Madame Defarge- the revolutionary

From Fanny Price's submissiveness to Jane Eyre being a model from the conduct books that Nancy Armstrong mentions, women in the novels we have studied have evolved from mere show-pieces to women with all rounding personalities. However, Madam Defarge as a pretty dominant character is a strangely manly being that is far from exhibiting feminine characteristics. She is described as a 'stout' woman and that in the very beginning sets her apart from the general female category such as Lucie Manette who is described as a doll with blue eyes and perfect hair.

The revolutionary in her is played out through her knitting. This character is almost always introduced to us as knitting incessantly which appears to be symbolic of the revolution itself that is slowly coming together thread by thread until it translates into a full blown uprising. She becomes the face of revolution as early as when she shows the audacity to throw back the coin into the monsignors carriage after it runs over a child killing him. Not only is she a revolutionary in herself, but she begins to take the role of educating her husband as well which is most apparent in the chapter 'still knitting' when she refers to her husband as 'faint of heart' upon him saying that the revolution will take a long time to culminate into something meaningful. During the whole scene of attacking the Bastille the revolutionary comes alive once again as she is in charge of rounding the women and she storms into the Bastille where 'her right hand occupied an axe.. and in her girdle were a pistol and a cruel knife'. For the first time an almost warrior like look is associated to a rebellious female who is surprisingly not afraid to act and speak her mind at such instances and in this way a whole new female comes into frame. Her inner turmoil manifests in her actions as opposed to being a tirade of thoughts in her mind only. She is a female who is active in the political scene of a country undergoing revolution and acts as an important aid towards rising up against the French aristocracy.