Tale Of Two Cities Light Analysis

In The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, the French Revolution is painted in contrasting shades of light and dark. Light represents the good in characters and the overall setting, while darkness is used to convey the increasing malice in France during the French revolution. As the novel continues, the darker elements of the book begin to show themselves in the main protagonists. The French revolution brings about “circumstantial darkness”, affecting the mentalities and behaviors of the participating characters to take drastic measures to protect themselves and the ones they love. The revolution affects Dr. Manette, Madame Defarge and Carton’s psyche, highlighting their inner “darkness”.
Dr. Manette’s psyche is affected by the revolution because we

She has faced second-hand wrongdoing from the oppressive government through the murder of her family members. She describes, “...that sister of the mortally wounded boy upon the ground was my sister, that husband was my sister’s husband, that unborn child was their child, that brother was my brother, that father was my father, those dead are my dead, and that summons to answer for those things descends to me!’”(Dickens 354). Because Madame Defarge was vengeance for her family, she makes the heir of the aristocrat that killed her family, an innocent man who had relinquished his claim to the throne, to be executed. She believes that all aristocrats must be punished just because of their relation by blood, saying herself, “‘The château [castle] and the race...Extermination.’”(Dickens 179). Madame Defarge’s hatred for the government comes from her loved ones being murdered by the controllers of that government. In a way, by getting revenge against the aristocrats, she is protecting both herself from the same fate as her family and protecting her deceased family in the present because they never