Justice In A Tale Of Two Cities

Justice is something that people use to get revenge when they have been wronged, and should be used in order to fairly punish an unacceptable action instead of getting back at someone with the same action. In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, characters seek revenge by inflicting the same pain upon the person who has done them wrong. By doing this, Dickens shows his audience the actions of the French are similar to the conflict that was happening in England at the time. Also during the time of Charles Dickens was the transition from Romanticism into the Victorian era. Because his writing was affected by both, this novel has a surfeit of Biblical references and realism, along with dramatic scenes used to emphasize Lucie’s perfection, …show more content…
Before the French Revolution, the peasants’ goal is to survive from the aristocracy, and Charles Dickens describes the harsh life of the lower class with perfection. As the Marquis travels through his land, a boy is killed by his carriage. A humane reaction of the Marquis would try to help boy’s father in any way he could or at the least be apologetic towards the boy’s family; however, the Marquis, acting as most aristocrats did at this time, criticized the commoners by exclaiming that “It is extraordinary to [him] … that [the commoners] cannot take care of [themselves] and [their] children,” (84). A ridiculous and bizarre response by the Marquis sets an example of aristocrats and causes the reader to sympathize with the commoners. Although, during the revolution the roles are reversed so that the peasants are acting this way towards the aristocrats. Despite the offensive and terrible ways the peasants were treated, when they have an opportunity to do the same to the aristocrats they take full advantage. In the closing paragraphs of A Tale of two Cities, Dickens explains that “along the Paris streets, the death-carts rumble, hollow and harsh. Six tumbrils carry the day’s wine to La Guillotine”(288). His parting message implies that everywhere one looked in Paris reminded them of death and La Guillotine. Planning to change the ways of equality throughout social classes, the …show more content…
The factor of these injustices that makes them so pointless is that the result of them does not fix any problems that the characters have, and because Dickens writing has accurate historical evidence, it highlights the corruption in France that has the potential to move to England. Also, Dickens being a writer influenced by Romanticism and the Victorian era gives him the privilege to use realism and dramatic, over the top scenes to stress the desperation and struggles that were experienced in France. Overall, A Tale of Two Cities captures the unjust situations families are put in along with the shocking consequences people will put their enemies through just to feel as if they have brought them to justice, but in reality they have created more