Violent Attributes of the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dicken

Who murders a child on the street with no feelings of remorse for his actions, the only thing he does is toss a coin to the father of the boy he murdered. He is more concerned about possible damages to his property that about the life of a commoner “It's extraordinary to me that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children. One or the other of you is forever in the way. How do you know what injury you might do to my horses?”(Dickens 2.7.5) .He also does not understand or can even imagine the struggles that the people of France go through everyday and is unwilling to do anything about it even though the problem is extremely present in the French society depicted in A Tale of Two Cities.

Monseigneur drives through st. antoine and runs over a kid, only to throw out a few gold coins to the father shows the carelessness of a peasants life and the enormous gap between poor and royalty and shows a cruel regard for life. the false sense of power that he believes he has, that money can buy life is shallow and beyond

Was the French Revolution truly revolutionary? Dickens expressed in A Tale of Two Cities that it only changed who the oppressors were. I argue this is false as the Revolution set France on a path towards democracy, albeit a turbulent one. The Napoleonic Era also made strides towards this, thanks to Napoleon. Although he did use the people to fight in the Napoleonic Wars and increased tyrannical rule as his reign progressed, he made laws that brought France closer to democracy and balanced France’s budget. Through comparison of the two times, one can see the obvious injustice and oppression that complemented France before the

This book is historically significant because it used the perspective of the French Revolution to reflect on social inequality in Britain. As Dickens put it at the beginning of his novel “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” While the clergy and nobles in France were getting richer and didn’t have to pay taxes, the poor were starving from

There have been many outbreaks of violence throughout history, from ancient massacres to today’s disorders. Each act is brought upon by a disagreement in the level of justice every person receives. One of the largest eruptions of revenge is the French Revolution, where much of the lower class grew tired of the cruel behavior of the aristocracy and decided to take action against them, resulting in a chaotic massacre that eventually changed France to benefit the country.Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, takes place in the French Revolution, written as a warning for the people of England to show what would happen if the awful conditions of England continued to worsen, and how such barbarity could affect different types of people. Dickens’

When one first thinks about the French Revolution, what comes to mind are often themes of violence, despair, and revenge. However, if one examines the motives behind the revolt, one discovers the underlying themes of sacrifice and love. In Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, the portrayal of the French Revolution includes more underlying themes than just violence and revenge. Different problems throughout the novel were fixed through someone’s selflessness. The use of sacrifice in various situations throughout the novel adds much more emotion and poignancy to the plot and adds to a more powerful and complex ending.

Different places all around the world become parts of everyone's everyday life. Such as stores, home, counties, states, or even nations. Where people spend their time, also, seems to be what molds them into what they become, and how the act. A country, no matter the size, can mold people too. France and England are the two countries that play a role in Charles Dickens novel, The Tale of Two Cities. In 1775 France and England are both struggling in keeping the peace in their country, and stopping it from falling apart. Both countries were filled with destruction from the people who inhabitant. In France, there was mass chaos. Where violence was not very rare, and the murderous guillotine, a killing machine, becomes popular, and the country

Charles Dickens view of the poor is that they are rich with happiness even if they don't have a lot of money. The happiness is from not having greed, which causing driving people away, having no friends. Also you will be forgotten a lot faster after dying, making it so you have almost no lasting affect in the world. The character Bob Crachet is a perfect example of this idea, he is poor, but through the hard times he keeps a smile on his face and wishes good will on those richer then

If I knew which rascal threw at the carriage, […] he should be crushed under the wheels.” (Dickens 85) The actions and words of the Marquis vividly portray his character: a self-centered, iniquitous, snob who has zero interest in the welfare of others. Another specimen chronicled by the tale of the aristocrat’s utter indifference to the common people’s plight is the lifestyle of the Monseigneur. While the masses were starving from lack of food and poverty, the Monseigneur lived as though he were a king. “Yes. It took four men, all four ablaze 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 79) Therefore, we see that the Monseigneur, too, had much the same attitude as the Marquis, and, as can be reasonably inferred, he same attitude as the vast majority of the other aristocrats. Consequently, we can conclude that nearly all of the aristocrats were corrupt in their ways.

Monsieur the Marquis is a nobleman who Dickens uses to represent the first estate class. Riding his coach through town, the Marquis “drove as if he were charging an enemy”, giving no care to the peasants narrowly escaping the path of his carriage (Dickens 110). This scene illustrates the altitude of the aristocracy for they did what they pleased not giving a care for who they stepped over. As he charged through the dark streets Monsieur slaughters a child, crushing him under the horses and wheels of his carriage. Obviously, the parents and bystanders are furious, however Monsieur sees no problem, in fact he even says “ It is extraordinary to me...That you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children” dismissing his own fault and simply paying the parents of the dead child to “make up” for their loss (Dickens 111). Dickens uses many similar, exaggerated scenarios such as this one throughout the story. These are used to further prove his point and to tell his readers about the arrogance of the upper classes not only in France, but also relate the story back to the reader’s lives in

The words that Dickens uses in that quote are cruel towards the poor showing that Charles Dickens often portrays the rich as cruel and uncaring towards the lower classes. Some of the common themes in Charles Dickens books are, a higher class child placed in a lower class situation and the rich being disgusted by the poor. Dickens family situation was less than ideal but his experiences only increased his pity for the poor. Did you know Dickens would walk ten to twenty miles a day inside the city? Charles Dickens was always trying to look out for the poor. The world of Charles Dickens is best understood through his own life, industrialized

The Victorian idea of a gentleman during these times is based on birth, apparel, social status and wealth. On the other hand, Dickens portrays a gentleman as someone of generosity, humility, and kindness. The early life and the upbringing of Dickens allowed him to understand the perspective of those of low social standing and the effect of their poor upbringing keeping them in the lower social class. Dickens’ Great Expectations portrays a very class-mobile society in which fortunes can be made and lost equally suddenly, while by contrast Dickens portrayed the extraordinarily varied ways in small differences of dress, accent, and action by which people present themselves and act out their class identities and aspirations.

The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte. The King of France, Louis XVI was overthrown in a popular rebellion but France, was stricken by financial problems for over a century along with Great Britain. Charles Dickens showed comparison with the French Revolution in The Tale of Two Cities. This can be seen through the start of the French Revolution, life during the Revolution, how Louis XVI affected France, and crime and punishment throughout the novel along with the actual events in history during the time era.

Historical information about the Setting: The events in the book occur in England around the start of the 19th century, otherwise known as pre- and early Victorian era. Around this time, there were many societal changes occurring, such as the Industrial Revolution (which had begun near the end of the 18th century). These new changes put capitalism and manufacturing under the light of a new, greater wealth. The gap between the wealthy and the poor was noticeably large. The story begins in a rather poor, marsh country. Later, the story develops to take readers into a different class of people, thus giving us insight on other members of society during the same time range. Members of the higher class of society were expected to have good

Today, the world constantly revolves around money. The endless cycle of working for money, saving money, and spending money has become an almost mandatory aspect of life. One can hardly turn a corner these days without seeing an advertisement endorsing the purchase of a particular item. These are signs that greed has become more and more present in contemporary society. It is commonly observed that the more money someone possesses, the more they want to obtain. They tend to become greedier and greedier, until they reach an ultimate point where there is complete disregard for others in their pursuit a solution to their problems through wealth. Dickens saw this trend very clearly, and manipulated different characters in Great Expectations, such as Joe and Miss Havisham, to show the theme that money is not what defines a person, but rather, true inner wealth is calculated by a person’s actions and relationship to others.