Preview

Similarities Between Charles Darnay And Louis Xvi

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
820 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Similarities Between Charles Darnay And Louis Xvi
Charles Darnay and Louis XVI, at first glance, to be very different people. In fact, they are very similar in lifestyle, social class, and personality. While one was the right person at the wrong time one was a remorseful person born to unfortunate family. However unlike Darnay. Louis was very indecisiveness and lacked confidence which is essential to rule a country.
Charles Darnay, born Charles Evremonde, was born into the upper-class alongside his uncle Marquis Evremonde. Unlike his nephew, the Marquis had no sympathy for the lower-class. For example, the Marquis hit a young boy with his carriage and showed no remorse for it. Giving the boy’s father a coin for compensation. Charles saw what his uncle was doing and was disgusted for how he treated the poor. He talked with his uncle trying to convince to stop his ways saying how he “believes our name to be more detested than any name in France.”(Dickens 118). His uncle replied how “Detestation of the high is the involuntary of the low.” (Dickens 118)The Marquis knows what he is doing and is doing nothing for the poor. Seeing how the poor class fed up with
…show more content…
Both were people who wanted best for everyone. Though mostly close in character though they couldn’t be further from each each other. Charles Darnay represents justice and that there is not all is at it seems. Born into aristocracy he was sickened by how the upperclass extorted the poor, and wished he could do something to stop, but was unable to. Louis was born into the royal family and expected great things from. While he had compassion for his people the damages his forefathers had caused lead his people’s resentment for the crown and eventual death. Charles tried helping the people but left when he realized that his uncle would never help. Louis also tried helping his people but his supporting of the American Revolution which added to crippling French treasury and lead to massive

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    James and Charles were considerably different in their beliefs and attitudes. James was a confident and extravagant king and Charles was ill at ease and lacked confidence.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Louis XIV strove vigorously for supremacy in foreign affairs. He was to use his foreign policy to establish a universal monarchy for himself or alternatively to use it to secure natural frontiers for France thus improving its defenses. He worked successfully to create an absolutist and centralized state. During his reign Louis was involved in four major wars, some of which Louis may be accountable as the provocateur; however, I believe that mainly his motives were purely defensive. The war of Devolution served as a pretext which nettled him part of Flanders, although the Dutch then moved against him with the Triple Alliance. Louis was determined to crush Holland and this began the third of the Dutch wars, which depleted his treasury. Louis proved an incredibly extravagant spender, dispensing huge sums of money to finance the royal court. The following ten years the king limited his policies to diplomacy. Louis continued the nobility's exemption from taxes but forced its member into financial dependence to the crown and the provincial nobles also lost political power. Louis does have a genuine concern for his country and despite his dubious methods he does manage to secure the territories that he wishes to secure. He curtailed local authorities and created specialized ministries. Louis's grandson retained the Spanish throne but the war of Spanish Succession left France in great debt and a weakened military. Louis used the bourgeoisie to build his centralized bureaucracy. He illustrated new administrative methods to make him more in control. Louis's general Colbert worked to improve the French economy. Colbert worked to create a favorable balance of trade and increase France's colonial holdings. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing and bringing the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. He reduced the national debt through more efficient taxation. His principal taxation devices included the aides, the douanes, the…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Louis XIV was a man of strength and courage with many ambitions that he was fully determined to achieve. He dedicated most of his rule taking steps to accomplish the goal of “one king, one law, one faith” for the country of France. By one king he aimed for the ruler to have supreme power over armies, government bureaucracy, and culture. This would eventually lead to the overall influence of the French upon other countries and their kings. By way of one law he aspired for the nobles to no longer rule over separate states but for one government with supreme power. King Louis had a desire for an absolute monarchy. As a result he would not be legally bound by any institutions or other persons in the country. This inclination was not easily met or as successful as he had hoped. Louis XIV sought religious unity between the French people, one faith. To do this he revoked the Edict of Nantes. King Louis XIV did not achieve his entire goal to the extent which he had anticipated but overall he was victorious, leaving a huge impact and influence on the French society and Europe as a whole.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    William Jefferson Clinton was one of the greatest presidents to govern the United States as opposed to the Bush's. Clinton proved to the world our preeminence by way of control, economic growth, and policies ranging from Israel to social security. The Bush's proved to the world that they won the election. Louis XIV and the Stuart Kings also compare in similar ways. Louis XIV was a sound leader whose foresight and character led to the greatness of France, along with delegating authority to great economic and military leaders. The Stuart Kings possessed no foresight or character, many thought of them as stupid and stubborn, and the way they governed their country was reckless. Louis XIV prospered through absolute control, economic growth, and military reform. Where as, the Stuart Kings failure was due to no real control, economic turmoil, and civil war. The most important factor in the success of Louis XIV and the failure of the Stuart Kings was control.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Firstly,they were both autocrats,in that all decisions of state had to be approved by them.Secondly,they both wanted to curb the power of an ambitious nobility.However,they achieved this aim differently; Louis made his court at Versailles the centre of power,so the nobility had to spend all their time there if they wanted to have any influence.This kept them away from their own provincial power bases,making it hard for them to plot against the king.Peter on the other hand tortured and murdered any nobles he suspected of disloyalty.The main difference between the two was that Louis was ruling a cultural advanced,modern state - Russia under Peter was still very backward compared to major European states,so Peter worked hard to modernize Russia.Finally,both built up strong armies and used them for territorial expansion, thus increasing the prestige of their countries. Firstly,they were both autocrats,in that all decisions of state had to be approved by them.Secondly,they both wanted to curb the power of an ambitious nobility.However,they achieved this aim differently; Louis made his court at Versailles the centre of power,so the nobility had to spend all their time there if they wanted to have any influence.This kept them away from their own provincial power bases,making it hard for them to plot against the king.Peter on the other hand tortured and murdered any nobles he suspected of disloyalty.The main difference between the two was that Louis was ruling a cultural advanced,modern state - Russia under Peter was still very backward compared to major European states,so Peter worked hard to modernize Russia.Finally,both built up strong armies and used them for territorial expansion, thus increasing the prestige of their…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Stating the fact the if his father had not died, Louis Auguste wouldn't have become the next throne. At least until later on. Louis Auguste was ill prepared for the throne, considering he was very young. When he inherited the throne as Louis XVI, France was in a massive debt. He was immature, lacked self-confidence and also lacked sufficient strength of character and decisiveness. Due to those terms, he was a weak king. If his father was still the king, France wouldn't be as burdened with debts and under heavy taxation as to how it was during Louis Auguste being the king. Louis XIV had a brilliant minister of finance, named Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who drastically reduced the debt of France and helped make it the wealthiest country in Europe.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Intro Carl Brashear and Charles D’antoine had very similar lives. Both being a different colour to the white republic these men showed how determined they were. However Carl Brashear was racially abused and Charles was discriminated against due to the colour of his skin. Carl Brashear Carl Brashear was a United States Navy sailor. He was the first African American to become a U.S. Navy Master Diver, climbing to the position in 1970.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Evrémonde was shown in the book to have little respect for anything, especially humans. Dickens writes this out clearly in the novel to show the true Marquis through several occurrences. Before the Revolution, Marquis was with his twin brother who was still alive in this time. Marquis then raped Madam Defarge’s sister and in doing so took her innocence away from her. This being the vampire trait that Foster had written about in his book, that an old attractive man would violate a woman, taking her innocence and leave his mark. Her brother was also in critical condition after Evrémonde had stabbed him. When the doctor arrived it was already too late for the both of them. With this Evrémonde made sure in every way that the doctor, Mannete, wouldn’t speak a word of what truly had occurred. Though Evrémonde tried his hardest and thought he had succeeded, the true story would eventually make its way out to the public. Later in the story, Evrémonde, during the revolution, was going through town on his carriage where struck and killed a boy. He then showed no sympathy towards the family by offering the father a few coins to show sarcastically how sorrowful he was for what he had done.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Charlemagne and King Louis have very similar social backgrounds because they both were born in a royal family and took the throne as kings. Charlemagne was born in 742,in the Merovingian family, from with the franks chose their kings from. He was the son of Beterada of Laon and Pepin the Short. His father became the king of franks in 751. After Pepin’s death in 768, Charlemagne became the co-ruler with his brother, Carloman. But about three years later, Carloman died in 711, leaving Charlemagne the sole ruler and king of the Franks. Charlemagne had multiple wives…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this quotation, Dickens is trying to show the sympathy Charles Darnay got from the people, who moments ago where cheering to get him killed. "(...) tears immediately rolled down several ferocious countenances," Dickens wrote. He wanted the reader to know the nature of these people in the French Revolution. Dickens wanted us to see the cold hearted ways of these people, but he also wanted us to see why they did it,…

