Research Paper On Madame Defarge

As a psychotherapist, I have been assigned the task of analyzing Madame Defarge’s behavior. Madame Defarge was a violent woman and I wanted to look into the downward spiral that ended with her death. I have spoken with many people who knew Madame Defarge, including her husband and Miss Pross. I have come to a conclusion that Madame Defarge’s violent behavior roots back to her unfortunate childhood.
As it turns out, as a child, Madam Defarge’s older sister was raped and kidnapped by twin brothers, the Evrémondes. Her sister eventually dies. In addition to her sister, the Evrémondes brothers kill, either directly or indirectly, Madame Defarge’s father, brother, and brother in law. She manages to escape, but not without having her entire life destroyed by this family. It is clear that she wants revenge.
Some of Madame Defarge’s first signs of impending violence are subtle, but in retrospect they are clear. For starter’s Madam Defarge was constantly knitting. This may not seem violent on the surface, but according to Ernest Defarge, his wife was actually knitting the names and descriptions of those who the revolutionaries planned to kill. This shows that she has no compassion for innocent human lives. In addition to the names, I wonder if the compulsive knitting also serves as some sort of
coping mechanism for having to live with the brutal murders of her family members.
Another sign of her violent streak to come is her lack of emotion. Her husband recalls multiple occasions of when he showed emotion, and Madame Defarge sort of slapped him back into her reality. She was known to call him feeble and cowardly in times of weakness. Furthermore, Madame Defarge was known for being manipulative and having a superficial charm. She once smiled and made polite talk with a man she knew to be a spy, while simultaneously knitting his name into the register.
Madam Defarge’s first escalation to physical violence occurs during the attack on the Bastille. The crowd captures the governor, and as he walks through the crowd he is beaten and stabbed. Instead of leaving it at that, Madam Defarge had to take it one step further by cutting off his head. This is especially gruesome. Some time later, Ernest Defarge goes to kill Foulon and Madame Defarge tries to strangle him with the ropes he is tied up in. The disturbing behaviors here show lack of self-control and impulsiveness, along with her extreme lack of remorse for her actions.
Her lack of realistic goals could be seen through her desire to exterminate every single relative of the Evrémondes.
It was not really possible to do so, but Madame Defarge would stop at nothing until she got her way. In an attempt to kill as many as possible, Madame Defarge decides to pay Lucie a visit in hopes that she will self-incriminate herself and her family. Lucie is not home but Miss Pross is. According to Miss Pross, the two got into an altercation. I believe this is the peak of Madame Defarge’s violence. Miss Pross says that Madame Defarge draws a gun, and in a scuffle, shoots and kills herself by accident. That is her extreme irresponsibility playing out in front of
us.
Although Madame Defarge is deceased, I have made a posthumous diagnosis of her behavior. As exhibited by her lack of emotion, lack of compassion or empathy, lack of remorse or guilt, lack of self-control, lack of realistic goals, impulsiveness, irresponsibility, and superficial charm, it is evident to me that Madame Defarge was a psychopath. She also may have suffered from PTSD as a result of the murders of her family members.