For example, the guillotine symbolizes fear when chaos erupts in France. Slowly, their fear takes them over and “beheads” them which results in death. Another symbolic item is the wine—it is significant because the Defarges ran a wine shop rather than another type of shop. The wine symbolizes intoxication; the Revolutionaries are “drunk” on their power which results in their unfounded behavior. Also, red wine in this novel can be symbolized as the blood of the citizens. When red wine was spilled due to an accident, it foreshadows that there would be blood and vengeance. Ironically, the red wine was spilled next to the Defarges’ wine shop. Lastly, knitting plays a huge role in the deaths of many people. When Madame Defarge is knitting, she is condemning people to death—whereas to Lucie, she is considered to be the “golden thread” that grasps the family in …show more content…
But, what is the difference between historical fiction and history? History is just facts that you need to memorize; historical fiction is something more than that—it gives the readers insight of the character’s mind. For example, in A Tale of Two Cities, we learned the true reasoning on why Madame Defarge wanted to seek revenge against the Marques. Rather than absorbing facts, readers can feel like they are characters in this story. Nevertheless, this novel contains an enormous amount of historical information that took place in the French Revolution. It was a time where violence, political scandal, and misusage of power