A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel that portrays the concept of duality as a significant component. The story interchanges settings between eighteenth-century London and Paris in the course of the French Revolution. One of the most important examples of duality occurs between the characters Lucie and Madame Defarge. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses Lucie and Madame Defarge to represent the idea that love and hate are both strong forces through their link to mythology, their motivation to help or hurt, and their love for family.
To begin, the author associates Lucie and Madame Defarge with mythology to help the reader understand that love is a more powerful force than hate. For instance, Lucie is represented as a “golden thread” because her love can not be cut and she weaves through people’s lives, tying them all together. She can be compared to the Fates, who control the “threads” of human lives. Lucie sat, “ever busily winding the golden thread …show more content…
Lucie is motivated by love to support all of those around her. Sydney Carton revealed his secret love for her and admitted that, “I have had unformed ideas of striving afresh, beginning anew, shaking off sloth and sensuality, and fighting out the abandoned fight… I wish you to know that you inspired it,” (p. 154). Lucie is never hesitant to nurture and listen to the ones she loves. However, Madame Defarge is motivated by hatred and the appetite to get revenge for her family’s suffering. She says, “I care nothing for this Doctor… The Evremonde people are to be exterminated, and the wife and child must follow the husband and father,” (p. 362). As a result of her childhood misfortune, Madame Defarge behaves out of resentment. The characters are driven to act from powerful opposing forces to represent the strength that both women have. Neither is meant to seem stronger than the other in this
To begin, the author associates Lucie and Madame Defarge with mythology to help the reader understand that love is a more powerful force than hate. For instance, Lucie is represented as a “golden thread” because her love can not be cut and she weaves through people’s lives, tying them all together. She can be compared to the Fates, who control the “threads” of human lives. Lucie sat, “ever busily winding the golden thread …show more content…
Lucie is motivated by love to support all of those around her. Sydney Carton revealed his secret love for her and admitted that, “I have had unformed ideas of striving afresh, beginning anew, shaking off sloth and sensuality, and fighting out the abandoned fight… I wish you to know that you inspired it,” (p. 154). Lucie is never hesitant to nurture and listen to the ones she loves. However, Madame Defarge is motivated by hatred and the appetite to get revenge for her family’s suffering. She says, “I care nothing for this Doctor… The Evremonde people are to be exterminated, and the wife and child must follow the husband and father,” (p. 362). As a result of her childhood misfortune, Madame Defarge behaves out of resentment. The characters are driven to act from powerful opposing forces to represent the strength that both women have. Neither is meant to seem stronger than the other in this