Violence and Revenge in a Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - Research Paper Example

A Tale of Two Cities: Violence and Revenge College A Tale of Two Cities: Violence and Revenge Charles Dickens was a who spoke in an accessible language in which his readers could find beautifully crafted stories in which socially relevant commentary was interlaced with delightful and well constructed characters. In A Tale of Two Cities, he departs from his usual form of constructing a story to engage in the historical novel in which he writes his interpretation of the events of the French Revolution, through a story that involves the darkest revelations about the human condition, coupled with the redemption of the human spirit. The story has a violence that is palpable within the pages, the background of its threat filling the characters and the readers with dread and despair, at times. Revenge is taken by characters through triumph and sacrifice, thus seeking a truth about the justice that life can provide. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens constructs a story that is filled with violence and revenge in order to provide a social commentary on the tension between social classes and within the family structure as it relates to the condition of the state. A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens has one of the most memorable openings for a novel that has ever been written. The novel begins with the statement ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of time” setting a rhythm for the writing in which a study in contrasts is made throughout the first paragraph. The recitation that describes the context of the time in which the story takes place describes the confusion of a country in conflict, the best in people coming forward in grand acts of bravery, with the worst of people emerging from the bowels of revolution to put a plague of violence on those they come across. In beginning the novel in this way, the reader is drawn into the intrigue, convinced that there is great conflict about to be revealed as all that has occurred up to the point of the first paragraph is to revel the utter conflict in which the time period is suspended. Bloom (2006) quotes Henry James for having said of Dickens that “we are convinced that it is one of the chief conditions of his genius not to see beneath the surface of things” (p. 2). Dickens was a genius of caricature, his work defining a ‘type’, then placing that type within the circumstances and setting of his story. His characters were filled with actions, most of which were not explained for emotional motivations or for the underlying psychological purposes for which they were driven toward their intent. When describing the work of Dickens it can be said that he “is often described as using ‘idealized’ characters and highly sentimental scenes to contrast with his caricatures and the ugly social truths he reveals” (p. xv). The underlying foundation of his work is the commentary that exists about the social issues that are addressed within his work. Wonderful creations of characters are the tools with which he makes his commentary. It is often not about how his characters feel, but in how they manage the circumstances in which they have been thrown. One of the most potent myths of the life of Dickens is that he spent time in a debtors prison with his family at a young age. This myth happens to be supported in history, but is often just as fantastically crafted in story as is the tale of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, both of which describe a boy at the mercy of adults who have no concern for the child’s needs. After his family became impoverished from the over spending of his father, they moved from a well appointed home into squalor, at which time Dickens went to work in a shoe polish factory where he sealed the jars and glued on the label, a job at which he worked for twelve hours per day (Dailey, 2004, p. 29). This was not unusual during this time period, but Dickens had moved from a middle class lifestyle to a lower class lifestyle and this shift in class and the resentment that he built from his shift in fortune is evident in the stories that he crafted. Debtor’s prison was not abolished until 1869, a year before Charles Dickens died, but his own feelings on the subject comes through in the support of the rise of the lower classes was evident in the way in which relief was sought and often provided for those who suffered under the yoke of poverty. Debtor’s prison was a miserable incarceration in which the male of the family was held in prison until money could be raised to pay the debt that was owed. The rest of the family moved into the prison with the male figure, although they were free to come and go as needed. When Charles Dickens’ father was in prison, Charles continued to work, having sold all of their possessions to try and relieve the family of their debt, but not able to acquire enough money. Dickens had already sold off all his books, a collection that he regretted losing which impacted his love of literature (Dailey, 2004, p. 28). The novel was written to be serialized, a form of book publishing that was not new to Dickens. However, in the style of writing accomplished for the novel, Dickens created something new in the writing of A Tale of Two Cities. The way in which the story was crafted was a different style for Dickens in which he wanted to create a historical novel. Where most of his novels are designed with “the teeming life of Dickensian invention tends to draw our attention away from the imaginative thinness of heroes and heroines, the contrived coincidences, the moments of dewy-eyed, lip serving religiosity, while the more intently dramatic presentation of character and event in A Tale of Two Cities frequently stresses just these qualities” (p. 135). The novel is a departure from his usual form and seeks a higher level of accomplishment, but the critic disagree as to whether or not