The criticism toward revolutionaries as revealed in Charles Dickens` A Tale Of Two Cities - USD Repository
THE CRITICISM TOWARD REVOLUTIONARIES AS REVEALED IN CHARLES DICKENS’ A TALE OF TWO CITIES AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
BENEDIKTUS BANGUN BAWOKO
Student Number: 054214106
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
THE CRITICISM TOWARD REVOLUTIONARIES AS REVEALED IN CHARLES DICKENS’ A TALE OF TWO CITIES AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
BENEDIKTUS BANGUN BAWOKO
Student Number: 054214106
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
Any law which violates the inalienable
Any Law which violates the inalienable
rights of man is essentially unjust and
tyrannical: it is not a law at allBy Maximilien Rabespierre Dedicated for: My Lord, Jesus Christ My only grandmother, Soerahni
My Father, Frans Puji Susetyo My Mother, Endang kuswilambagni My sister, Fransiska Cita Sari My brother, Rian
My beloved girl-friend, Yosephin Artiani
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to God the Almighty, the writer has completed this thesis to fulfill one of the requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letter, Sanata Dharma University.
The writer realizes completely that the thesis is far from perfect, so there might be errors in the content as well as in the language. Besides, the writer would not be able to do a lot without the guidance and help from people who have enabled the writer to complete this thesis. Therefore on this opportunity, the writer would like to thank Ms. Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S, M.Hum as the advisor and Ms. Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S, M.Hum as the co-advisor who have given the writer suggestion and support in writing this thesis.
The writer would also like to thank Mr and Mrs. Frans Puji Susetyo, the writer parents who have given motivation, support, and prayer night and day, Ms.
Soerahni the writer grandmother, the writer sibling Rian and Cita, the writer beloved girl friend Yosephin Artiani, the writer uncles and aunts, the writer friends James, Galih, Bruno, Sindhu, Aris, Norie Paramitha, Herni.
Last but not means least; the writer owes a great debt of gratitude to all the lectures of English Letters for giving knowledge and sharing their experiences to the writer.
Criticism and suggestion from other sides are hoped by the writer for the sake of the improvement of this thesis. Hopefully, this thesis will be useful and add new knowledge to the readers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................ i
APPROVAL PAGE ...................................................................................... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ................................................................................. iii
MOTTO PAGE ............................................................................................. iv
DEDICATION PAGE ................................................................................... v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ..................... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................... viii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... x
ABSTRAK ..................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1
A. Background of the Study ................................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation ......................................................................... 5 C. Objectives of the Study ..................................................................... 5 D. Definition of Terms ........................................................................... 5CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ............................................... 7
A. Review of Related Studies ................................................................ 7 B. Review of Related Theories .............................................................. 101. Theory of Character ..................................................................... 10
2. Theory of Conflict ........................................................................ 11
3. Theory of Plot ............................................................................... 12
4. Theory of Social injustice ............................................................. 13
5. Theory of Justice ........................................................................... 13
6. Theory of Power injustice ............................................................. 14
7. Theory of Revolutionaries ........................................................... 14
8. Theory of Social class .................................................................. 15
C. Review on the historical background ................................................. 15
D. Theoretical Framework ...................................................................... 20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................ 22
A. Object of the Study ............................................................................ 22 B. Approach of the Study ....................................................................... 23 C. Method of the Study .......................................................................... 23CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ......................................................................... .25
b. Complication ............................................................................ 30
c. Climax ....................................................................................... 33
d. Denouement .............................................................................. 34
2. The injustices caused by Revolutionaries .................................... 36
a. Illegal justice ............................................................................. 36
b. Social injustices ........................................................................ 37
c. Power Injustices ........................................................................ 37
d. Inter-Personal Injustices ........................................................... 37
B. Criticism toward revolutionaries as experienced by characters ....................................................................................... 38
1. Related to the Injustices ............................................................... 39
a. Illegal injustices ........................................................................ 39
b. Social injustices ........................................................................ 40
c. Power injustices ........................................................................ 41
d. Inter-personal injustices ............................................................ 42
2. Related to Revolutionaries ........................................................... 43
a. French Citizens ......................................................................... 43
b. Monsignor Defarge and Madame Defarge ............................... 47
c. Solomon Pross or John Barsad ................................................. 50
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .................................................................... 51
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 54APPENDICES ............................................................................................... 56
a. Summary ................................................................................... 57
b. Mapping .................................................................................... 64
ABSTRACT
BENEDIKTUS BANGUN BAWOKO. The Criticism toward Revolutionaries
as Revealed in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Yogyakarta: Department
of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.We can get a satisfaction as well as knowledge when reading literature. There are positive values in literature that give us reflection and suggestion to follow in our life. Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is a kind of the example of literature. Charles Dickens wrote the novel about the French revolution based on his experiences. However, his perspective about revolution is different from others. Dickens criticizes that there are injustices which have been done by revolutionaries towards the aristocrats and the innocent victims. Therefore, the writer is interested to analyze the injustices caused by revolutionaries towards the aristocrats who used to be unjust as criticism toward the revolutionaries.
