Charles Dickens Sympathism In The French Revolution

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Charles Dickens brought a very interesting point of view to the French Revolution. While he was narrating both sides of the fight, he was also stating a warning for the readers to come. The first two books of this novel are in the peasants favor, depicting the fight they had to overcome every day. However, the third book is much more powerful. He clearly states how innocent and sad the aristocrats became as they were murdered inhumanely by the ravenous peasants. With these important details, it is shown that Charles Dickens did sympathize with the upper class citizens of the novel. To contradict this thesis, there are many examples from the first two books, ‘Recalled to Life’ and ‘The Golden Thread.’ The aristocrats are depicted as awful people …show more content…
Madame Defarge is an excellent example of this brutality. She gave no mercy to anyone, and was ecstatic to behead people to and fro. She carried a knife or gun on her at all times and delighted in arranging people’s death. She was a symbol of the peasants as a whole. This is much more horrific than the aristocrats, who weren’t nearly as relentless. Another exemplification of their maliciousness was the fact that the cross was replaced by a guillotine. The cross symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ gave up his life in order to safe humanity, dying upon the cross. The cross signifies hope, love, sacrifice, and life. When it is ultimately replaced by the guillotine in the third book of ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’ the portrayal of the monsters the revolution created becomes increasingly apparent. The guillotine represents the opposite of a cross; despair, hatred and death. The fact that a symbol of complete and utter malice becomes the center of their worlds in this novel shows how disgusted Charles Dickens is with the …show more content…
Charles Darnay was unfairly persecuted for a crime he didn’t commit, which is similar to Doctor Manette’s situation. However, the time frames in which these events occurred are utterly different. While Doctor Manette was imprisoned before the Revolution, Darnay was captured after. Their circumstances are very contrasting as well. Doctor Manette was never really going to be killed; he seemed to always be on the path to freedom. It wasn’t a painful and hard experience to release him from his prison cell, and that marks the difference between the time of the upper class citizens and the peasants Charles Darnay was meant to be executed. They didn’t care about what crime he committed. Everyone wanted to see his head chopped off by their angelic guillotine. To expand on this, the unfairness of Charles Darnay’s capture and his planned death became bestowed upon Sydney Carton. The death of Sydney Carton was unjust and sad, because he sacrificed his entire being for Lucie, but the peasants wouldn’t care either

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