Just as the fates, woven throughout both Greek and roman mythology, asserted fear through their weaving, measuring, and cutting, Dickens has used Madame Defarge to spread fear among the citizens. Throughout A Tale of Two Cities Madame Defarge knits, her very presence dominating the scenes and controlling the plot of the entire novel. She presides over everyone, her aura of authority, judgment, death, and destruction maintains a stony reign over those who come near her. The knitting throughout the novel signifies a deeper meaning, and forecasts the mood of the time period. The knitting provides an excellent symbol of the ways in which killing occurred, the manner of vengeance among the people, and it shows how the peasants had a power that the aristocracy underestimated. The knitting also reflects the ancient stories of the fates throughout mythology, telling much the same stories, leaving the same trail of fear and hesitation throughout.
“Madame Defarge knitted with nimble fingers and steady eyebrows, and saw nothing.” (Book 1, Chapter 5, Page 35). As Madame Defarge knits deftly, thoughtlessly, skillfully, so the vengeance of the French Revolution proceeds. The mass executions that occur throughout the plot of the French Revolution become uniform, deft, performed over and over again. When Dickens says that Madame Defarge knitted deftly, it says that she has grown accustomed to the motions, moving the needles and yarn repeatedly in a way that she has grown accustomed to. This same concept applies to the guillotine, the object which beheaded people during the French Revolution. The knitters at the scene of the beheading during the novel counted the number of deaths by the guillotine each day as they completed row after row. The g...
... middle of paper ...
... of you than of these others.” (Book 3, Chapter 3, Page 273). Madame Defarge held the power, and maintained the fear necessary to have total control over the citizens. She holds the fate of the country between her fingers, and ascertains that she does not let it slip.
Throughout the novel Madame Defarge and her knitting have an important symbolic effect. Madame Defarge knits just as the Moirae and the Parcae weave, spinning fate and playing their own game of revenge. The knitting symbolizes the Revolution through the repetitive, common motion of something far from regular, and also symbolizes, along with Madame Defarge, the revenge that took place throughout the entire novel. Though knitting seems an extremely ordinary task, it has been filled with symbolism and death, just as France, though usually a calm ordinary city filled, one day, with the chaos of death.
In the first book of the novel, the goal of Madame Defarge includes exterminating the noble race. She is constantly knitting in the wine shop she owns. The knitting shows a passive way to express her hatred towards others. “Her knitting was before her, but she had laid it down to pick her teeth with a toothpick” (Dickens 55). The quote shows how even in her first showing in the book, she is knitting. Her knitting and constant plotting brings frequent fear to her husband, Ernest Defarge, and all other wine shop patrons. Considering even her own husband is afraid for his life, Defarge keeps death in secrecy and shows extremely negative qualities. Defarge knits a register for the intended killing of the revolution in secrecy to show her hatred towards certain people. She has negative characteristics in regard to the loss of her family and her plot to kill all of her enemies. Madame Defarge lasts as the leader attributed to all women fighting in the revolution and
Madame Defarge was taking out her anger on the whole family, which she thought had killed her sister. So Madame Defarge was going after all of the Marquis, no matter if they had anything to do with the murder or not.
