Defiance In The French Revolution

The initial impulse of the French revolution was destructive. For those who lived through all, or even part, of these vast upheavals, the shock was overwhelming. Maximilien Robespierre was a proud disciple of the enlightenment and declared that no political writer had foreseen this revolution. Robespierre (1758-1794) was one of the leaders of the Committee of Public Safety, the effective governing body of France during the most radical phase of the revolution. The leaders of this revolution attempted, perhaps more than any other revolutionary leaders before or since, to totally transform human society in every way. (Supreme Being) Although Robespierre began with patriotic intent he still was the face of the Reign of Terror and was viewed as being a radical person.

Juxtaposition is also used to further stress the socioeconomic disparities during the French Revolution by comparing the anguish of peasants and the excessiveness of the aristocrats in an even more extreme light. In Book the First, chapter five, Dickens writes, “All the people within reach had suspended their business, or their idleness, to run to the spot and drink the wine…Others, men and women, dipped in the puddles with little mugs of mutilated earthenware, or even with handkerchiefs from women’s heads, which were squeezed dry into infants’ mouths” (27). This description of the broken wine cask in front of the wine shop is meant to illustrate the true hunger and squalid living conditions of the peasants, who are so desperate for nourishment that they will feed their babies vile wine through dirty rags. This scene was juxtaposed with a description from Book the Second, chapter seven. In this chapter, the hot chocolate drinking process of a noble is described and “It took four men, all four a-blaze with gorgeous decoration, and the chief of them unable to exist with fewer than two gold watches in his pocket, emulative of the noble and chaste fashion set by Monseigneur, to conduct the happy chocolate to Monseigneur’s lips” (109). This over

This becomes the criticism which brought forth the revolution due to the disapproval of aristocracy. This system seem to be ineffective as Dickens portrays them only caring for themselves while brushing off anyone who come to them for help. The social and political turmoil is shown to be unjust due to the large gap between the poverty of majority and the lavish Monseigneur. While Marquis ran over a child he is more concern with his carriage rather than someone child. He throws a bag of coin like nothing happened, a payment for the dead child. This type of mistreatment causes the pleasant to hate on the aristocracy and royalty leading towards

Charles Dickens also uses satire to show the ridiculousness and selfishness of nobility. It is displayed when Monseigneur is receiving his hot chocolate: “Yes. It took four men, all four a-blaze with gorgeous decoration, and the chief of them unable to exist with fewer than two gold watches in his pocket, emulative of the noble and chaste fashion set by Monseigneur, to conduct the happy chocolate to Monseigneur's lips,” (Dickens, Page 108). This shows that the nobles were so extravagantly ridiculous, that they required four men simply to help them prepare and drink hot chocolate, whereas any commoner could do it all themselves. An example of selfishness in nobility from A Tale of Two Cities is when Monseigneur states his

Was this Violent Period During the French Revolution Necessary? Robespierre, the most famous French Revolutionary, believes that the citizens of France should extinguish the threats inside and outside of France or meet one’s death. Began in 1789, the French Revolution began as an attempt to form a new government in France. This gruesome period, that lasted about ten to eleven months, was the Reign of Terror.

Dickens uses the example of Marquis to show the average aristocrat in French society and how the struggles of the peasants and eventual uprising is justified because of their actions and lack of compassion. However when the peasants show the same cruelness towards the aristocracy they themselves experienced, Dickens loyalty towards the peasants clearly changes and he shows that he is no more a supporter of the peasants then he is of the aristocracy.(source

In “A Tale of Two Cities”, during the French Revolution, the social classes had two extremes. Monseigneur, of the richer class, stays in an extravagant suite. This is shown in Dickens quote, speaking of Monseigneur, “Monseigneur was in his inner room, his sanctuary of sanctuaries, the Holiest of Holiests to the

First, in a scene in Saint Antoine, a large cask of wine was dropped and broken on the streets. Everybody stopped what they were doing and went to drink the wine on the ground. Peoples’ hands, clothes, and the roads were all stained. The word, “BLOOD,” was also written on a wall with wine (Dickens 20). The wine in this scene symbolizes the blood of the revolution and foreshadows the entrance of the revolution. While the cask spilled, happiness and the thought of change went through all the minds of the poor in Saint Antoine. The mob formation of all the peasants to get wine or, “blood,” shows us the hatred they have for the wealthy class and how much they want the revolution to come. Later on in the book, Dickens uses echoing footsteps to foreshadow the upcoming revolution. As Lucie sits in the corner of a parlor, as she had done for six years, she hears footsteps from people downstairs, but she also hears echoes coming from far away. She wonders if the echoes are about her or her family, but then she says, “There were other echoes, from a distance, that rumbled menacingly in the corner all through this space of time. And it was now, about little Lucie's sixth birthday, that they began to have an awful sound, as of a great storm in France with a dreadful sea rising(Dickens 164).” Echoes of happiness and family were around; however, there were also

