Examining Violence and Death Themes in 'A Tale of Two Cities' Play

This essay explores the themes of violence and death in Matthew Dunster's stage adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities," performed at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London. The analysis focuses on the characters of Sydney Carton and Madame Defarge to illustrate these themes. Carton's character embodies the glorification of death through self-sacrifice, as he willingly gives his life to ensure the happiness of Lucie, her husband, and their child, ultimately achieving a Christ-like status and symbolizing rebirth. Conversely, Madame Defarge represents the destructive nature of violence and revenge, highlighting its tragic consequences as her pursuit of retribution leads to her own demise. The essay contrasts these two characters to demonstrate how death can be portrayed as either a noble sacrifice or a self-destructive force, ultimately concluding that while Carton's death is glorified, Defarge's is a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked violence.

Running Head: A PLAY REPRESENTING THEMES OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH
A PLAY REPRESENTING THEMES OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH
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Author Note

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A PLAY REPRESENTING THEMES OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH
Recently, Matthew Dunster has wonderfully showcased romance, sacrifice, violence
and peace in a single play named “The Tale Of Two Cities” . The play was staged in the
Open Air Theatre at Regent's Park, London, as a part of their 2017 session. It was basically, a
beautiful recreation of all the incidents mentioned in the novel “Tale of Two Cities” by
Charles Dickens. The background of the play was the turbulence during French revolution.
The theme of violence and death were beautifully represented through the natural flow of the
narrative as well as the interaction between the characters.
The theme of death was introduced with the help of the character of Sydney Carton,
one of the central and dynamic characters of the play. His first appearance was not at all
impressive. He was projected as an idle, alcoholic person, who did not value his own
existence but had a budding feeling of love for a young, gentle, passionate woman named
Lucie. He was determined to do anything for Lucie or for those whom Lucie loved. Carton
saved the life of Charles Darney (Charles Evremonde), to whom Lucie was married and
ultimately turned into a sacrificial victim. Carton had to die for the sins committed by
Evremonde twins. Thus, Carton emerged like a hero who welcomed death in order to gift her
love Lucie, her husband and child a peaceful life. Carton’s death elevated his image and
projected Carton as a Christ-like figure. All these ensured the rebirth of Carton in the minds
of those he died to protect. Thus, death is glorified all through the play. The flow of the
narrative established a connection of Carton’s death with the destruction of the conventional
regime in France which paved the way for the beautiful and new Paris.
The theme of violence reflected through the establishment of the character of Madame
Defarge, an usher of the French revolution. She was the embodiment of the chaos created at
the time of French revolution. She nourished extreme hatred for the aristocrats. She was

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A PLAY REPRESENTING THEMES OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH
aggressive to take revenge from the innocent Charles Darney his wife Lucie as well as his
child, for the offences committed by Charles Darney’s uncle. She tried to utilise the
outrageous peasants to pursue her goal of making them retribute. In the process of harming
some innocents she unknowingly invited her own death which occurred at the hands of Miss
Pross by a weapon owned by Madame Defarge herself. Here the play portrays the tragic
consequences of getting blind in the urge of getting revenge. This gives the message that
excessive violence may lead to self-destruction.
Both Madame Defarge and Sydney Carton wanted to bring happiness through death.
Carton sacrificed his own life in order to bring happiness to the life of his love. On the other
hand, Madame Defarge wanted to destroy the lives of some innocent aristocrats, to satisfy her
hunger for revenge. She falsely assumed that this could also bring happiness and equality to
the society.
In the conclusion it can be said that, in spite of the fact that Madame Defarge was
concerned about bringing revolutionary changes by abolishing the regime of the aristocrats;
her death was not glorified as she intended to cause harm to some innocents. Her life is the
projection of the theme of violence and its dreadful consequences. On the other hand, all
Carton welcomed his own death so that his love could live in peace. Thus, in case of Carton,
the glory of sacrifice was merged to the theme of death.

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A PLAY REPRESENTING THEMES OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH
References
Charles, C. (2015). A Tale of Two Cities: Illustrated. eKitap Projesi via PublishDrive.
Giddings, R. (2018). A Tale of Two Cities and the Cold War. In British cinema of the 1950s.
Manchester University Press.
Glancy, R. (2013). Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities: A Routledge Study Guide and
Sourcebook. Routledge.
Glancy, R. F. (2014). A Tale of Two Cities: An Annotated Bibliography. Routledge.