Question

How is Mme.Defarge represented in a tale of Two Cities?Does Dickens give her actions a sympathetic colouring..give in brief

Answer 1

Dickens paints Madame Defarge as a firm revolutionary who is also good at knitting and her knitting never stops. She stands against aristocracy and seeks vengeance. So, she knits a pattern that happens to become a record of all the people revolution will destroy. She comes across as a villainous character who is cold, crafty and without compassion. All the other characters perceive her as a sheer force of nature. The reader is also then, bound to have the same feelings. It's later in the story that the reader comes to know that she has had a troubled childhood and her painful experiences make her what she is, but when Dickens gets us to know about her dreadful past, we have already made up the impression of hers as a monster. Lucie's pleadings to pardon her child fall futile as Madam Defarge has not even an ounce of mercy or belief in any good. We are, in fact, never given a chance to sympathize with her or mourn her horrible past.