Madame Defarge In A Tale Of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a story centered around the French Revolution. The French Revolution was centered around the slaughter of aristocrats by peasants, and at the center of this, at least according to Dickens, was a woman called Madame Defarge. At first seemingly just the wife of a wine shop owner, it quickly becomes apparent that she is in fact at the center of the Revolution, and the fervor that brought her there eventually leads to her downfall.
In “Book the First,” Dickens introduces Madame Defarge as “a stout woman… with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything, a large hand heavily ringed, a steady face, strong features, and great composure of manner” (Dickens 55). Throughout this volume, she seems more of a background …show more content…
The first, of course, is her husband. In this book, the reader learns that she keeps a list of her husband’s enemies in her knitting, working in tandem with him, whom gets this information from his customers (Dickens 303). Later, another of her roles becomes evident: she leads the women of the group alongside her other main ally, The Vengeance. The wife of a poor grocer, The Vengeance simply acts to make more fervent the emotions and actions of Madame Defarge, especially her “terrific shrieks” as they chase down an aristocrat (Dickens 391, …show more content…
This is of course seen in Madame’s targeting of any and all aristocrats, whether or not they were active oppressors, but more prominently in the specific case of Charles Darnay/Evremonde. This case brings to light Madame Defarge’s family’s violent past, and along with it her reason for hating the Evremondes specifically among all aristocrats, and as an extension Charles (Dickens 605-606). Unfortunately, Madame Defarge’s obsession with ending all Evremondes is so overwhelming that Charles’ execution is not enough; she attempts to gather evidence against his wife, Lucie. Instead of meeting and interrogating Lucie, though, she finds a stubborn Miss Pross, who has sworn to protect Lucie. But, Madame’s rage against the Evremondes is too much for her to back down that she ends up dying by her own gun. Miss Pross may have given her hearing for the safety of Lucie, but Madame gave her life in a failed attempt to “exterminate” the Evremondes (Dickens 638,
In “Book the First,” Dickens introduces Madame Defarge as “a stout woman… with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything, a large hand heavily ringed, a steady face, strong features, and great composure of manner” (Dickens 55). Throughout this volume, she seems more of a background …show more content…
The first, of course, is her husband. In this book, the reader learns that she keeps a list of her husband’s enemies in her knitting, working in tandem with him, whom gets this information from his customers (Dickens 303). Later, another of her roles becomes evident: she leads the women of the group alongside her other main ally, The Vengeance. The wife of a poor grocer, The Vengeance simply acts to make more fervent the emotions and actions of Madame Defarge, especially her “terrific shrieks” as they chase down an aristocrat (Dickens 391, …show more content…
This is of course seen in Madame’s targeting of any and all aristocrats, whether or not they were active oppressors, but more prominently in the specific case of Charles Darnay/Evremonde. This case brings to light Madame Defarge’s family’s violent past, and along with it her reason for hating the Evremondes specifically among all aristocrats, and as an extension Charles (Dickens 605-606). Unfortunately, Madame Defarge’s obsession with ending all Evremondes is so overwhelming that Charles’ execution is not enough; she attempts to gather evidence against his wife, Lucie. Instead of meeting and interrogating Lucie, though, she finds a stubborn Miss Pross, who has sworn to protect Lucie. But, Madame’s rage against the Evremondes is too much for her to back down that she ends up dying by her own gun. Miss Pross may have given her hearing for the safety of Lucie, but Madame gave her life in a failed attempt to “exterminate” the Evremondes (Dickens 638,