Revenge

After answering the discussion question about revenge this week, I kept thinking about revenge and the awful things that it can cause. I have now finished "A Tale of Two Cities," and there are so many great examples of revenge in the book. The character of Madame Defarge becomes so caught up in repaying the aristocracy of France that she turns herself into an evil, bloodthirsty woman who cares about nothing else. The want to have revenge on the noblemen completely overtakes and consumes her to the point where she only wants to kill everyone that has anything to do with that class of people. I have found some great quotes about revenge and what can happen if we do not forgive. After each one I will explain what they have to do with Madame Defarge and and what the price of revenge can be.

 “Revenge is sweeter than life itself. So think fools.”
-Juvenal

  Throughout the book, Madame Defarge tries to convince herself of this statement and that her life will be happier if she takes revenge on the aristocracy of France. She is turned into a fool by thinking this is true.

“There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.”
-Josh Billings

 This quote is so true, but Madame Defarge is too proud to realize that forgiveness might be a better option for her bitterness. She has buried herself so deep into the revolution that she thinks it is much too late for forgiveness now. She is not willing to forgive the children of the people that were awful to her family. Even though Charles Darnay is innocent, she can't see past the fact that he is a descendant of the Evremonde family.

 “By taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing over it, he is superior.”
 -Unknown

This quote tells us that we can be the bigger person if we forgive and forget the wrong things people have done to us. Madame Defarge is not in the least bit willing to forget the things that the Evremonde brothers for the pain that they caused her to suffer as a young girl. She would rather become even with her enemies by causing them to die rather than become superior to them by forgiving them.

 “Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themselves.
-Phaedrus

There isn't a quote that could come closer to resembling what happens to Madame Defarge at the end of the book. She is so caught up in causing other people to fall that she never thinks twice about the fact that she could be killed herself. She is consumed with taking revenge and so like this quote says, she falls herself from being shot by Miss Pross.

Reading "A Tale of Two Cities" has really helped to see how revenge can kill just as strongly as a gun shot. The revolutionaries in the book want to take revenge so badly that they are driven by repaying the aristocracy, and they can't think about anything else. The French Revolution is an event in history that I hope we can learn from, and that we won't be so bloodthirsty for revenge that it will take over our lives.