There are two questions that have to be answered in this thesis. The questions are what the injustices are caused by revolutionaries as reflected in the plot and how the novel reveals criticism toward Revolutionaries as experienced by characters in A Tale of Two Cities.
This study is a library research. The primary source is Charles Dickens’s A
Tale of Two Cities, while the secondary resources are some books of literature,
and sociology. In this thesis, socio-cultural-historical approach is used because it talks about the social condition in which a work was created and which it necessarily reflects. Therefore this approach is the most suitable to be used in analyzing the criticism toward revolutionaries.
There are two points that can be concluded after analyzing the novel. First, through the depiction of plot, there are injustices that have been done by revolutionaries. They are illegal justice, social injustices, power injustices, and inter-personal injustices. Those happened because of the revolutionaries’ hatred toward the aristocrats. Second, the novel tells the criticism toward the revolutionaries. This happens because of Revolutionaries’ hatred in the past. There are two criticisms such as criticism related to the injustices and related to the revolutionaries. First, the revolutionaries themselves have conducted violence which in turn also oppresses their enemy and this causes the injustices. The revolutionaries have turned from the ones who are oppressed to become arrogant oppressors themselves. Second, the revolutionaries only think about their own benefits and revenge.
.
ABSTRAK
BENEDIKTUS BANGUN BAWOKO. The Criticism toward Revolutionaries
as Revealed in A Tale of Two Cities. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris,
Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.Kita akan mendapatkan kenikmatan tersendiri dengan membaca karya sastra. Bukan hanya itu, kita juga akan mendapatkan pengetahuan. Di dalam sastra, terdapat nilai-nilai yang postif yang dapat kita cerminkan dan diterapkan dikehidupan nyata. Salah satunya karya novel dari Charles Dickens A Tale of Two
Cities. Beliau menulisnya sesuai dengan apa yang dia ketahui mengenai revolusi
Perancis. Akan tetapi, sudut pandangnya terhadap nilai-nilai yang ada di dalam revolusi berbeda dengan para pengarang lainya. Dickens mengkritik adanya ketidakadilan yang dilakukan revolusionaris terhadap kaum aristocrat dan orang- orang yang tidak bersalah. Oleh karena itu, saya tertarik untuk menganalisa ketidakadilan yang dilakukan para revolusionaris terhadap aristokrat yang sebelumnya bersikap tidak adil sebagai kritik terhadap revolusionaris.
Ada dua pertanyaan harus dijawab dalam tesis ini, yaitu ketidakadilan apa saja yang di sebabkan oleh revolusionaris yang terefleksikan di dalam plot dan bagaimana novel A Tale of Two Cities mengungkapkan kritik terhadap revolusionaris yang dialami oleh para karakter.
Skripsi ini adalah studi pustaka. Sumbernya adalah novel A Tale of Two
Cities karya Charles Dickens dan buku-buku sastra serta buku kemasyarakatan.