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Allied Powers assigned Charles X to be king even though he was the younger brother of Charles XVIII , France’s ruler before Napoleon’s rule . The nation had revolutions at the late 1700s breaking their social class system, denying people of the higher class to have hereditary rights giving the poor a better life. Another revolution is predicted to rise today with their government issues waking up the battle of liberalism vs conservatism once more.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The French Revolution was a time period of rebellion in the late 1700s throughout France. Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities roughly sixty years after the French Revolution, starting as installments in a magazine then publishing his works in a book. The French Revolution was a time when man was extremely inhumane to his fellow man. This inhumanity is seen throughout Dickens’ novel in many ways. He proves that the cycle of man’s inhumanity to man is never ending when people come to watch Darnay’s trial for entertainment, the Marquis kills Gaspard’s child, and the Evermonde brothers kill Madame Defarge’s family.…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One way in which Robespierre and Louis XVI of France are similar is that both…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Charles Darnay Essay

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the character Charles Darnay is a man in his twenties, with long, dark hair. He is a man full of honor and virtues, and seems like the "upstanding gentleman" in the story. His rejection of his uncle, the Marquis Évremonde, because of his arrogance and snobby attitude, shows how good-hearted he is. He has no real enemies or hatred towards anyone, but manages to maintain a strong retinue of friends, and his honesty, respect and heroism help with the reader's perception of him greatly.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The nationalist perspective of King Louis XIV is that the head of the country is the nation and for society to prosper the people have to be willing to serve and follow the leader’s will. The source’s perspective can be shown throughout history by the beliefs and values he had during his reign in France. The source believed in the uses of a social hierarchy and the absolute monarch. The social hierarchy benefited the people who were part of the Roman Catholic Clergy or nobility. These people received privileges and were not required to pay taxes. The rest of the population had a difficult and challenging way of living. They were required to serve the king by paying taxes which lead to poor living conditions, in which some died from starvation. The absolute monarch allowed all the power in France to be consolidated in the hands of the king. This allowed for King Louis XIV to be the main voice in France and gave the power to decide how the country will operate. These ideals were the main contributions to start of the French Revolution, many people felt that they deserved better rights which lead the nation members to revolt and seek a better constitution. The source would disagree with J.D Vance’s idea to bridge the gap between the rich and poor. King Louis XIV would believe that he should not have to…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays