The Heart of the Revolution Essay - 1647 Words

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair† (Dickens 3). The duality of the revolution is presented in the novel, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, it shows the true nature of the French Revolution and its powerful impact over the citizens, as Lucie and her beloved husband, Charles Darnay, get torn apart by the uprising revolutionaries that only see with vengeance in their eyes. When Darnay travels to Paris to rescue a fellow friend, he is taken away by the revolutionaries and put in prison†¦show more content†¦The blood and wine traditionally symbolize the life and blood of Christ in Christian beliefs that are portrayed in a positive light, where as in the novel, they represent the rampant death, revenge, and destruction that has taken a hold of the peasants. After the starved peasants have soaked every last drop from the ground, Gaspard â€Å"scrawled upon a wall with his finger dipped in muddy wine-less–BLOOD† (30). This is used to foreshadow the upcoming revolution, and as it begins, there is a frenzy that spreads through the peasants that will lead to a never-ending bloodshed. It provides an example to the aristocrats that a discontent middle class will ultimately lead to a rise in vengeance that can only be sought through revolution and will only get worse as the starvation reaches a new height. As the men and women leave the scene and return back to their work, those who have been â€Å"greedy with the staves of the cask, had acquired a tigerish smear about the mouth† (29). It demonstrates that once driven to the state of complete desperation, they will stop at nothing to gain their political rights, but as the revolution breaks out, the peasants ironically turn into the unjustified savages that they were originally trying to destroy. Dickens conveys a message to England that once a revolution is released, this frenzy will quickly spread into the heartsShow MoreRelatedRevolution Dbq1112 Words   |  5 PagesThe Revolution was affected before the war commenced.   The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people...This radical change in the principles, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.   Explain the meaning of this 1818 statement by John Adams (referring to the Revolutionary era) and assess its validity. Philosophical words, Once Again In a letter to Hezekiah Niles on February 3rd of 1818 John Adams, once again, spoke his mighty, philosophical wordsRead MoreHistory : The American Revolution Essay1435 Words   |  6 Pagesliberty ideas. Liberty is known to be the idea that is firmly held by men in their hearts, as they were willing to fight or even die for it. It was an ecstatic feeling when they finally achieved it. The people had an idea of a constitutional freedom and the moral quality, which was strongly held in the people’s hearts in America, and it consequently spread to other countries in the world. It is believed that American Revolution was the most important chapter in human history just because it was their actionRead MoreHistory : The American Revolution1442 Words   |  6 Pagesliberty ideas. Liberty is known to be the idea that is firmly held by men in their hearts, as they were willing to fight or even die for it. It was an ecstatic feeling when they finally achieved it. The people had an ide a of a constitutional freedom and the moral quality, which was strongly held in the people’s hearts in America, and it consequently spread to other countries in the world. It is believed that American Revolution was the most important chapter in human history just because it was their actionRead MoreEssay on Modernism in Literature1532 Words   |  7 PagesThe turn of the 20th century conveyed revolution in psychological, social, and philosophical thought. It was time for something neoteric. It was time to break out of the mundane tradition. This time of revolution conceded men, such as Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud, to rise to fame with their radical and cutting edge theories. Also, women were exasperated of their modeled roles in society. They sought to be independent, they longed to have the ability to vote, and most of all, theyRead MoreAnalysis Of Mayakovsky s The Bedbug 1307 Words   |  6 Pagesof the war and revolution, serves as a social critique o f philistinism and bourgeois society (Dobrenko 221). While his criticism of the bourgeois is clear, Mayakovsky actually makes two attacks; the first â€Å"against the bourgeois ‘relics’ of the New Economic policy of the early 1920s and the other against the rigidities of a dystopia scheduled to come into being only fifty years afterward† (Moser 438). The multifaceted criticisms in The Bedbug display the strains between the revolution as originallyRead MoreScientific Discoveries Of The Scientific Revolution1548 Words   |  7 PagesScientific Revolution The Scientific Revolution refers to a time in history when developments in the sciences took off and changed the view of society regarding the earth and nature. Some of the relevant topics of this time were mathematics, astronomy, biology, physics and chemistry. Typically, the scientific revolution is considered the time in Europe starting around the end of the Renaissance period and lasting through the late 18th century. Between 1543 and 1700, Europe underwent many changesRead MoreA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens1420 Words   |  6 PagesThe era surrounding the French Revolution was a horrifically bloody and violent period of history – the best of times and the worst of times. The violence enacted by the citizens of French on their fellow countrymen set a gruesome scene in the cities and country sides of France. Charles Dickens uses a palate of storm, wine, and blood imagery in A Tale of Two Cities to paint exactly how tremendously brutal this period of time was. Dickens use of storm imagery throughout his novel illustrates to theRead MoreThe Black Jacobins : A Response For Scott s Conscripts Of Modernity880 Words   |  4 Pagesperspective of D. Scott’s Conscripts of Modernity (2004). To that effect, I shall proceed as follows: (i) I will deliver a succint account of the historical role played by the Jacobins vis-à  -vis the interlocution between the Haitian and the French revolutions. (ii) I will compare and contrast James’s discourse and Scott’s meta-discourse on these historical events. I shall do so by drawing upon the metaphor as the main figurative idiom through which black sovereignty is accounted for. (iii) I willRead MoreAnalysis on To Ireland in the Coming Times1608 Words   |  7 Pagesaffection for Ireland and his people can be seen in many of his poems. In â€Å"To Ireland in the coming times† Yeats passion for Ireland and the revolution against Britain at the time can be seen in his writing. Ireland was undergoing a transition from a nation under British rule to a nation of its own with an identity. Many poets, Yeats included, helped fuel this revolution through their writing. Yeats theme through out the poem is consistent; Ireland is a strong nation and no matter what the obstacles theRead MoreThe Revolution Will Not Be Televised Critical Analysis Essay910 Words   |  4 PagesThe Revolution Will Not Be Televised is a poem and song by Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron first recorded it for his 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, on which he recited the lyrics, accompanied by congas and bongo drums. The message of the song is the elusive nature of political cult ure in Nixons America and the inability of the mainstream to capture the real heart of the people. Heron uses cultural refrences from the 1970s to express his angerin the 1970s. What he is trying relay in