The French Revolution In Charles Dickens's A Tale Of Two Cities

Once a person finds who he is and which path he would like to take in life, that idea he holds in mind remains the same does not fluctuate in the course of time. Before the French Revolution, the third estate, although poor and meagre, envisioned a world of equality and freedom and would reach that state by any means necessary. During the Revolution, this dream holds true as the revolutionaries fight for their rights and take down the first and second estates. The quote “Power, like a desolating pestilence, pollutes whate’er it touches,” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, is not a representation of the revolutionaries during this era of the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, seen by the static characterization of the revolutionaries.

Symbolizing the unity and support for the revolution, the candles placed in the windows during the château fire is one way Dickens supports

The beggars’ inclination for the commodities of the nobles and the anaphora of wine in the story foreshadows the revolution of the peasants against the French government, which was composed of high-ranked officials. In the crowded, hectic street of Saint Antoine after the shattering of a wine barrel in chapter 5 of book 1, a peasant with a tainted expression “…scrawled upon a wall with his finger dipped in muddy wine lees- BLOOD, so the time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones” (Dickens, 32). The writing on the wall by Gaspard prefigures that a gruesome revolt lead by people of lower rank, especially Defarge, will occur. Being treated unfairly, the commoners eventually decide to take control of the French authority and rule the country to improve the living conditions and equality. The red wine. Once this turmoil has begun, there will be no return since the peasants have already caused bloodshed that will be marked indelibly on their hands. Therefore, Dickens uses red wine as a metaphor to blood to foretell the ruthless killing of numerous rich people by citizens of lower status in order to institute justice in society.

Dickens’s makes his dislike clear through his negative portrayal of the aspects of evolution. The first reason that Dickens does not support the French Revolution

Dickens described the aristocracy was being unfair to the people and treat them in uncharitable ways. Dickens’ wrote about a aristocracy killed a man’s child and hanged the child high above to prove the symbol of the aristocracy. The aristocracy gave a gold coin to the man as the compensation after he killed the man’s child. Dickens disliked the way that the aristocracy used, but he also disliked the way revolutionaries used. From Dickens’ view, there was no real revolution because the revolutionaries were fighting in a barbaric way and only violence, but the Revolution had to be carried out. "I see Barsad, and Cly, Defarge… It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."(page 2932-293)In the last few paragraph, Dickens wrote down the importance of the French Revolution and the result that brought to the people.

The tale of two cities written by Charles Dickens is at the time period of the French revolution. But it is not understood if Charles likes the French revolution or if he’s against it? Charles Dickens sees the poverty in all the peasants, he sees that peasants are becoming solemn and deadly the people are. Charles sees that the rich treat the poor like garbage. The French revolution made France more disorganized then before. Charles agrees that something must be done, but does not agree with the violence of the French revolution.

Within both Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities and Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, there marks a time of social tension between the upper and lower classes; the bourgeoisie and the first and second estates of France dehumanize the proletariat and third estate, respectively. In contradiction to Marx’s belief that the bourgeoisie exploited art and literature to advocate capitalism, Dickens created A Tale of Two Cities to caution his own time period on the dangers of a stratified society through his use of motifs such as wine and the guillotine that foreshadow the coming revolutions. Because of Dickens employment of wine, he is able to warn the bourgeoisie of his time. For example, in the novel, Dickens suggests the coming war when a man “scrawled upon a wall with his finger dipped in muddy wine-lees–BLOOD” (Dickens 30).

The French Revolution was a bloody time period fueled by social injustices and the Enlightenment; this bloodshed was seen as justified in the eyes of the peasants and lower classes, in an attempt to end absolutism, as portrayed in A Tale of Two Cities. World War 1 shed a fair amount of blood throughout its span as well too, with the murders viewed as acceptable due to the popular phrase “it is good and sweet to die for your country”, as seen in All Quiet on the Western Front. In both instances, patriotism and murder’s ends could not justify the means, and only led to further instability and insatiable vengeance within the respective countries of France and Germany, which only created an infernal atmosphere in these settings.

The French Revolution was a period of anarchy that lasted for ten years in the late 1700s. Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities sixty years after the revolt, but he included many accurate historical facts in his work. Though this time was dominated by violence and danger, the revolutionaries also made many positive sacrifices. Dickens weaves a common thread through his novel by showing the connection of love and sacrifice. The concept that love has the power to make someone sacrifice what is important to them emerges through the characters of Miss Pross, Dr. Manette, and Sydney Carton.

Democracy is often defined as a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state through elected representatives, yet its deeper meaning goes far beyond its definition. It is a deceivingly broad term used to describe an imperfect system run by imperfect people where it is often hard to discern what is right and what is wrong. The intricacies of democracy are what make it a system that is both magnificent and vexing, which is evident in the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and the country of Venezuela. More specifically, democracy is so difficult because its participants have the freedom to practice extremism, the privilege to hold on to their principles regardless of negative impacts, and the right to assembly, a gateway to mob behaviour.

Dickens views on the way France was run focused a lot on the cruelty and harshness the government showed toward its people. The French ruling class was

Dickens displays his sympathy for the hungry peasants when he writes, “Not before dark night did the men and women come back to the children, wailing and breadless. Then, the miserable bakers’ shops were beset by long files of them, patiently waiting to buy bad bread; and while they waited with stomachs faint and empty...” (235). Throughout every stage of the revolution, the poor are always malnourished. When a barrel of wine spills onto the street of Saint Antoine, the poor fall on their knees to drink. The peasants are so famished that they resort to scooping wine out of the dirt; this scene illustrates how dire their situation is.

“it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair … we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…” asserts Charles Dickens in reference to the French Revolution (Dickens 1). This infamous rebellion began as a respectable, even gallant, cause: an uprising against the inhumane way the aristocracy treated the peasants. However, as long as man has the ability to hate, he is going to want revenge. This added emotion often fuels the will of the oppressed, causing them to be even more unmerciful and barbarous towards the ones who tormented and harassed them. Soon, they became even more frenzied and blood thirsty, transforming into animals obsessed

Dickens begins the novel with a pro-revolutionary tone. His regard for the idea of the upcoming and inevitable revolution in a positive light is reflected by the atmosphere he sets for the reader. Dickens is able to make his readers pity the peasantry and sympathize with them. Through inclusion of detail, Dickens portrays the plight of the lower class writing, “gloom [gathers] on the scene that [appears] more natural to it than sunshine” (21). This allows the reader to imply that the suffering of the lower class has fallen into a continuous pattern, and they can understand the need for revolution. Additionally, Dickens uses anaphora with the phrase “Hunger [is]” (21). This gives the reader a sense of how much hunger dominates and defines their lives, effectively making their

The French Revolution mainly took place in the city of Paris during the late 1700’s. The Revolution did not only affect the people of France, but also the citizens of England as well. The French Revolution is known as one of the most brutal and inhumane periods of history. If one studied the beliefs and views of the people involved at the time, one would see a reoccurring theme of “ being recalled to life”. Born from the world of literature, Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities takes a deeper look at the culture of the late 1700’s, in both England and France. Dickens uses the character of Lucie Manette to further examine one of the major themes presented in the novel, consisting of the belief of one being