Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge Essay Example

troubled Sydney Carton, who lives in a state of indifference and who’s best friend is alcohol, transforms him into a better person. In his declaration, “O Miss Manette, when the little picture of a happy father’s face looks up in yours, when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you! (Dickens 156) Carton powerfully expresses his future change in character to the point of total selfless love, the highest kind of love. Thus, her goodness and purity prove a big influence on others, leading them into a deep introspection of themselves resulting in the desire to do good.

On the other side of the spectrum enters Madame Defarge, a hard, cruel, and ruthless woman who condemns aristocrats and whoever she chooses not to like. Admittedly, life has not been easy for her. The tragic destruction of her family leaves her an orphan from an early age.However, unlike Lucie, she cannot rise above her misery and chooses to be blind to kindness and compassion by making vengeance her life’s motivation. Thus, she indiscriminately condemns both the guilty and the innocent. Dicken’s describes Madame Defarge’s finger as “the finger of Fate.

” (Dickens 265) Throughout the novel, she is “something of a force of nature. ” (Shmoop Editorial Team) Her bitterness turns into a powerful force for evil, bringing out the worst in others. Thus, she is able to rally a mob of ordinary women into killing and pursuing revenge. Dickens 215) Furthermore, unlike lighthearted Lucie, she has the capability to

inspire intense fear, “We are more afraid of you than of these others,” Lucie tells her, which Madame Defarge receives as a compliment.

(Dickens 265) Even Miss Pross, Lucie Manette’s devoted servant and protector graphically illustrates this point when she tells Madame Defarge, “You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer. ” (Dickens 358) In the end however, both women reap what each has sown. Lucie Manette has been a good wife, loving mother, obedient daughter, and understanding friend throughout the novel.By sowing seeds of joy, peace, patience, and love, in the end she therefore reaps the most desired treasure of all, LIFE. At the other end of the spectrum, Madame Defarge throughout the novel has been a terrorizing human tornado.

All her seeds had one motive, hate. By sowing murder, revenge, and fear, she reaps what can only be expected, DEATH.Work Cited Dickens, Charles. “A Tale of Two Cities.

” New York: Penguin Putnam Inc, 1997. Shmoop Editorial Team. "Madame Defarge Timeline in A Tale of Two Cities. "  Shmoop.

com. Shmoop University, Inc. , 11 Nov. 2008. Web.

06 Feb 2011.