Pendekatan yang paling sesuai adalah sosiokultural historikal sebab membahas kondisi sosial saat karya sastra diciptakan..Ada dua kesimpulan setelah menganalisis novel ini. Pertama, melalui penggambaran plot, ada ketidakadilan yang dilakukan oleh para revolusionaris. Diantaranya, tidak adil di dalam hukum, sosial, penggunaan kekuasaan, dan ketidakadilan yang ditunjukan antar-personal. Hal-hal tersebut dilakukan oleh para revolutionaris karena rasa benci terhadap para aristokrat. Kedua, novel tersebut menceritakan kritik terhadap para revolusionaris. Hal tersebut didasarkan rasa benci mereka di masa lalu. Ada dua bentuk kritik seperti kritik yang behubungan dengan ketidakadilan dan berhubungan dengan revolusionaris. Pertama, para revolutionaris telah menyebabkan kekerasan yang merubah mereka menjadi orang yang menindas mush mereka dan hal ini menyebabkan ketidakadilan. Mereka menjadi sombong karena telah menjadi penindas. Kedua, para revolutionaris hanya memikirkan tentang keuntungan semata dan balas dendam.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature is one of the great creative works and is an expression of
communicating the emotion, spiritual, or intellectual of mankind. It helps the readers to develop their knowledge and personality. It also gives pleasure as well as knowledge to the readers. The real condition in our life becomes the inspiration for a writer to produce a literary work. Thus, literature is important for our life as it contains the real life of human being, such as love, beauty, injustices, conflicts, and so on. The most important thing in literary work is the idea and the writer’s feeling about life.
Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities contains his private experiences in life, the value of truth, and the description of French people’s effort to change the legal government of the old regime as a protest. French Revolution as a process of history includes many aspects of life. Through the portrait of life at that time including the values of truth and beauty in literature, the readers can be brought back to the history and are taught about lessons in the past so they might realize how important they are when applied in their daily life in society. Many of Dickens’ novels are about the unsatisfactory social conditions of its time. A Tale
of Two Cities is one of his two attempts at a historical novel. It was published in
1859 and is about a story of the French Revolution (1789). The scene is laid in the two cities of London and Paris and the time action is from 1757 to 1793.
According to Graham Little in Approach to Literature, he defined literature as follows: Literature is the principle element of a culture. It contains the record of values, thoughts, problems, and conflicts, that are transmitted either through written or spoken words. With such acknowledgment, literature state as a tool to pass the experience from one generation to the next. Literature, then, functions as a representation of the situation time and place (1981: 1). In other words, literature is media to represent the social reality of human beings life. Moreover, the writer found that a literary work becomes a good reflection of the society where the work is written. By reading a literary work, the readers can find out the value that set in the novel. Literature is one elements of culture. It contains values, thought, problems, and conflicts. Literature stands as the way to reflect our experience from one generation to next generation.
Literature has also a function as describing of situation happened in certain setting time and place.
Theory of literature by Rene Welleck and Austin Warren also states that “Literature represents life and life is in large and the inner of subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary imitation” (1956: 94). By reading literature, the readers can learn about social condition in a certain area and in a certain time because literature and life can be an object as the imitation of the reality.
Rene Welleck and Warren give the explanation to strengthen the background above, literature represents the side or outside the writers’ life which include their life, their society’s phenomenon to their works (1956 pg.102). social realities which are artistically portrayed by the author. The author himself can be the member of the society.
The late seventeenth century is marked by extremities. For the aristocrats in France and rising middle class in England, it was the best of times for they are living in the pleasures and extravagance of life. For the poor, it was the worst of times for they are dying of poverty. In England, everything was going well and the people were generally happy while France was in need of reform and was not a good place to live in. A Tale of Two Cities is filled with romance, action, and violence. It is a story of the people of two countries struggling to rise out of poverty and cruelty. It is a story of friendship, love and freedom.
The novel opens in November 1775 when Dr. Manette is being taken back to London by Mr. Lorry and Lucie Manette. Eighteen years earlier, Dr.
Manette was taken by the Evremonde brothers to help the woman they had assaulted and her brother who was dying of a sword wound. He is imprisoned after he threatens to tell officials what has happened. After being imprisoned, Dr. Manette writes a letter explaining what happened with the Evremonde brothers and hides it in the wall of his cell. After Dr. Manette is out of prison, his daughter Lucie tries to restore his memory and his strength. Charles Darnay is tried and acquitted of treason in 1780. The next year, Lucie and Darnay are married and in 1793, they have a daughter.
