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Violence In A Tale Of Two Cities

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A Tale Of Two Cities Theme Essay Violence was a constant occurrence for the people of France during the time of The French Revolution. Charles Dickens displays this as a constant occurrence in his novel A Tale Of Two Cities. During The French Revolution the people of France worshipped the “national razor” or the guillotine, “ it was the sign of the regeneration of the human race. It superseded the cross”( 265). The guillotine was a new sign of hope for the french people during a time where they began to lose hope in their country. When the guillotine came along everything changed the laws were basically rewritten the new law known to the common people as “ the law of the suspected, which struck away all security for liberty or life, and delivered over any good or innocent person to any bad and guilty one, prisons gorged with people who had committed no offence” (265). The natural rights of people were being revoked from that any sense of security was taken away from them. Every week innocent people were being …show more content…

“Above all, one hideous figure grew as familiar as if it had been before the general gaze from the foundations of the world - the figure of the sharp female called La Guillotine(265.)” The guillotine became a common part of the citizens lives they grew accustomed to the violence everyday that was happening on the streets of France. Dickens describes the guillotine and its effect as “It sheared off heads so many, that it, and the ground it most polluted, were a rotten red. It was taken to pieces, like a toy-puzzle for a young Devil, and was put together again when the occasion wanted it. (265)”. The streets of France were red with the blood of the people, citizens walking in the streets would basically be walking on the roads stained red from the blood of friends and family members or even people they

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This leads to even more chaos in the country and the beginning of the Reign of Terror. Although the French formed the conscripted army which protected them from foreign threats, the entire nation fell into chaos and immense amounts of public executions

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Because the patriots posed as a threat, “forty of their number were killed” (Document D). This issue should have been dealt with differently; there is a way to stop uprisings like this other than killing people. Also, the government abolished “Sunday worship, Christmas, and Easter” (Document C). This is not fair for the French citizens who normally participate in these events. The people should be free to follow their own beliefs.

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A quote from a letter written by a government official from the local government of the town Niort in Western France to the National Convention (Doc D) states, “It is with greatest of sorrow that we inform you that six patriots have already fallen victim to this rabble…” This quote from the letter in Doc D shows how the rabble or crowd of counterrevolutionaries were aggressive and becoming unruly. A quote from the book Triumph and Terror: The French Revolution written by Stecen Otfinoski in 1993 (Doc E) states, “ The purpose was to protect the public safety from enemies both in and outside of France… In the countryside, the slow tribunals were replaced with ruthless commissions that killed an estimated 35,000-40,000 people. Many of these people were guillotined.”

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A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, surrounds the cities of Paris and London during the late 1700’s. The novel takes place during the French Revolution, a period of social and political upheaval in France and England. While peasants died in the streets from hunger, aristocrats had more money and power than they knew what to do with. A Tale of Two Cities describes, in detail, the poverty of the time period, as well as the struggle of a people able to overcome oppression. The novel is largely based off of occurrences Dickens experienced during his childhood.

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(Dickens, p.276) It was a symbol of a freedom, a symbol of captivity, a sign of hope, a sign of despair, a representation of a revolution, a representation of demoralization, a shift towards the light, a plunge towards the utter darkness. It was the Guillotine, brought to the spotlight by thousands of starving, desperate, hopeless people. Openly, it claimed to be the avenue for absolute freedom for France, but in honesty this machine touted the fall of morality. The French peasants took the power over the upper classes in order to break free from their starvation and mistreatment. Through the workings of Madame Guillotine, the peasants eliminated their offenders:

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The food prices were rising; work conditions were unjust, and cruel nobility and clergy. The King’s ways worsened these matters for the Parisians. The Bastille was holding Bourbon tyranny and prisoners in prison without charge. Popular hatred for the entire landholding system broke out and went in to action. This became known as the Great Fear.

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The guillotine was a public statement to all members of the royal class that inequality will no longer be tolerated. This is also where the phrase ‘Heads will roll’ come from, it describes what happens when the guillotine meets your neck for the first time. “First the royalists were beheaded, next the moderate girondists, and by then the violence and suspicion was totally out of hand as the revolution devoured itself. In my opinion, after they started beheading the moderate Girondists it was only a matter of time before everyone else went to the guillotine” (The French Revolution).

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Over the course of the next year, Robespierre had a minimum of 300,000 people arrested and 17,000 people executed by guillotine (F2). In the summer of 1794, the public questioned the motives behind the excessive executions(F3). Robespierre was executed on July 28, 1794 for his murderous crimes against France(F4). His execution signaled the end of the Reign of Terror(A2). Some results of the Reign of Terror include Jacobinism and “the return of bourgeois values, corruption and further military failure.

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Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens utilized his expressive descriptions of the mobs of Britain and France to create distinct similarities and differences between the two countries. One major similarity of the two mobs is their desire for revenge. In England, the mob is driven to revenge after they find out that in the hearse was a spy against the crown. Instead of mourning the death, they instead use it to act against traitors of the country: “The crowd approached; they were bawling and hissing round a dingy hearse and dingy mourning coach, in which mourning coach there was only one mourner, dressed in the dingy trappings that were considered essential to the dignity of the position” (Dickens 14). This quote shows that the crowd was not there to grieve for the lost, but instead to take action for what the deceased had done before.

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Many of the french citizens were killed. A lot of the people's rights were taken from them and many of them were killed in Vendee which is the main area people were in France.

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They used the guillotine specifically because at the time it was, “painless and effective.” Maximilien Robespierre was an influential leader in the Reign of Terror in 1793, and he was also responsible for many mass executions. He was a leader of the Committee of Public Safety, which was geared toward stabilizing the economy. In February of 1794, Robespierre had 238 mean and 31 women guillotined. He also highlighted the importance of liberty

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Especially during the Reign of Terror, many innocent people were murdered. This, however, was caused by the mass hysteria of the French people. The Terror was a period of time when nobody was safe; just an accusation of saying or doing something against the revolution could have you sentenced to death by guillotine. A similar situation can be seen in the people of Salem in the late 1600’s- mass hysteria engulfed the town, and the townspeople blamed their neighbors for witchcraft to have the opportunity to buy their land, or, even worse, simply because they didn’t like them. The same thing most likely ended up happening during the French Revolution, and could have caused many of the murders during the

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During this time, scores of innocent citizens were thrown in prison or beheaded. A time of political upheaval followed the reign of terror, represented by the many coup d’etats that took place at the hands of attempted dictators. The

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Nations all over the world have been oppressed at some point. There have been angry hordes all over trying to get their rights back and prevent noblemen from taking their freedom away, as the oppressed people in the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens tried to do. Violence, though, may not be a way to overcome oppression. The limit to using violence to overcome oppression may work, but gets too extreme if no changes occur and people just take advantage of the carnage that slashes around the community. Violence is too wicked for people to handle.

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This was a big step forward to fixing the rigid social structure of France and opposing the monarchy’s oppression of peasants. Additionally, Louis was convicted of crimes such as conspiring against liberty. He was later executed on January 21, 1793. (Scandiffio) This shows that the monarchy was seen as very detrimental to the ideal of liberty, the conviction and execution of the king marked the end of the monarchy which was formerly a vital feature of the Old Regime.

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