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A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

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What effect does Madame Defarge have on Lucie during their apartment visit in A Tale of Two Cities?

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During Madame Defarge's visit to Lucie's apartment, her cold and unresponsive demeanor deeply unsettles Lucie. Lucie initially responds with gratitude for a note from her husband, but Madame Defarge's refusal to reciprocate kindness and her impassive stare create a chilling effect. Dickens uses the symbolism of darkness and light to illustrate Madame Defarge's malevolence, casting a shadow of fear and foreboding over Lucie and her daughter, highlighting the threat Madame Defarge poses.

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Lucie, so grateful for the note from her husband which Defarge has transported, at first turns to Madame Defarge to kiss her hand.  Lucie's action is "a passionate, loving, thankful, womanly action", but Madame Defarge chillingly makes no response; her hand "drop(s) cold and heavy, and (takes) to its knitting again".  Lucie recoils with fear, "putting the note in her bosom, and with her hands yet at her neck, look(s) terrified at Madame Defarge".  The malevolence that Madame Defarge exudes is almost palpable, and Dickens uses the symbols of darkness and light to illustrate this effect.  With her golden hair and loving nature, Lucie is symbolized by light, but Madam Defarge threatens that light with the darkness of her hate.  Dickens develops the symbolism of darkness and light, saying,

"The shadow attendant on Madame Defarge  and her party seem(s) to fall so threatening and dark on the child, that her mother...

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(Lucie) instinctively kneel(s) on the ground beside her, and (holds) her to her breast.  The shadow attendant on Madame Defarge and her party seem(s) then to fall, threatening and dark, on both the mother and the child" (Book the Third, Chapter 3).

Doctor Manette finds a sense of purpose when he realizes that he can help Darnay.  He becomes focused and efficient, navigating through the crazed masses and presenting himself to the Tribunal at the Bastille as "a notable sufferer under the over-thrown system", and pleading for the safety of his son-in-law.  Although he cannot get Darnay released, he is assured that "the prisoner...should, for his sake, be held inviolable in safe custody".  It is granted that Dr. Manette be allowed to remain in "the Hall of Blood" to ensure his son-in-law's well-being "until the danger (is) over".

Through being able to help Darnay, the object of his daughter's love, Dr. Manette finds meaning in the eighteen years of imprisonment he was forced to endure.  His suffering has given him "strength and power", and he says,

"It all tended to a good end...it was not mere waste and ruin.  As my beloved child was helpful in restoring me to myself, I will be helpful now in restoring the dearest part of herself to her, by the aid of Heaven" (Book the Third, Chapter 4).

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What effect does Madame Defarge have on Lucie in A Tale of Two Cities?

What a lot of changes Lucie Darnay has endured is a very short time when we meet her in Book III chapter 3 of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Jarvis Lorry has gotten his beloved Lucie an apartment then returns, of course, to the bank. There he is met by a sober Defarge, bearing a letter from Lucie's father as well as a note from Charles, so Jarvis takes the Defarges to Lucie's apartment. 

It is not a pleasant meeting.

While Lucie is elated at getting news from her imprisoned husband, the Defarges--and particularly Madame Defarge--remain stoic and sober. Lucie

turned from Defarge to his wife, and kissed one of the hands that knitted. It was a passionate, loving, thankful, womanly action, but the hand made no response—dropped cold and heavy, and took to its knitting again.

There it is. The disparity between the news the Defarges bring and the response Madame Defarge has is terrifying to Lucie Manette. At one point, Madame Defarge even points "her knitting-needle at little Lucie as if it were the finger of Fate." There is a great sense of foreboding and fear on Lucie's part as she stands before the intimidating woman--and rightly so, we will soon learn. Lucie even wraps herself around her young daughter in an effort to protect her from an unspoken threat that seems to emanate from the older woman. 

The effect of Madame Defarge on Lucie is chilling, and Dickens depicts that by casting Madame Defarge in darkness and shadow and Lucie in the light of innocence and passion. Think of them kind of like ice and fire.

Madame Defarge, says Dickens, is constantly in the shadows, "threatening and dark" toward both Lucie and young Lucie. Dickens uses words like "menace" and "coldly," and of course she is accompanied by The Vengeance. She is unmoved by Lucie's pleas and remains implacable to the younger woman's impassioned pleas. She is ice.

On the other hand, Lucie tries to appeal to Madame Defarge's female sensibilities and virtually begs for mercy for the innocent. She is so grateful that she kisses the woman's hand just because she has brought a letter from her beloved Charles, but the woman is unmoved. Lucie's plea is for her daughter, for herself, and for her innocent husband. She asks Madame Defarge to have pity on them, but the woman remains pitiless.  Lucie is on her knees, protecting her child, and her emotions are near the surface. She appeals to Madame Defarge as "sister-woman," but that is a flattering description to the French woman, as the two of them are nothing alike. One is pitiless; the other is tender and compassionate. Licie is passionate, emotional fire.

