Character+Analysis

=**__Madame Defarge!__**=

When the Professor heard that I had to write a character anaylsis over a character in his favorite book, he demanded he write one about his lady Queen the President, Madame Defarge. The following is what he came up with.

When Charles Dickens writes //A Tale of Two Cities//, he wrote about all of his characters with a certain theme for each in mind. In the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens chooses to characterize Madame Defarge as an intelligent and determined woman; however, she soon changes into a vengeful and hateful monster by the end of the novel, and Dickens uses this chaotic behavior to show how Hate and Vengeance leads to one’s downfall.

At first, Madame Defarge appears to be a stern, composed woman. Dickens gives her a “steady face” (24) and “strong features” (24) when she is first introduced in the wine shop. He characterizes her in this way to show that she is a strong and firm woman not to be reckoned with. Madame Defarge also has this “dogged determination” (219) and “stony manner” (207) added to her dark appearance. Dickens chooses these traits for Madame Defarge to illustrate how much of an unyielding woman she is, and Dickens wants to make it clear that Madame Defarge will not change her attitude or stop her work until her goals are accomplished. Madame Defarge is a collected woman in her first appearance, and her firm appearance hints at her vengeful state of mind.

Later in Dickens’s novel, Madame Defarge reveals her nefarious and unmerciful behavior, and she is seen as a monstrous person when Death is in her hands. One of Madame’s favorite pastimes is the act of bullying the French nobility right before chopping their heads off. She wants to make the last moments of their lives a living hell for them. Madame Defarge’s behavior is similar to what “a cat might have done to a mouse” (173). Dickens chooses to make this analogy concerning the Madame because he wants the readers to see how she treats Revolution like it is a game; moreover, she treats it as a game where she gets to kill her own citizens for fun. Acting as as bully and a bloodthirsty killer, Madame Defarge sees her world through vengeful eyes with Revenge on her mind. She will never “think for others” (140), but she wishes to only keep her own missions in mind. Her behavior in battle adds to her heartless mindset, and Dickens wants to show the readers how too much vengeance in one’s mind can destroy their entire lives.

Dickens uses Madame Defarge’s hate and bitterness to use the idea that Revenge and Hate can destroy somebody forever. As Madame Defarge is headed to kill her victims and get her revenge, she becomes “blinded” (287) by her lust and want for Revenge. Her tunnel vision clouds her good judgement which leads to her death. Her husband, Ernest, decides that enough death has happened and slowly pulls himself out of the death pit; thus, he is alive by the end of the novel Dickens wants to show how a little bit of Mercy can save a person from the depths of Death and Chaos. Madame Defarge’s hate built up within her, and she held onto it her entire life. Her lust for Death becomes too strong which clouds her better judgement and ends in her death and downfall which is Dickens’s main purpose in making Madame Defarge the way she is written.

Although she is introduced as a composed and quiet woman, Madame Defarge’s true behavior comes out on the battlefield of the French Revolution later in the novel, and Dickens wants his readers to see how much of a heartless murderer she is. Madame Defarge only has Vengeance on her mind which leads to her death and downfall.