Tale Of Two Cities Literary Analysis

In 1859, Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities. The novel took place during the revolution era of France and England. Dickens uses a variety of literary devices to convey his message to the reader. Literary devices that are continuously used throughout the novel are the double motifs, light and dark. Dickens uses the doubles light and dark, through the two female characters Lucie and Madame Defarge. In A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses the motif of light versus dark, to characterize Lucie Manette by creating her pure nature in contrast of Madame Defarge’s dark nature.
The light motif recurs throughout the novel to show that Lucie herself is not just a symbol of light, but she is also the light for other characters in the novel. Dickens writes, “She was the golden thread that united him to a Past beyond his misery… “(Dickens 67). Dickens personates Lucie to have the ability to be able to help others. Guiding her father out of mental imprisonment and into the world once again. She is given this important feature because she is not just the light for her father but also many other characters. The aura of Lucie’s innocence's causes her to be more angelic throughout the novel. Lucie is the light throughout the novel, as written, “These were among the echoes to which Lucie, sometimes pensive, sometimes amused and laughing, listened in the echoing corner…was to her music” (Dickens 177).This is a prime example of the light Lucie represents. Dickens allows the audience to listen to the thoughts of her heart. As well as revealing that Lucie is filled with an abundance of love for people she
Madame Defarge is first introduced as “knitting”, until Dickens truly reveals her b taking her “knitting” one step further. As opposed to Lucie