Theme of Violence in A Tale of Two Cities - Essay Example

Theme of Violence in A Tale of Two Cities Published in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens’ masterpieces, in which he approaches the French revolution as a historical subject, but with some ambivalence. This novel is best seen as a social protest, exposing the oppression of the poor classes and the justifiable unrest that led to the start of the French Revolution. While Dickens believes that the revolution had a valid cause, he was deeply concerned about the evil of the revolutionaries themselves. As such, Dickens develops great sympathy with the plight of the French poor class and peasantry, emphasizing their need for liberation. Consequently, violence in its various forms is one of the major themes throughout the whole novel. Violence, for Dickens, can take various shapes, but one of the most vicious forms of violence is, according to him, is oppression. Dickens uses his literary devices, such as language, style, characterization, and figures of speech, to expose the dilemma of French workers and peasant, in being oppressed and badly treated by the aristocratic class. As for characterization, Dickens created his characters, in A Tale of Two Cities, to embody real people at the time of the revolution and to personify concepts of violence and oppression ("A Tale of Two Cities "). An example of these characters is Madame Defarge, wife of a wine-shop keeper. She is portrayed hating the aristocracy, as a symbol of the anger of the poor class and hatred towards the aristocratic class. Her knitting constitutes a wide range of symbols that are related to the tensioned relationship between the poor and aristocratic classes. Metaphorically speaking, within her needlework, Madame Defarge stitches a list of names of all those, who are condemned to die in the name of the creation of a new republic. This knitting represents the stealthy vengefulness of the revolutionaries, despite their possible noble aims. In that sense, Madame Defarge symbolizes the peasantry class, who are victimized by their oppressors, while they are really humble personalities (Meltem). Another character that is perfectly portrayed by Dickens to represent the vicious side of the aristocratic class is Charles Darnay, the self-exiled nephew of French nobility, and his wife, Lucie Manette, daughter of Dr. Alexandre Manette (Karnicky). Therefore, through the perfect depiction of characters and the concepts they symbolize, Dickens succeeds in exposing the difficult time which European people witnessed just after the revolution. In addition to characterization, style and language are another important literary tools that are used by Dickens to expose violence and oppression that characterized Years 1793 and 1794, which were called "The Reign of Terror." During this period, thousands of people were sentenced to death in unfair trials and many more people were imprisoned. The violence and chaos of this period was perfectly and eloquently described in the following passage:   "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, 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 had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so. far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."  ("A Tale of Two Cities ") The paradox in expressions such as ‘wisdom’ and ‘foolishness,’ ‘light’ and ‘darkness,’ and ‘hope’ and ‘despair’ is used eloquently by Dickens to expose the violence and oppression associated with the French revolution despite its noble and valid causes. Consequently, Dickens' well portrayal of the theme of violence and its sub-themes of oppression and hatred are traced in various literary aspects. As such, style is one of the literary tools that are used by Dickens to illustrate and convey the message that valance and oppression were aspects that characterized the French revolution. Actually, A Tale of Two Cities is characterized by the cleverness in its descriptive passages, which gives the reader every little detail to create the atmosphere that accompanies the French revolution. Examples of such passages include the passage, in which Dickens describes the dawn of the terrible outbreak in the journey of the marquis from Paris to his countryseat and the passage about the London crowd at the funeral of the spy (Forster). Thus, the highly elegant artistic style of Dickens helps him clearly express his views about violence that characterized the French revolution. Moreover, one of the beautiful scenes, which are described eloquently in perfect and minute detail to expose the idea of violence is Dickens' description of Carton's death. Carton suffers to be mistaken for another, and gives his life so that the girl he loves may be happy with that other. This secret was known only to a poor little girl in the tumbrel that takes them to the scaffold, who at the moment has discovered it, and whom it strengthens also to die. So, this incident is beautifully and masterfully told by Dickens. Many critics have been fascinated by Dickens' clever and eloquent depiction of this scene. In praise of this scene, one of the American critics writes: "its portrayal of the noble-natured castaway makes it almost a peerless book in modern literature, and gives it a place among the highest examples of literary art" (Forster). In conclusion, it can be said that Dickens, in A Tale of Two Cities, succeeds in portraying and analyzing the concept of violence and its various forms through the detailed and clear comparison between England and pre-revolutionary France. While he traced many similarities between the two countries, Dickens also alludes to his own time: "the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only" (Meltem). Works Cited Forster, John. "The Life of Charles Dickens" 02 Oct. 2011. Karnicky, J. "Tale of Two Cities: Introduction." 02 Oct. 2011. "A Tale of Two Cities." 02 Oct. 2011. Meltem, Kiran-Raw. "The French Revolution in the Popular Imagination: A Tale of Two Cities." Mar. 1998. 02 Oct. 2011. May 19th, 2003 Read More