A Tale of Two Cities: A questionable depiction of Women

Though it may not appear as an obvious central theme, Dickens uses the characters of women throughout the novel; in fact the action in both the cities revolves around the lives of the women. While Dickens develops the male characters with great attention and does not pay particular focus to the progression of the female characters, he uses the latter figures to prompt the men to act either for women or against them.

Lucie Manette is developed as a very passive character, and yet despite her passivity (or perhaps through her passivity), she resonates the theme of resurrection through the image of her hair as “golden thread”.  The men of the novel find their way through the golden thread. On the other hand, Madame Defarge is an active agent in the revolution. Though the portrayal of her character begins innocently with her knitting, it is later revealed that she was listing the names of victims, and from then on her personality becomes aggressive and repulsive. She tells her husband that he is no one to stop her, “"Tell the Wind and the Fire where to stop; not me!”

It is interesting to note how different the fates of both these female characters are. At the end of the novel, Madame Defarge gets killed by another relentless woman, Miss Pross. Putting Miss Pross and her ‘imperfections’ aside, it is interesting to note that because Madame Defarge wanted political justice and was deeply engaged in her public sphere, she suffers a crucial end. On the other hand, Lucie is depicted as the perfect woman with her curly blonde hair and her innocent personality, and she manages to get away unscathed and protected from the revolution.