Femininity In A Tale Of Two Cities

In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents a story that cannot be found in textbooks. By juxtaposing different experiences of femininity and domestic life in the late 18th century, Dickens highlights a duality in French and English contemporary thought towards the role of the family in state and war. Ultimately, this serves as a commentary on the position of ethics that value compassion and order in the context of revolutionary war and major social upheaval. Two women in particular clearly embody Dickens’s commentary: Madame Defarge, whose unrelenting loyalty to revolution and deviation from feminine norms leads to a loss of rationality; and Lucie Manette, who embraces and internalizes the ideals of British family life and rejoices in
When Defarge is confronted with a challenge and handed a knife, she stomps maternity and femininity into the dirt. She is the chosen Mother of the Revolution. Defarge represents the rational brutality of the French Revolution, but the entirety of her character can only be understood in comparison to the virtuous Lucie Manette of England. Lucie Manette is compassionate, lovely, and loyal. She is the “Golden Thread” of family and country. From her very entrance into the novel, Lucie’s entire purpose is to restore her father to “life, love, duty, rest and comfort” (28). She serves this duty fully by caring for her father and putting him before herself and her love-life for years. In addition to the kindness with which she treats her family, she extends this compassion to even one of the most unpleasant people she associates with, Mr. Carton. When Charles Darnay criticizes Mr. Carton for his drunkenness and vulgarity, she asks that he be less judgmental: “I would ask you, dearest, to be very generous with him always, and very lenient on his faults when he is not by. I would ask you to believe that he has a heart he very, very seldom reveals, and there are deep wounds in it. My dear, I have seen it bleeding” (217). Darnay fears Mr. Carton “is not to be reclaimed,” but agrees to
However, this domestic surface does not run deep. Unlike Lucie, Madame Defarge acts independently and even contrarily to the demands of the men she encounters. Her interactions with men range from bossing her husband around to slitting the throats of officers. She is dangerous, powerful, and uncontrollable. Although she is probably about the same age as Lucie, she bears no children, or at least never mentions them. Madame Defarge, in the eyes of the 19th century English patriarchy, is the downfall of domesticity and maternity. Her disregard of domesticity is the result of her obsessive drive for revolution and bloodshed. Madame Defarge and Lucie Manette illustrate the incompatibility of peaceful, docile women and revolution. The stark contrast between these two characters shows that Dickens is no fan of revolution. Unfortunately, the reality of it is, France cannot be recalled to life simply with love, compassion, and