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Female Characters In Charles Dickens's A Tale Of Two Cities

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Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A woman is like a tea bag- you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” In Charles Dickens’ historical fiction novel about the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities, women play an important and powerful role. Throughout the novel, female characters are used to comfort and inspire characters, help Dickens expand the messages he wishes to tell in this story, and show the anguish the poor felt before the Revolution to help explain why they did what they did to remediate it. Without these characters, A Tale of Two Cities would not have the impact it does on readers. To begin with, Dickens uses female characters to comfort his characters during times of duress and inspire them to make changes. This is most prominent in the character of Lucie Manette. Lucie is described as being “... the golden thread that united [Dr. Manette] to a Past beyond his misery, and to a …show more content…

The women of Saint Antoine take on the role of representing the attitudes of a majority of the poor during the French Revolution. They are first described as being pretty dirty, run down, and living in extreme poverty. On the attack on Foulon, Dickens describes the women during the frenzy thusly: “… the women were a sight to chill the boldest…. they ran out with streaming hair, urging one another, and themselves, to madness with the wildest cries and actions…. beating their breasts, tearing their hair, and screaming….” (Dickens 172) The actions of the women during this shows the tortment the poor had held in for so long. They were finally allowed to show this during the Revolution, leading to many, bloody executions. By using these women to show the more extreme side of the poor, Dickens is able to show the readers how neglect of the poor can end up having major conscenques in the

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