Violence and revolution

   Violence and revolution

The French revolution has been considered as one of the bloodiest periods in history. The violence that occurred in France during the late 18th century was persistent and it kept  increasing as the revolution progressed. The peasants´ riots and constant comparisons to the British in their stable political system illustrated how unstable the Parisians were becoming and therefore, their violence grew into the most atrocious, cruel and inhuman acts for which they lacked in themselves all power to control it. Apart from that, the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy disturbed the crowds and for this reason, demands for change were formulated. In the novel ´A tale of two Cities´, Dickens deals with the impetuosity of the French Revolution from two different aspects.

On the one hand, he supports the cause of the revolution. Throughout the novel it is clearly described how the vicious aristocracy imposes their power and exploits the nation's poor violently. An example of this is a scene in the novel in which an aristocrat kills a child with the wheel of his carriage and casually throws the parents a coin to compensate for their loss. This is one of the reasons for which he unequivocally emphasizes the need for the peasantry to be liberated.

On the other hand, Dickens describes the indiscriminate violence caused by the revolution. He clearly stands out the subversive acts carried out by the revolutionaries themselves. Apart from that, he criticizes the cruelty in the peasants´strategies in overcoming the oppression since they uphold the violence that themselves have suffered. A horrid  example which describes the cruelty of the peasants´actions is the scene in which the people sharpen their weapons and dance the Carmagnole.

To conclude this essay, it is important to stand out that through this novel not only  have we had  the chance to get a more detailed image as regards the savageness and ferocity of the French Revolution, but we have also been able to observe how this period become a symbol of conversion and resurrection.