While the Manette’s are trying to regain their life, the middle and lower class in Paris are starting a revolution. In July 1789, the revolutionaries storm the Tower. When Charles Darnay tries to help Gabelle escape from jail in France, he is caught and thrown in prison. The revolutionaries sympathize with Dr. Manette and agree to imprison Darnay. The same night Darnay is released from prison, he is taken back on charges brought on by the Defarge's. Madam Defarge wanted revenge for her sister's assault by Darnay's uncle and other relatives. Defarge submits the letter he found from in Dr. Manette’s jail cell and Darnay is charged for the crimes of his ancestors and sentenced to die. That night in the Defarge’s wine shop, Sydney Carton overhears Madam Defarge talking about executing Lucie and her daughter too. Carton arranges for the Manette immediate departure from France Carton visits Darnay in prison, drugs him, and takes his place to die.
As Darnay, Lucie, their child and Dr. Manette speed away from Paris, Madame Defarge arrives at Lucie’s apartment, hoping to arrest her. There she finds the supremely protective Miss Pross. A scuffle ensues, and Madame Defarge dies by the bullet of her own gun. Sydney Carton dies at the guillotine, finally bringing meaning to his life.
A Tale of Two Cities concerns with the injustices and cruelty as the
conflict and the writer is interested in revealing the injustice as the problem through plot during the process of the French Revolution. That is why the writer chooses the novel as the object of study.
B. Problem Formulation
This part contains the questions to be analyzed and based on the explanation of the background above. There are two questions that appear in this section. The questions are:
1. What are the injustices caused by the revolutionaries as reflected in the development of the plot?
2. How does the novel reveal criticism toward Revolutionaries as experienced by the characters through the plot in A Tale of Two Cities?
C. Objectives of the study
Based on the problems formulations stated above, the first objective is about the several injustices caused by the revolutionaries as reflected in the plot.
The writer finds the content of the plot that is the injustices after analyzing the plot. Then the writer highlights the injustices and forms it into several injustices.
The second objective, the writer elaborate the explanation of question number one, to reveal the criticism itself through the injustices happened in the novel.
Thus, the second question will provide the evidence to reveal criticism towards the revolutionaries as seen in the novel.
D. Definition of term
This part consists of the prominent terminologies for the readers to understand. In order to understand this paper better, French Revolution and Revolutionaries are needed to answer the question in problem formulation.
1. French Revolution
French Revolution is happened in between 1789 and 1802; France was wrecked by a revolution which radically changed the government, administration, and military series of wars. France went from largely feudal state under an absolutist monarch to a republic which executed King Louis XVI (using of guillotine) and then to an empire under the regime of Napoleon Bonaparte. http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/thefrenchrevolution/p/ovfrenchrev.htm.
2.
Revolutionaries
Revolutionaries or French people are people who overthrew their ancient government in 1789. They took as their slogan the famous phrase "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite". Equality, or doing away with privilege, was the most important part of the slogan to the French revolutionists. For equality they were willing to sacrifice their political liberty. They did this when they accepted the rule of Napoleon I. Fraternity, or brotherhood with all men, was also sacrificed.
http://history- However, they did win equality before the law. world.org/french_revolution.htm 05/05/2010.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel by Charles Dickens. Thus, people
give comments and suggestion to criticize the literary works. It proves that they enjoy reading the story. They give an explanation to their comments and it helps the writer to get the information to analyze the works.
“If all French noblemen had been as willing to abandon their privilege as Darnay, if all intellectuals had been as willing to expose abuses as Dr. Mannete; if all men were as willing to make sacrifices for their fellows as Sidney Carton; then, we are expected to assume the world would be a far better place, in which revolutions would no longer take place and prisons would not build for men to buried in” (Woodcock; 1970, 22). Based on the quote above, Woodcock criticized the society life that punishes members of the nobility and even the innocent. This gives a suggestion how to avoid the society’s anger. If they abandoned their privilege like Darnay and act as gentlemen like Mannete and Sydney at that time, the French noblemen would not create the worse condition, which may bring terror to others. Unfortunately, Dickens did not give suggestions on an ideal type of society as an example. He raised the criticism on the French Aristocrats attitude at that time, which made the social abuses without taking care of others. Woodcock also expected The French government and its people to have such a personality as Charles and Sydney have, so that the world could be better. Woodcock explains that Darnay has a willingness to renounce the inheritance of his family and his position as nobleman. Moreover, he explains the value of being savior that Sydney Carton has sacrificed his life for Darnay and his family.
