Essay on A Tale of Two Cities: Madame Defarge

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Madame Thérèse Defarge When terrible things happen to good people there are two paths that can be traveled: forgiveness can be offered, or vengeance can be pursued. Madame Defarge from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, takes the latter of these two options and religiously lives by it, seeking revenge on the cruel heartless aristocracy plaguing France with famine, poverty, and oppression; however, the reasons behind her malice force the reader to understand why she performs such hateful acts during the French Revolution. Madame Defarge, though intelligent, is consumed by her hatred and has transformed into something just as bad, if not worse, than the members of the aristocracy. Madame Defarge will stop at nothing to see the …show more content…
Once Charles’ uncle, the Marquis, was stabbed and killed, she should have been satisfied that her family’s deaths were avenged. Instead that is not enough, and she states, “tell Wind and Fire where to stop… but don’t tell me” (346). She has a personal vendetta against Lucie and must see her die. This eventually leads to Madame Defarge’s death when her gun fires and accidentally shoots her in the struggle against Ms. Pross while she is desperately seeking to frame Lucie for lamenting over the death of her lost husband. Madame Defarge is so obsessed with the idea that “the Evrémonde people are to be exterminated, and the wife and child must follow the husband and father” (364) that she becomes just as bad as the aristocracy. She wholeheartedly believes that Little Lucie, Lucie and Charles’ six year old child, should be guillotined just for being a part of their family. The hypocrisy is that the only reason Madame Defarge survived the Evrémonde brothers ruin of her family was because her older brother hid her away so they could not persecute her just for being a part of it; however, now Madame Defarge is doing the same thing to Little Lucie. She is trying to kill the innocent child for something completely out of her control. She has turned into a barbarian and is just as bad as the Evrémondes. Madame Defarge is ruthless and unstoppable, and by the end of the novel she is left with no
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