he achieves these ends. With the same focus that much of Dickens’ work has, A Tale of Two Cities is focused on the power and position of the family within the human condition. His discourse is centered around the nature of the dying feudal system and the emergence of a more powerful middle class in which wealth and position could be attained through the self-made individual. The Victorian middle class was discussed using the father son relationships as well as the contrasts between the Marquis St Evremonde and Charles Darney (Waters, 2007, p. 102). The Marquis, representing the dying class of the elite, a left over from the time of restricted classes and subjugation, is cruel and profoundly self absorbed. On the other hand, Darney acts for the greater good and works towards a better future. According to Hutter (1978), the relationship of the political elite as represented by the Marquis is reflected in the power that the father has over the family, the absolutism with which the child is expected to give obedience. In making this comparison, a discourse about state and power is developed through the use of the family, and the importance of the family in relating it to the state. According to Waters (1997), “A Tale of Two Cities demonstrates the correlation between family and nation and it uses the language of psychological conflict and psychological identification to portray social upheaval and the restoration of social order” (p. 122). The war that was fought within the novel was centered both on the generational war and the war of the revolution itself. Hutter (1978) refers to Lee Sterenberg who focalized the nature of the history that Dickens’ created about the French Revolution as “a personal daydream” but then also goes on to say that “he has rendered his daydream in a publicly meaningful iconography’ (p. 448). Because Dickens centered his discourse on the family, he made the nature of the conflict accessible, bringing it into the understanding of his readership. To contrast the nature of the family within the cultural setting, a world of darkness is revealed in the night as violence and sexuality are conjoined to create fear and threat. When Dr. Manette is taken in the night, he is a witness to what he can assess is the aftermath of sexual violence. The event is traumatizing and sets the course for Manette’s experiences. The story develops a theme on the nature of revelation and the revelation that violence makes about the human experience. Hutter (1978) makes the point that the “larger action of the novel turns on seeing what was never meant to be seen” (p. 449). This theme develops as a study in contrasts between what is desired of life and what are the realities of life. Alter (1969) makes the point that most of the scenes are at night, and that “there is something uncannily nocturnal even about those that supposedly take place in the light of day” (p. 136). According to Alter (1969), what Dickens is exploring is “the relationship between history and evil, how violent oppression breeds violent rebellion which becomes a new kind of oppression” (p. 137). However, he is not quagmired in the concept of a futile world in which there is no redemption. Alter (1969) states that “He also tries hard, through the selfless devotion of his more exemplary characters, to suggest something of man’s moral regeneration” (p. 136). Dickens, as in all of his work, has a glimmer of hope that runs through the novel, that moment of waking to see that is still Christmas for Mr. Scrooge, that feeling of redemption of the human condition. However, in this novel he explores the darkness of mankind and all of the way in which human beings can do harm to one another. Alter says “in France, the details of torture and savagery exercise an obscene fascination over the imagination of the characters (and perhaps of the writer as well) - nightmarish images of tongues torn out with pincers, gradual dismemberment, boiling oil and lead poured into gaping wounds, float through the darkness of the novel and linger on the retina of the memory” (p. 137). At the end, the fame of the words that begin the tale are rivaled by the words that end the story. Dickens (1968) writes from the perspective of the symbol of revenge upon the system “It is a far far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far far better rest that I go to than I have ever known” (p. 364). The revenge that he engages is in the triumph over the designs of the state. The relief from oppression and the act of choice in which redemption is found provides the finality in which he resolves the violence and the revelations of the terrors of war. The complexities of this novel, over that of his other novels, reveals a desire to comment on his society, to engage his readers in a discussion of the issues of family, social class, and the state. Through the darkness of violence and mystery, her reveals that one of the traits of human nature is to choose not to see. In providing a discourse on revelation, he provides context for the human experience. References Alter, R. (Winter 1969). The demons of history in Dickens’ ‘Tale’. A Forum on Fiction. 2(2): 135-142. Bloom, H. (2006). Charles Dickens. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. Dailey, D. (2004). Charles Dickens. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. Dickens, C. (1868). A Tale of Two Cities. London: Chapman and Mill. Dickens, C. (2008). A Tale of Two Cities. Boston: Mobile Reference. Hutter, A. D. (May 1978). Nation and generation in a tale of two cities. PMLA. 93(3): 448-462. Kucich, J. (2007). John Kucich on forms of violence the novel. In H. Bloom (Ed.). Charles Dickenss A tale of two cities. (pp. 100-108). New York: Chelsea House. Waters, C. (1997). Dickens and the politics of the family. Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press. Waters, C. (2007). A tale of two cities. In H. Bloom (Ed.). Charles Dickenss A tale of two cities. (pp. 101-117). New York: Chelsea House. Read More