Madame Defarge In A Tale Of Two Cities

Throughout the course of history, women have always typically been associated with passivity and reliance on male figures, while men have been known as strong and superior. It wasn’t until the French Revolution in Europe that “a new forum for women thinkers to express their ideas” was provided and, thus, “women of Paris demonstrated in favor of issues of importance to them” (Feminism). In A Tale of Two Cities, the French Revolution affects two contrasting women in a similar way by highlighting the strength they gain to stay loyal to what they love and the death surrounding them. Charles Dickens portrays the motif of opposing forces in France and England utilizing the symbols of knitting and the golden thread to further the theme of loyalty …show more content…
In a different way, Madame Defarge also acquires much strength through the Revolution. Through her constant “knitting, knitting” (Dickens, 193), Madame Defarge plans revenge towards the vile Evremondes because they hurt her family. Madame Defarge wasn’t handmaking the typical sweater or new scarf, but knitting a plan for the Revolution by stitching together a list of names of whom she was condemning to be her next victim of death. While many thought that she took on the role of a tricoteuse and brought her knitting needles to the public executions to distract herself from the fact that people were dying right in front of her in reality, she was secretly adding people to her death list because her love for family pushed her to acquire revenge on those who showed evil by hurting them. Because of Madame Defarge’s deep loyalty to her family, her relentless drive for revenge and to make Evremondes perish makes her strong. Loyalty to family was the ultimate cause for both Lucie’s healing power of holding her family together over those who were negatively affected by the Revolution and Madame Defarge’s …show more content…
Madame Defarge personifies the exact opposite of eighteenth century feminine ideals and is displayed as a killing machine in her society because her “intentions are evil” (Dickens, 380). Her addiction for making the Evremondes get what they deserve portrays her new love for payback, which is rooted in her strong loyalty to her family. This desire for vengeance continuously grew stronger, leading to the non-stop urge to perish others, and eventually she paved the way to her own death along with all the evil within her. Contrastingly, Lucie Manette’s delightful nature attracted many, but she was surrounded with death owing to the fact that men crumble without her. Men were charmed by “the sound of her voice [and] the light of her face” (Dickens, 183). Charles Darnay falls in love with her and ends up marrying Lucie, but continues getting sent to prison and eventually sentenced to death. Sydney Carton, on the other hand, believes Lucie is the love of his life and promises to do anything for her, even die. Therefore, when Lucie encourages Carton to change his wasteful life, he takes Charles’ place to die so that Charles and Lucie can live happily together. Carton’s love for Lucie led him to saving Charles from dying and sacrificing himself for the benefit of Lucie’s family. Love was the driving force in two opposing figures that ended up

Show More