The writer also gives another quote to improve the thesis and in order to give additional knowledge about the situation happening during The Revolution.
’It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only”. http://www.answers.com/topic/a-tale-of-two-cities- novel-7
The passage shows the similarity between the age of the French Revolution and Dickens's own life. His story tells us at that time everybody had their own difficulties. His characters that have the leading role in the book are Lucie, Darnay, Carton, Manette, and Lorry. They are self-sacrificing, not like the Revolutionaries, who insist on self-sacrifice for the sake of the revolution.
Dickens criticizes the revolutionaries who only think about their own benefit in a difficult situation to revenge. For Dickens, that time was dominated by revolutionaries who spread terror in order to gain their own goals. The revolution is less ambiguous, as the Revolution disappears before Carton's final words: "It is a far, far better thing I do than any I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than any I have ever known." Dickens’s apparent solution to the problem of the world is so troubled that it causes the vengeful revolution. This means that people
A Tale of Two Cities is full of sadness; it is full also of enthusiasm; there is
one circumstance which does render important the fact that A Tale of Two Cities is one of the presently works of Dickens. This fact is the fact of his dependence upon another of the great writers of the Victorian era. The connection with this fact is we can best see the truth; the truth that his actual ignorance of France went with amazing intuitive perception of the truth about it. Here, he has the most clearly the plain mark of the man of genius; that he can understand what people do not understand (http://www.online-literature.com/dickens/twocities). The writer finds the fact in the early chapters of the novel that indicates Dickens’s thought about the specific situation where there is a different situation between France and England during the French Revolution. For the aristocrats in France and rising middle class in England, it was the best times for they are living in the pleasures and extravagance of life. For the poor, it is the worst times since they are dying of poverty. He is concerned with the revolutionaries. The change of mind occurs at the beginning of the terror, time, and occurrence is significant. History makes it perfectly clear that in every revolution there must be a certain amount of what is called cold blood killing.
B. Review of Related Theories
The theories used to support this study are the theory of character, the theory of conflict, the theory of plot, the theory of revolutionaries, and the theory of social class. The explanations of the theories are as follows:
1. Theory of Character
Character is person in dramatic or narrative work that will be interpreted by the readers to have certain attitude or quality through his conversation or action. The characters in this novel are based on narrator’s idea to create a person that has written through the attitude or even the conversation quality (Abrams, 1981: 20).
The other meaning of using the character, according to Harvey; A character is created by the author of the work, and the author has the right to create any character he wants (1968: 32). Moreover, the writer’s opinion according to Harvey’s theory is Dickens actually described himself into the character of Darnay and Sydney.
According to Henkle (1977: 87), there are two kinds of characters based on the basis of importance. They are major and minor characters. Major character is the focus of the story, or in another word, the story is about this character. However, the major character cannot stand by him. There must be another character to make the story convincing. Here, the major character needs minor one. The main character in the story is Darnay and during the story he is helped by the minor that gives influenced to the story. Sydney and the other characters as the
2. Theory of conflict According to Holman and Harmon (1986: 107-108) in a literary work, conflict holds an important role as an intrinsic element because it builds plot. He describes conflict as “the struggle that grows out of the interplay of the two opposing forces in a plot”. Conflict provides interest, suspense and tension. Thus, it is used to give the writer the information in order to answer the question of the problem formulation number one and two, and this theory gives the writer to judge the kind of conflict in the novel then to get a good analysis. Moreover, there are five kinds of conflicts; a. Struggle against nature
b. A struggle against another person, usually antagonist
c. A struggle against society
d. A struggle for mastery by two elements within the person
e. A fifth possible kind of conflict is often cited the struggle against fate or destiny.
