Rhetorical Devices In A Tale Of Two Cities

Throughout the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens uses a variety of rhetorical devices to convey his message of fate and history, but one of the most prominent devices used is symbolism. By strategically inserting an array of hidden symbols, such as the broken wine cask, footsteps, and Madame Defarge’s knitting, Dickens creates a bridge between the sequence of events that make up the story and the ideals of fate and history. To begin, the wine cask makes its first appearance in book one, chapter five when it is knocked to the ground in the streets of Saint Antoine. Dickens’ depiction of the broken wine cask outside Defarge’s wine shop, along with his portrayal of the peasants scrambling for the last lingering traces of the wine, clearly represents the desperate quality of the people’s hunger. Furthermore, their hunger ties directly

links the wine with blood, then stating that “those who had been greedy with the staves of the cask, had acquired a tigerish smear about the mouth,” (37, Dickens.) He then portrayed a drunk citizen scrawling the

Even on a literal basis, Madame Defarge’s knitting constituted a whole network of symbols. Through her needlework, she stitched a complex list of names of all those condemned to die in the name of a new republic. On a metaphoric level, the knitting became a symbol in itself, representing the cunning, merciless vengefulness of the revolutionaries. Similar to Madame Defarge, the French peasants may appear harmless and humble at first glance, but they evidently rise up to massacre the aristocracy. Dickens’s depiction of knitting also amplifies the association between vengeance and fate. In Greek mythology, the Fates are three sisters who use knitting or weaving as a vessel to control human life. In light of this, Madame Defarge’s knitting transforms into a symbol of her victims’