The word disobedience is generally associated with a rebellious action that results in a lamentable consequence; however, upon a closer inspection, the outcome rather promotes social progress. Irish author Oscar Wilde publicizes in 1891 his observation that “progress has been made… through rebellion.” True to his claim, various historical events where a group of people was defiant resulted in a major improvement for society. The American Revolution, the nonviolent movements led by Martin Luther King Jr., and the French Revolution are revolutionary events that would have not succeeded without disobedience.

Throughout time society as a whole has greatly changed and developed to what it is now. One major part of the society is the social class structure. In Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, Dickens expresses his beliefs on that structure in many ways. Since Dickens wrote the novel during the Victorian Era it reflects and evaluates the beliefs and values of the time. For the most part ones place in the social order was based on wealth and the reputation of ones relations. In general, the member of the higher class were unhappy and those in the lower class were joyful. He does this to show that wealth isn’t everything. He continues to display that idea throughout the book and he displays its

In the book, Dickens portrays the people as having the hatred necessary for mob violence. Immediately, the book shows us an example how such hatred was created. When a youth’s hands were chopped off, “tongue torn out with pincers” and “his body burned alive” it shows the violence and torture that led to the French revolution. The youth represents the weak in French society

Dickens description of Monseigneur leaves the reader apalled at his obvious and pointless display of wealth, for “Monseigneur could swallow a great many things with ease, and was by some few sullen minds supposed to be rather rapidly swallowing France; but, his morning’s chocolate could not so much as get into the throat of Monseigneur, without the aid of four strong men besides the Cook!” (Dickens 105). After learning of the despairing conditions of the peasantry, one cannot help but be nauseated at the outrageous pomp and circumstance of a noble drinking chocolate while the poor French peoples are starving. On top of this, the nobles who were undeserving of their numerous positions, as there were“Military officers destitute of military knowledge; naval officers with no idea of a ship...brazen ecclesiastics...with sensual eyes, loose tongues, and looser lives; all totally unfit for their several callings” (Dickens 107). The higher class did not deserve their powerful jobs and were grossly unqualified for them, and thus Dickens calls them out on it by writing in a largely satirical

Throughout Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses many literary devices to enhance and deepen the meaning of the novel. Dickens uses satire to give the book a little bit of humor, metaphors to help give the reader a better understanding of what was happening in France, and finally uses symbolism multiple times to give certain topics deeper meaning in the story. During the book, Dickens describes certain people in the aristocracy in France like the Monseigneur. When describing this man, Dickens gives examples of his daily lifestyle and his cook was “unable to exist with fewer than two gold watches in his pocket”(Dickens 105). In this passage, Dickens is using a joke to prove of out of hand the upper class was in France before the revolution.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité was the cry of freedom that countless people used to propel them through, and to the end of the French Revolution. This long period of social, political and economic change in France lasted 10 years, starting in 1798 and ended with Napoleon Bonaparte. The French Revolution greatly affected all of Europe at the time and continues to represent the embodiment of revolution to this day. This constant struggle between the heavily taxed, burdened, and unrepresented third estate and those higher created an environment of monumental change for everyone. In the years leading up to the French Revolution, new beliefs and ideas were reaching every corner of Europe creating the thought that men should live free of oppression. However, in France the leader Louis XVI lead like a tyrant leaving the people impoverish and angry. Through the analysation of numerous circumstance present during the Ancien Régime, such as an inferior fiscal leadership, massive debt, and the forthcoming of new ideas during the Enlightened period, it can be concluded that the means for this revolution were justified as it is in our essence to revolt for a change.

Revolutions are a common occurrence throughout world history. With the amount of revolutions in history, there are those that get lost and those that are the most remembered or well known. One of the well known revolutions is the French Revolution which occurred in the years 1789 to 1799. Before the French Revolution, France was ruled by an absolute monarchy, this meaning that one ruler had the supreme authority and that said authority was not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs, a definition given by wikipedia.com and the feudal system, which was a system that said a peasant or worker would receive a piece of land in return for serving under a king, a definition given by vocabulary.com. Those who opposed the, then