- Well, this opening may be a bit on the nose, but sure, I take your point, Dickens: we're in France; the people of France love wine; the streets of France will soon run red not with wine but with blood. (Special thanks to the dude who actually writes "BLOOD" on the wall in red wine. We got it.)
- Then we get what feels like classic Dickens--what people are talking about when they describe something as Dickensian, a lot of the time. (Sometimes they mean charming British-looking winter scenes, like the little ceramic village my Grandma puts out at Christmas. But a lot of the time they're describing this kind of abject poverty, streets full of people who think Oliver Twist is too well-fed even without getting that second bowl of gruel he wanted.) The people of France are in a bad way, and the wealthy--the "birds, fine of song and feather"--aren't paying any attention to the state of the poor (the "scarecrows".)
- Madame Defarge and her knitting: keep an eye on her.
- All this "Jacques" business goes beyond Monsieur Defarge's name; it is also a nickname for French peasants. You're going to want to look for any kind of class signifiers, because class was at the heart of the looming French Revolution.
Takeaways:
It's hard to tell where Monsieur Defarge stands with regard to Monsieur Manette. On the one hand, he is putting him up, and he seems to care about him--but on the other hand, it's a strange arrangement.
I think it is strange too, what is a former doctor/prisoner connection with Monsieur Defarge. And you are right they Dickens spends a lot of time on Monsieur Defarge and his wife, it probably is because they play more important roles than is apparent.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about the way Monsieur Defarge's wife tries to get his attention just so she can be introduced. :)