for her take.
The images related to birds are the major symbolic images in the narrative from the very beginning of the novel:
The French Revolution was a movement from 1789 to 1799 that brought an end to the monarchy, including many lives. Although A Tale of Two Cities was published in 1859, it was set before and during the French Revolution and had over 200 million copies sold. The author, Charles Dickens, is known for being an excellent writer and displays several themes in his writings. Sacrifice is an offering of an animal or human life or material possession to another person. Dickens develops the theme of sacrifice throughout the story by the events that occurred involving Dr. Manette, Mr. Defarge, and Sydney Carton.
In Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Psycho, he uses the symbolism of eyes and birds to manipulate the audience’s emotion and to create suspense throughout the film. The mis-en- scene of the scene where Marion and Norman are talking while she eats dinner in his parlor demonstrates this statement farther. She is surrounded by two birds and a table in front of her to hint how she is now trapped by Bates’s mother and won’t be able to leave the motel. During the same scene, the birds that are placed in the room powerfully represent the two characters. An example is the owl that is mounted on the wall above Bates, while a small song bird and crow are near Crane. The owl symbolizes his mother’s watchful eyes and how she disoriented her son’s mind. The small songbird represents Crane’s vulnerability and helplessness compared to the large owl. The song bird like Crane is unaware that Norman’s mother, the owl, is out ...
Birds are truly amazing creatures and all of their characteristics allow them to be used as symbols to express a variety of things. They can be used as symbols of love, of peace, of life, of death, of people, of freedom and restraint. “Jane Eyre” and “Sula” are two examples of how one symbol can have multiple uses. In both books, birds were used to develop the identities of the characters, to foreshadow different events in the stories and help develop the plots and settings of the stories. I believe both Charlotte Bronte and Toni Morrison made great literary choices by choosing to use birds as symbols in their stories. Both stories are beautifully written with their metaphors of birds. I think that it is great that one symbol can be used to express two opposing views – one of freedom and one of restraint
The French Revolution was a period of radical social and political upheaval, lead by the lower class of France, which began the decline of powerful monarchies in France and the rise of nationalism and democracy. In A Tale Of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, he highlights these aspects of the war between classes and makes them personal to the reader. Throughout the novel, Dickens’ establishes and develops several symbols in order to help the reader better understand the Revolution and the way people acted during this time. He shows that while emotion, desperation, and irrationality run high, humanity, justice, and morality are scarce. The blue flies, Madame Defarge’s knitting, and the sea are three of Dickens’ symbols that develop his theme of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man throughout the novel.
“ A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.” In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, the author Charles Dickens illuminates the setting to his convenience. A Tale of Two Cities takes a deeper look about France and England culture in the late 1700’s. Charles Dickens uses symbolism, diction, and syntax to set up the setting.
The French Revolution was a time when many people sacrificed their lives for their beliefs. As the French Revolution moved on, more people joined the movement and risked their lives. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is set during this time. Many people who sacrificed their lives for the Revolution felt like it was their fate to do this. This idea of fate is described many times in Dickens’ novel to magnify the story. The theme of fate is prevalent in the novel through the lives of many characters. This theme is used to show how a person is unable to escape their fate because it is already decided. The metaphors and symbols in the novel are greatly used to contribute to the theme of fate through the symbols of knitting, the fountain and water, and the wine.
They represent this through their ability to fly carefree of judgements, as this different mythological bird, no one has heard of or seen. Furthermore, they convey that being alone may seem lonely at times, but leaving a flock allows you to be free, and gives you a more enjoyable life. Heather birds represent how you do not have to be in a flock, especially if you do not belong, since you never see a heather bird in a flock of sparrows. When the birds are first introduced, they show Millicent, where she really belongs and who she feels she is. It displays how ‘... you didn’t have to belong to a club to feel related to other human beings’ (246).
Charles Dickens’s voice varies from being sympathetic with the revolutionaries, to a feeling of discord with their method of revolting. A Tale of Two Cities revolves around the French revolution and the tension in England. Dickens gives the tale of a family caught in the conflict between the French aristocracy and radicals. In the course of the book, the family handles extreme difficulty and obscurity. Dickens’s neutrality, though sometimes wavering from side to side, is apparent throughout each book in the novel.
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.
A Tale of Two Cities promoted the image of a stable England by using revolutionary France as a setting to highlight the contrasts between the two countries, although Dickens seemed to believe in the eighteen-fifties that England was heading towards an uprising on the scale of the French Revolution. In the twentieth century, we see the French Revolution used as a 'lavish' setting in film and TV productions of A Tale of Two Cities. In the preface to the novel, Dickens says "It has been one of my hopes to add something to the popular and picturesque means of understanding that terrible time" (xiii).