Based on the description, conflict exists because of the gaps. For the first kind of conflict, the gap is between the character and the nature, the second one shows the gap among characters, the third shows the gap between the character and society, the fourth shows the gap between a character and something inside himself, and the fifth one shows the gap between a character and his fate. The conflict itself in the novel is number 2, 3, 4 and 5; the gap between the government’s system with the society and the gap among the classes are the main oppressed against the oppressor, between the societies, and reveal of the cruelty of Evremonde family towards Mrs. Defarge’s family. Then, it turned revenge and causes the innocent victims. Madame Defarge does a fatal thing and makes a terror for others.
3. Theory of Plot
All stories are unique, and in one sense there are as many plots as there are stories. In one general view of plot, however, one that describes many works of fiction, the story begins with rising action as the character experiences conflict through a series of plot complications that entangle him or her more deeply in the problem. This conflict reaches a climax, after which the conflict is resolved, and the falling action leads quickly to the story's end. Things have generally changed at the end of a story. It is often instructive to apply this three-part structure even to stories that do not seem to fit the pattern precisely.
Kenney in How to analyze fiction divides plot into three elements. They are the beginning of the plot, the middle of the plot, and the end of the plot. In the beginning, there will be exposition and from exposition, there will be the initial statement of conflict. In the middle of plot, it appears from conflict through complication to climax. From climax, there will be crisis to denouement in which the resolution is stated. Furthermore, he says in the beginning of the plot, the important background to the information, the characters and the problem will be introduced. Then in the middle of the plot, there will be the building of tension between opposing forces or suspense created by introduction or difficulties which greatest point of tension and finally, in the end of the story, the conflict will be resolved. (1966:14-19).
4. Theory of social injustice
According to Aristotle's principle of injustice, Social injustice is a concept relating to the perceived unfairness or injustice of a society in its divisions of rewards and burdens. The concept is distinct from those of justice in law, which may or may not be considered moral in practice. Social Injustice arises when equals are treated unequally and unequals are treated equally. This theory will take a role to criticize the revolutionaries who makes the revolution becomes worse. teachers.greenville.k12.sc.us/sites/jmckeith/.../Definition%20Essay.ppt (28 may 2011).
5. Theory of Justice
Rawls argues that the two principles that would be reached through an agreement in an original position of fairness and equality are, first, each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others and second, social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both reasonably expected to be to everyone's advantage and attached to positions and offices open to all. So, the writer’s opinions about the revolutionaries that they are actually make the injustice towards the aristocrats. http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ362/hallam/Readings/Rawl_Justice.pdf
6. Theory of Power Injustice
Power is intoxicating, but feelings of injustice soon sober up the one with power situation has on the automatic effects of power. In his thesis he concludes that feelings of injustice reverse the automatic effects of power on behavior and cognition. The one with the power becomes more careful and the subordinate displays more uncontrolled behavior. The revolutionaries have the power on the revolution so that they do the power injustice.
7. Theory of Revolutionaries
The French people overthrew their ancient government in 1789 with their
slogan, the famous phrase "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite". Equality, or doing away with privilege, was the most important part of the slogan to the French revolutionists. For equality they were willing to sacrifice their political liberty. They did this when they accepted the rule of Napoleon I. Fraternity, or brotherhood with all men, was also sacrificed. However, they did win equality before the law. With the meeting of the Estates-General on May 5, 1789, the Revolution began. The representatives of the Third Estate led the way. Some of the nobles and many of the clergy joined with them. They changed the name of the gathering from Estates-General, which represented classes, to National Assembly, which represented the people of France. The part of the document was the Declaration of the Rights of Man. It included the following points: http://history-world.org/french_revolution.htm a. All men were born free with equal rights.
b. All citizens have the right to take part in electing representatives to make the c. Every person shall be free to speak, write, or print his opinions provided.
d. The amount of taxes which a person is called upon to pay shall be based on the amount of wealth that he possesses.
8. Theory of Social class
It can be defined as an unorganized group of people who become members by birth, or by later entry into the groups, who treat each other as approximate equals, who associate with each other more intimately than other persons from other groups within the society (Roucek and Warren in Sociology: An
Introduction; 1959: 61). In other words, social classes have no formal
organization, but each member of the class is tied to his/her class. The conflicts are happened between the aristocrats and the peasantry in the novel. It shows that they represent conflict in the different social class.