She plays the Force of Evil, as she plots against Darnay and those around him, despite occasional disapprovals from her husband. “‘One must stop somewhere. After all, the question is still where?’ ‘At extermination,’ said Madame’” (263). She’s described as a, “ruthless woman, now taking her way along the streets. Of a strong and fearless character, of shrewd sense and readiness, of great determination… but, imbued from her childhood with a brooding sense of wrong, and an inveterate hatred of a class, opportunity had developed her into a tigress” (281). Madame Defarge did what she thought was right in order to try and compensate for the damage done during her childhood, “that sister of the mortally wounded boy upon the ground was my sister, that husband was my sisters husband, that unborn child was their child, that brother was my brother, that father was my father”
Monsieur Defarge is a revolutionary disguised as a mere bartender. He communicates secretly with his fellow revolutionaries in the bar and helps to orchestrate the plot to overthrow the French aristocracy. Despite the power he holds, he is overshadowed by his ruthless wife, Mrs. Defarge. Mrs. Defarge is a very powerful woman with a lot of influence, and she is ultimately the driving force behind the revolution’s plot. She decides who to kill and knits their name into a coded list. Monsieur Defarge is cooperative and submissive to her, as seen when he agrees with every part of the story she tells without being prompted. Monsieur Defarge is a masculine character with a lot of influence, but his relationship with his wife is not reflective of what was typical during the time period of the French revolution. This is used by Dickens to show that society’s attitudes towards masculinity and femininity are
Two characters Dickens sets in opposition are Madame Defarge and Lucie Manette. Although Lucie Manette grew up an orphan after her mother died and her father lay languishing anonymously in a prison cell of the Bastille, although she suffered irreparable harm, Lucie Manette always finds within herself the ability to forgive wrongs and love other people. She looks for the best in every human heart and inspires those around her to love and achieve great, nearly impossible goals. Lucie Manette always appears in the form of light, often receiving the appellation of "angel." She provides a soothing disposition to those in torment, patiently listening to sorrows and misdeeds while forgiving and encouraging the miscreant to better ways. Even though she cannot reform Sidney Carton, he realizes that she, more than anyone, would have that power; ho...
Madame Defarge, on the other hand, does not just hate Lucie, but she hates the Manettes and all the Evremondes. One would think that such a strongly fueled hatred would permit Madame Defarge to overpower Miss Pross, but, as the reader finds out, Miss Pross' determination to keep her darling "Ladybird" safe, from any harm that might come to her or her family, allows her to overpower and kill her enemy. This time, the power of good overcomes the power of evil due to Miss Pross' true love and dedication to Lucie. Another struggle between love and hate can be found within Monsieur Defarge. In this particular case, it is evil that eventually triumphs.
...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.
Charles Dickens writes this book explaining the French Revolution, in which the social and economic systems in France had huge changes and the French monarchy collapsed. This causes high taxes, unfair laws, and the poor being mistreated. Charles Dickens shows that cruelty of other people will lead to a revolution and in addition to the revolution more cruelty will occur. He explores the idea of justice and violence through the use of ambiguous characters with positive and negative qualities, meaning that they have to different sides to them; for example, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Dr. Manette. Throughout the story of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles dickens uses ambiguous characters to shows how violence and cruelty can be stopped through the power of true sacrifice.
She is calm and rational, but has an extreme passion for her work above all else. Dagny is an enormously successful woman in a man’s world, and her defining characteristic is her dominating self-confidence. Dagny also states, “...the sight of an achievement was the greatest gift a human being could offer to others¨ (237). She has an amazing business sense and knows the right moves to make and doesn’t care who doubts or disagrees with her. She doesn’t hesitate to take risks, and because of this she thrives under pressure. When most back down and accept defeat, that is when she kicks it into high gear to accomplish
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.
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.
Throughout the novel, Dickens employs imagery to make the readers pity the peasants, have compassion for the innocent nobles being punished, and even better understand the antagonist and her motives. His use of personified hunger and description of the poor’s straits made the reader pity them for the situation caused by the overlord nobles. However, Dickens then uses the same literary device to alight sympathy for the nobles, albeit the innocent ones! Then, he uses imagery to make the reader better understand and perhaps even feel empathy for Madame Defarge, the book’s murderous villainess. Through skillful but swaying use of imagery, Dickens truly affects the readers’ sympathies.
Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens repeats a number of symbols and motifs. By employing these two literary devices throughout the duration of the story, Dickens is working to emphasize the importance of these specific components of the story. Motifs and symbols represent repeating ideas that help the reader to understand, as well as highlight the author’s central idea. Dickens employs the usage of symbols and motifs, such that by using both he adds a layer of significance and deeper meaning to actions, people, as well as objects. Additionally, by using symbols and motifs, Dickens is able to create a story in which both the characters, and the plot are interwoven.
In his “A Tale Two Cities”, Charles Dickens uses the characters of Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge as two strong women that contrast against the rather manly group of characters. These women are both driven to do what they believe is right. Although Lucie and Madame are strong willed and independent, they both use these strengths differently. Lucie is a woman who is driven by love and affection. Whereas Madame Defarge is driven by hate and rebellion. Both these women, although similar, have such significant differences.
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.