After Madame Defarge and The Vengeance leave, Lucie says this to Jarvis Lorry:

"I am not thankless, I hope, but that dreadful woman seems to throw a shadow on me and on all my hopes."

While Lucie is compassionate, hopeful, and sensitive, Madame Defarge is unbending, unemotional, and throws a shadow of foreboding wherever she goes--especially here. 

For more interesting analysis and insights on this classic Dickens work, check out the excellent eNotes sites attached below.

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How does Dickens symbolically show Madame Defarge's effect on Lucie in A Tale of Two Cities?

One of the many recurring symbols in this excellent and poignant Dickensian classics is that of the shadow, which is in fact the title given to this chapter which charts the first meeting between Madame Defarge and Lucie Manette. Interestingly, when Lucie is first introduced to Madame Defarge, she greets her in a way that shows her simplicity, innocence and love, yet Madame Defarge remains unmoved by such a display of emotion:

[Lucie] turned from Defarge to his wife, and kissed one of the hands that knitted. It was a passionate, loving, thankful, womanly action, but the hand made no response--dropped cold and heavy, and took to its knitting again.

So unresponsive is Madame Defarge to this gesture that Lucie "looks terrified" at Madame Defarge, who only gives her a "cold, impassive stare." However, it is when Madame Defarge realises that the baby is Evremonde's child that we see the true symbolic effect of the shadow and how it operates through the character of Madame Defarge to reach out and intimidate others. Note the description Dickens gives us after Madame Defarge has established the identity of the baby:

The shadow attendant on Madame Defarge and her party seemed to fall so threatening and dark on teh child, that her mother instinctively kneeled on the ground beside her, and held her to her breast. The shadow attendant on Madame Defarge and her party seemed then to fall, threatening and dark, on both the mother and the child.

Notice how the symbolism of the shadow seems to function in a way that foreshadows the harm that Madame Defarge will do to the family of Charles Darnay, and her attempt to take both the life of Lucie and their daughter.

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What effect does Madame Defarge have on Lucie during her visit to Lucie's apartment?

In Book the Third of A Tale of Two Cities, Lucie arrives in Paris and Mr. Lorry decides that she must stay in an apartment so as to not compromise Tellson's Bank as haboring the wife of a prisoner of LaForce.  When Defarge brings a note for Mr. Lorry from Dr. Manette, Mr. Lorry takes Lucie and her child with him.  The Defarges accompany him, with Madame Defarge insisting that she be able to recognize their faces for "their safety." 

When they arrive at the apartment, Lucie is alone, crying.  Lucie mistakenly believes thatMadame Defarge, who symbolically recommences her kinitting, is an angel of mercy.  Kissing "the hand that knits," she begs her to be merciful to her husband, yet there is so much coldness in the hand that she kisses that Lucie is given "a check."  Madame Defarge's only reply to Lucie is an impassive stare and these words, “is it likely that the trouble of one wife and mother would be much to us now?”

After the Defarges leave, Lucie says, “That dreadful woman seems to have thrown a shadow on me and on all my hopes.” And, although Mr. Lorry tries to reassure Lucie,“in his secret mind,” he is extremely worried. Certainly, it is at this crucial point in the plot that the sinister Madame Defarge has virtually invaded Lucie's psychological space as well as her physical space.  For, not only has she ascertained where Lucie dwells, Madame Defarge also has caused Lucie great consternation and discomfiture.

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In A Tale of Two Cities, how does Mme. Defarge affect Miss Pross symbolically?

With the revolution in full force and all the names of victims recorded in her knitting, Madame Defarge has committed to her memory the names and faces of all Charles d'Evremonde's family (Darnay).  But, knowing that her husband yet has a love for Dr. Manette whose servant he was, she determines that she will single-handedly seek her revenge against the aristocracy which caused her family's oppression before Monsieur Defarge can intervene.  So, in Chapter 14 of Book the Third, Madame Defarge hurries to the apartment where she bursts in as she attempts to catch Lucie in her mourning for her husband who will soon be executed.

What Madame Defarge does not estimate, however, is the British determination of Miss Pross, who blocks her path, shutting as many doors as she can. With each woman hurling insults at the other in their incomprehensible foreign tongues, Miss Pross, declaring,

"No, you wicked woman; I am your match....I am a Briton...."

she wraps her arms around Madame Defarge's waist after the woman sees that Lucie has packed and departed; as they struggle, Miss Pross feels the gun under her arm, but Madame Defarge continues to struggle until the gun goes off and Madame Defarge drops to the floor, dead from her own weapon.  Scratched and beaten, Miss Pross recovers herself and donning a hat with a veil, hurries to the cathedral where she is to meet Jerry Cruncher.  However, she cannot hear a word Jerry says to her after he arrives.  The explosion of the gun has permanently deafened her.

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