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The Sea Still Rises: A Tale Of Two Cities

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The chapter “The Sea Still Rises”, from the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, provides a glimpse into the brutality and gore of the French Revolution. The chapter begins with revolutionaries meeting in Madame Defarge’s wine shop a week after the storming of the Bastille. The revolutionaries then hear that Foulon, a cruel aristocrat, has been captured, they then leave to watch and participate in his execution and humiliation. Dickens conveys the barbarity of the people of Saint Antoine and their hatred of the aristocracy through anaphora, imagery, and symbolism. Dickens uses anaphora to emphasise the aggression of the people of Saint Antoine and their desire for revenge. Shortly after Foulon was captured the crowd of people chanted, “Give us the blood of Foulon, Give us the head of Foulon, Give us the heart of Foulon, Give us the body and soul of Foulon.” (p. 172) This excerpt shows the desire of the poor to destroy the aristocracy, not only their body but even their soul. The use of anaphora emphasises them being given, or more likely taking, the humanity from Foulon. They want to kill him for his treatment of their community and his …show more content…

Dickens describes everything from when he was dragged by the executioner, to being fed grass by hundreds of people, and finally being hung from the lamp post. The paragraph includes great imagery such as, “ Once, he went aloft, and the rope broke, and they caught him shrieking; twice, he went aloft, and the rope broke, and they caught him shrieking; then the rope was merciful, and held him.”(p. 173) This detail allows the reader to understand the mindset of the people, they wanted Foulon to experience pain of this nature. Foulon, and the entire aristocracy, was deserving of torture and Dickens wished to illustrate these torture scenes to the reader so the full impact is

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