Metaphors can be used to enhance one’s perception about an unknown topic. Metaphor contributes to the theme of revolution in A Tale of Two Cities by giving the reader a better understanding of the reality and violence of the revolution.
The broken wine cask in book one chapter five is the first major extended metaphor describing the desperation for a revolution. In this chapter, a cask of wine is dropped and when it reached the ground “the hoops had burst and it [...] shattered like a walnut-shell ”(28). The hoops holding the wine inside the cask is a metaphor for the french aristocracy keeping the third estate down in hardship and poverty. This metaphor also foreshadows that the third estate will eventually get out of its state and take …show more content…
Madame Defarge is symbolically the mastermind of the revolution in a Tale of Two Cities. Earlier in her life, Madame Defarge’s sister was raped and killed by two brothers of the aristocracy. Not only did her sister die, but her unborn baby died, her brother died and her father died. It was a traumatic event that moved her to be for the revolution. Ever since that ordeal, Madame Defarge kept track of all the members of the aristocracy that she wanted to die; she blamed the entire class for the death of her family. Eventually, Madame Defarge got the brilliant idea to keep track of all the aristocracy members that have wronged her in her knitting hobby. She would slyly engrave their names into what she was making, that way when the revolution began the revolutionaries would know who to go after. This hit list that Madame Defarge made is constantly growing throughout a Tale of Two Cities. It is obvious that Madame Defarge is creating a hit list when she is talking to John Barsad, a man she knows is a spy for the government. While she is talking to him she thinks “Stay long enough, and I shall knit ‘Barsad’ before you go” (183). The metaphor of Madame Defarge knitting is important because it shows that the revolution didn’t happen overnight. It took many years of delicate, secret planning for the revolution to occur successfully. This periodic metaphor makes it crystal clear to the reader how the revolution was carefully and slowly planned. This metaphor is also an allusion to greek mythology. In greek mythology, the Fates are three unnatural creatures that control the thread of life. When someone dies, the Fates cut their portion of the thread of life out and when someone is born the Fates add their strand of string into the thread of life. Madame Defarge’s knitting hobby is so similar to the cutting and joining of a thread
The broken wine cask in book one chapter five is the first major extended metaphor describing the desperation for a revolution. In this chapter, a cask of wine is dropped and when it reached the ground “the hoops had burst and it [...] shattered like a walnut-shell ”(28). The hoops holding the wine inside the cask is a metaphor for the french aristocracy keeping the third estate down in hardship and poverty. This metaphor also foreshadows that the third estate will eventually get out of its state and take …show more content…
Madame Defarge is symbolically the mastermind of the revolution in a Tale of Two Cities. Earlier in her life, Madame Defarge’s sister was raped and killed by two brothers of the aristocracy. Not only did her sister die, but her unborn baby died, her brother died and her father died. It was a traumatic event that moved her to be for the revolution. Ever since that ordeal, Madame Defarge kept track of all the members of the aristocracy that she wanted to die; she blamed the entire class for the death of her family. Eventually, Madame Defarge got the brilliant idea to keep track of all the aristocracy members that have wronged her in her knitting hobby. She would slyly engrave their names into what she was making, that way when the revolution began the revolutionaries would know who to go after. This hit list that Madame Defarge made is constantly growing throughout a Tale of Two Cities. It is obvious that Madame Defarge is creating a hit list when she is talking to John Barsad, a man she knows is a spy for the government. While she is talking to him she thinks “Stay long enough, and I shall knit ‘Barsad’ before you go” (183). The metaphor of Madame Defarge knitting is important because it shows that the revolution didn’t happen overnight. It took many years of delicate, secret planning for the revolution to occur successfully. This periodic metaphor makes it crystal clear to the reader how the revolution was carefully and slowly planned. This metaphor is also an allusion to greek mythology. In greek mythology, the Fates are three unnatural creatures that control the thread of life. When someone dies, the Fates cut their portion of the thread of life out and when someone is born the Fates add their strand of string into the thread of life. Madame Defarge’s knitting hobby is so similar to the cutting and joining of a thread