Who is Madame Defarge?
The character of Madame Defarge in Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities is marked with her ruthless and cold attitude towards the French Aristocrats. But her stern behaviour is justified when the reader learns that her sister was raped by the aristocrats and her father died of that grief. By profession, she runs a wine shop but her "knitting" significantly propels the French Revolution. Her knitting, to simply put, is an order of her vengeance. In short, the character of Madame Defarge shines in black luminosity through her harshness and 'determined' nature.
Her Rough History
Before discussing about Defarge's character and her negativity in detail, we first have to make ourselves aware of her rough past that compelled her to transition into a relentless monster. In her childhood, she was a girl with a natural behaviour and likes and dislikes. But one day, two of French Aristocrats hurled towards her lodgings and raped her elder sister. Her father died of that grief while her brother was seriously injured. Consequentially, the moral and social dignity of her family was destroyed. Thus settling scores with the Evrémondes stood as the chief mission of her life. Despite her rough past, we cannot feel pity for her when Dickens reveals her "dreadful" picture.
Her Untiring Knitting
Madame Defarge's Knitting holds a significant and symbolic importance not only in this novel but also in the context of the French Revolution. To simply put, her knitting is the inscription of death of the person who violates the 'rules' of La Republic or who is a French aristocrat. Her knitting also symbolizes the ultimate fate of these persons just like the role of fate that was depicted in Greek mythology. Her knitting is a terrifying shadow of death that is destined to be chopped by the Guillotine. Madame Defarge does not stop knitting. She continues her thread-work even she is on travel. Her knitting is ultimately stopped by Miss Pross when she puts a full stop to Madame Defarge's life.
Her Cold Entity
Madame Defarge is a complex character. At one side, we find her trampled under the hands of time and on the flip side, we find her crushing her enemies. The problem with Madame Defarge is that she cannot replicate the true sense of "justice". She is not contented on eradicating just Marquis but she wants the head of every French aristocrat under the sharp blade of the guillotine, without differentiating between the innocent or the guilty; the man or a newly born child. When her husband asks her to draw the line, she replies in her usual cold behaviour,
Tell the Wind and the Fire where to stop; not me!
Her declaration to continue the "justice" essentially marks her ruthless entity that the little Lucie must die is clearly her inhuman enterprise but at the same time, puts the role of Mr. Defarge questionable that has he lost the authority to 'control' his wife?
Dickens throws light on her savage character with her historical tragedy as thus,
imbued from her childhood with a brooding sense of wrong, and an inveterate hatred of a class, opportunity had developed her into a tigress. She was absolutely without pity. If she had ever had the virtue in her, it had quite gone out of her.
It was nothing to her, that an innocent man was to die for the sins of his forefathers; she saw, not him, but them. It was nothing to her, that his wife was to be made a widow and his daughter an orphan; that was insufficient punishment, because they were her natural enemies and her prey, and as such had no right to live. To appeal to her, was made hopeless by her having no sense of pity, even for herself.
Dicken's comments are enough to give a reader an insight into her ruthless entity.
Conclusion
Madame Defarge is a round character who is greatly spoiled by time and her vengeance is blind, without having any ability to distinguish between a good-hearted person and a bad-hearted one. Teresa Mangum beautifully sums up the discussion,
The logic driving her story is that the secret crime of sexual violence against women fuels the French Revolution.
Sources and Suggested Readings
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Defarge?oldformat=true
- https://www.litcharts.com/lit/a-tale-of-two-cities/characters/madame-defarge
- https://englishliterature24.blogspot.com/2018/01/assess-role-of-madame-defarge-in-tale-of-two-cities.html
- https://www.facebook.com/StudymodeUOS/posts/character-of-madame-defargea-tale-of-two-citiesma-bs-englishuniversity-of-sargod/1665973153555978/
- https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/tale-of-two-cities/madame-defarge
