Symbol Analysis
One of the recurring symbols in A Tale of Two Cities is Madame Defarge’s knitting. It is first seen in chapter five, when the wine is spilled all over the street in Saint Antoine, when she is in the beginning of her knitting project, and this scene is a beginning that shows the hunger and new revolutionary ideas that are to come. Also when she is knitting in the wine shop, Madame Defarge looks to be reserved and innocent, where, in fact, she is basically sentencing her victims to death by sewing their names into her knitting project. Outside, the townspeople also appear to be innocent, all that they want to do with the wine is drink it so that they can have some sustenance; all that they really are is hungry and poor. These two scenes, indoor and out, parallel each other, though both foreshadow the bad that is to come to France in the form of a revolution by the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. The fact that this bloodshed is the parallel to Madame Defarge’s knitting, it shows that, underneath, she is a very cold and bitter person, this stemming from her family’s mistreatment by the Marquis.
Quote Analysis
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...”
This quote is very important because it has great significance within the novel, but also within the early life of Charles Dickens. The novel is based during one of the most prosperous times in England, the beginning of the industrial revolution, and that was “the best of times;” whereas, in France, the French Revolution was starting, “the worst of times.” This passage also symbolizes the parallel that exists between the two cities, and the equivalents between many of the characters, such as Carton and Darnay and between Lucie and Madame Defarge, a rhythm that continues throughout the novel.
This quote is also meaningful in relation with Dickens’ early childhood. He was the second of eight children and his family lived comfortably, and usually beyond the means that his father could provide as a lower-ranked government worker. When Dickens was about eleven, his father was put into debtor’s prison, and Dickens’ was forced to go to work in a leather factory. This was in the early eighteen twenties, while the industrial revolution (“the best of times”) was going on around Dickens and his family, who were without a father to support them and very poor.
Thoughts
Though I did have a difficult time reading it, A Tale of Two Cities is a novel that is very easy to appreciate once you sat back and really looked at the plot and descriptions and literary devices that Dickens used. The passages that contained the repetition of a word, such as the two that used “stone” or “hunger,” gave amazing descriptions of both what was going on in the plot at that time, but it also foreshadowed coming events and gave characterizations. Overall, I did enjoy this novel when I had the chances to read it at a slower pace and take the time to digest small pieces of it at a time.
