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Symbolism In A Tale Of Two Cities

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Joan Kane Chao English 10 Honors 11 January 2016 The Wealthy Aristocrats vs. The Poor Peasants of France A revolution often represents the cycle of achieving new power. Usually, the cause of a revolution is due to the division of social classes, causing one class to feel inferior to the other. In his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, writes about the French Revolution to illustrate that a revolution symbolizes a need for change and liberation, often because of the greedy and wealthy aristocrats who have too much power. However, as the revolution transpires, the lower class becomes just as power-hungry and inhumane as their enemies, shown through their actions. Both the aristocrats and the peasants are tempted to control all …show more content…

Dickens uses the symbol of red wine spilling, in a suburban Parisian street, to depict the picture of how thirsty the peasants are for liberation. “All the people within reach had suspended their business, or their idleness, to run to the spot and drink the wine” (20). The people who had witnessed the spilling of the wine stopped their activities and rushed to drink the wine. Dickens uses this symbol to demonstrate the desire of a new way of life the peasants long for. The peasants, quickly shrugged off their duties to rush to the spilt wine, revealing their hunger for change. Dickens also says, “The time was to come when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon man there” (22). Dickens uses the wine to foreshadow the events of the revolution, stating that when the time comes (the revolution), blood will be spilt on the streets and people would be stained with it. When the peasants finally begin to fight back, marching through the streets armed with weaponry, Dickens describes the peasants as a raging sea that rises and overflows the city. “With a roar that sounded as if all the breath in France had been shaped into the detested word, the living sea rose, wave on wave, depth on depth, and overflowed the city to that point. Alarm-bells ringing, drums beating, the sea raging and thundering on its new beach, the attack began” (166). Dickens uses a natural force to represent the peasants because a natural force has no limits and can be very powerful. The rising of the sea represents the peasants rising up to the wealthy and the start of the revolution. This representation shows that the poor are determined and hungry for liberation and will do anything for it. Towards the end of the revolution,

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A couple of examples of foreshadowing are found in how the revolution was foreshadowed throughout the book. The first instance of this is at the beginning of the book when the wine is spilled in front of the Defarge’s wine shop. A main source of this is “The time would come when that wine to would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there” (Dickens 28). This would later foreshadow the revolution and the bloodshed that came with it. The wine was spilled in front of the Defarges’ wine shop, but neither of the Defarges got dirty or got wine on

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Once he married his wife, Lucie, and joined the Mannette family, he quickly found a joyful, fulfilling life in London. He soon became the father to a little girl who brought light into the quiet home. “Ever busily the winding golden thread that bound them all together, weaving the service of her happy influence through the tissue of all their lives…Lucie heard in the echoes of years none but friendly and soothing sounds. Her husband’s step was strong and prosperous among them; her father’s firm and equal.” (Dickens, p.162) Disturbingly, about the same time in France, the Revolution was mounting like a tight capsule about to burst.

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Charles Dickens. You’ve most likely heard of him or some of him most reputable books, maybe even read a few. One of Dickens’ greatest strengths is using symbolism and hidden meaning. This is shown admirably in A Tale of Two Cities, a captivating book set during the French Revolution. A common theme found in A Tale of Two Cities is violence which is symbolized by red wine and blood.

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