The roles of important characters in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens are significant and symbolic. Among them, Madame Defarge represents the cruelty and hatred prevalent during the French Revolution. On the other hand, Sydney Carton, the central character in the novel, undergoes a transformation from being an unmotivated, alcoholic attorney to performing the ultimate act of kindness by sacrificing his own life to save his friends.
The final scene of the novel introduces “The Seamstress,” who serves as another example of the revolutionaries’ injustice and helps Carton in his Christ-like sacrifice. These three characters, “The Seamstress,” Madame Defarge, and Carton, play significant roles by exemplifying the novel’s main themes: violence and cruelty, death and resurrection, and sacrifice. Madame Defarge represents the theme of violence and cruelty.
Madame Defarge lives above her husband’s wine shop, knitting the names of those to be executed in the upcoming revolution. This seemingly innocent act of knitting is perverted by Madame Defarge as a symbol of her thirst for revenge. She carefully stitches and designs her own symbols which will serve as a reminder of the people marked for death (132). The deep desire for bloodshed by Madame Defarge and her fellow revolutionaries stems from the merciless oppression suffered by the French peasants at the hands of the aristocrats.
Similarly, Madame Defarge displays hostility towards Charles Darnay, a key character in the novel. Darnay, a French aristocrat, moved to England and disowned his Evremonde name due to the horrific acts committed by his uncle and father. These acts serve as the catalyst for Madame Defarge’s aggression, as one of the Evremonde brothers raped her sister and fatally wounded her brother when he tried to intervene. Doctor Manette documents this incident after being summoned to aid the Evremonde brothers, but tragically, Madame Defarge’s siblings do not survive.
Observing the deaths of her two siblings, Defarge develops an eternal hatred for the aristocracy. As a result, Defarge has Darnay arrested on two different charges. It is on the second charge that he is ultimately sentenced to death because of his aristocratic background, which makes him an enemy of the Republic and a notorious oppressor of the People (258). This death sentence is unjust because Darnay has actually renounced the Evremonde name. Instead, it is a manifestation of Madame Defarge’s thirst for blood, which further exemplifies her cruelty.
Madame Defarge is implicated in the cruelty of the French Revolution in several instances. First, she witnesses the demise of her siblings at the hands of the Evremondes, which includes the brutal mistreatment of servants at their country estate and the subsequent violation of her sister. Furthermore, the younger Evremonde brother experiences guilt for killing Defarge’s brother, not due to the moral reprehensibility of taking another man’s life, but because it signifies dishonor for an aristocrat to engage in combat with a peasant, especially a young peasant boy (255).
This passage highlights both the aristocrats’ preference for pride over the lives of peasants and Madame Defarge’s cruel nature, which is comparable to that of the Evremondes. Madame Defarge demonstrates her cruelty by taking part in the killing of Foulon, a wealthy aristocrat who callously suggested that starving people could survive by eating grass and had feigned his own death to evade execution, but was discovered hiding in the countryside (171). When Madame Defarge enters the room where Foulon is being held, she taunts him by placing “a bunch of grass upon his back” and declaring, “‘Let him eat now!'” (172).
Madame Defarge derives pleasure from the affliction of an aristocrat who is detested solely because of his disdainful remark about the impoverished. However, her malice extends further as she forcefully pulls Foulon down and then forcefully propels him up the stairs of the edifice. At times, she forces him onto his knees, and at others, on his feet. He is roughly handled, struck, and suffocated by numerous hands that force clumps of grass and straw into his face. Eventually, Defarge reaches a lamppost and makes an attempt to hang Foulon; however, the rope breaks twice causing him to emit cries of distress before being apprehended. Finally, the third rope proves compassionate by firmly holding him in place.
The passage highlights the cruel nature of Madame Defarge, as demonstrated by her involvement in a poorly executed execution. During this event, Foulon is hanged multiple times, with the rope consistently breaking, revealing Madame Defarge’s cruelty. In contrast to Madame Defarge’s thirst for bloodshed, the character of Sydney Carton is introduced. Initially lacking motivation and seeing himself as worthless, Carton undergoes a transformation towards the end of the novel when he takes Darnay’s place at the guillotine and finds purpose in this sacrifice. At the outset of the story, Carton encounters Darnay and feels envious of him because he views Darnay as a symbol of what his own life could have been.
Throughout the novel, Carton undergoes a transformation where he no longer envies Darnay. Instead, he is willing to sacrifice himself for the happiness of Darnay, Lucie, and their child. This sacrifice ultimately leads to Carton taking on a Christ-like persona towards the end of the story. In the final chapter, his interaction with the seamstress demonstrates this transformation as he affectionately refers to her as “dear child” and “gentle sister.” Additionally, his quote from the Bible: “I am the Resurrection and the Life […] and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (291-2) further reinforces his resemblance to Christ.
Furthermore, the narrator states that numerous individuals “added that he looked sublime and prophetic” (292). This passage clearly demonstrates Dickens’ intention to draw a comparison between the demise of Christ and Carton’s execution. While one can argue that Carton leads a pitiful existence and his death may not seem like a significant sacrifice, it brings peace to the other main characters. The introduction of the seamstress takes place in the final three pages of the book. Through her character, Dickens delivers his final statement on the unfairness of the revolutionaries.
The young, poor, innocent woman who is a seamstress has been condemned to death by Madame Defarge. This illustrates that Madame Defarge’s thirst for blood extends beyond the aristocracy and affects the peasants who supported her in their quest for freedom. The seamstress serves as a symbol through which Carton assumes a Christ-like persona, with the suggestion that he has been sent by the heavens to save her. Dickens effectively conveys his three main themes through these three characters.
Madame Defarge represents the intense brutality during the French Revolution as evident in her brutal murder of Foulon and her relentless pursuit of vengeance for the deaths of her siblings by trying to have Darnay executed. On the other hand, Sydney symbolizes rebirth and self-sacrifice through his Christ-like sacrifice and his conversation with the seamstress, where he consoles her and helps her find peace in death.
Works Cited: Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1999. Print.