C. Review on the Historical Background
This section is contained of the record of the background that has
happened. It will provide the information about French Revolution, Guillotine, destruction of Bastille, and The French Third Estate.
1. The French Revolution
It began in 1789 with the meeting of the States General in May. On July 14 of that same year, the Bastille was stormed: in October, Louis XVI and the Royal Family were removed from Versailles to Paris. The King attempted, sat from October 1791 until September 1792, when, in the face of the advance of the allied armies of Austria, Holland, Prussia, and Sardinia, it was replaced by the National Convention, which proclaimed the Republic. The King was brought to trial in December of 1792, and executed on January 21, 1793. In January of 1793 the revolutionary government declared war on Britain, a war for world dominion which had been carried on, with short intermissions, since the beginning of the reign of William and Mary, and which would continue for another twenty-two years.
The Committee of Public Safety and the Revolutionary Tribunal were instituted immediately after the execution of the King. The Reign of Terror, during which the ruling faction ruthlessly exterminated all potential enemies, of whatever sex, age, or condition, began in September of 1793 and lasted until the fall of Robespierre on July 27, 1794: during the last six weeks of the Terror alone (the period known as the "Red Terror") nearly fourteen hundred people were guillotined in Paris alone. The Convention was replaced in October of 1795 with the Directory, which was replaced in turn, in 1799, by the Consulate. Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor in May of 1804.
The French Revolution was not only a crucial event considered in the context of Western history, but was also, perhaps the single most crucial influence on British intellectual, philosophical, and political life in the nineteenth century. In its early stages it portrayed itself as a triumph of the forces of reason over those of superstition and privilege, saw it as a symbolic act which presaged the return of liberals as well, and by some who saw it, with its declared emphasis on "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity". http://www.victorianweb.org/history/hist7.html.
2. The Guillotine
It designed by Dr Joseph Guillotine, a man described as kindly and who wanted to make execution more humane, the guillotine quickly became a symbol of tyranny during the French Revolution. Victims were placed on a bench, face down, and their necks positioned between the uprights. The actual beheading was very quick - often to the gathered crowd's disgust - taking less than half a second from blade drop to the victim's head rolling into the waiting basket. However, debate rages over whether the quickness of the execution was humane or not, as many doctors put forward the notion that it could take up to 30 seconds before the victim lost consciousness. That piece of gruesome news would not have worried the crowd, which continually called for aristocratic and royalist blood to be spilt.
An estimated 40,000 people travelled on the tumbrels through Paris to die under Guillotine. http://www.napoleonguide.com/guillotine.htm The facts and figures of Guillotine:
a. Total weight of a Guillotine was about 580 kilos (1278lb)
b. The blade weighed over 40 kilos (88.2lb)
c. Height of side posts was just over 4m (14ft)
d. The blade drop was 2.3m (88 inches) e. Power at impact was 400 kilos (888lb) per square inch.
3. The Destruction of Bastille
This famous prison was originally the castle of Paris, and was built by order of Charles V., between the years 1370 and 1383, by Hugo Aubriot, Provost of Paris, at the Porte St. Antoine as a defense against the English. Afterwards when it came to be used as a State prison it was provided during the 16th and 17th centuries with vast bulwarks and ditches. On each of its longer sides it had four towers of five stories each, over which ran a gallery which was armed with cannon. It was partly in these towers and partly in cellars under the level of the ground that the prison was situated. The unfortunate inmates of these abodes were so effectually removed from the world without as often to be entirely forgotten, and in some cases it was found impossible to discover either their origin or the cause of their incarceration.
The Bastille was capable of containing 70 or 80 prisoners, a number frequently reached during the reigns of Louis XIV and XV. Though small compared with the number which an ordinary prison contains, these numbers were considerable when we reflect that they rarely ever consisted of persons of the lower ranks or such as were guilty of actual crimes, but of those who were sacrificed to political despotism, court intrigue, ecclesiastical tyranny, or had fallen victims to family quarrels. On the 14th of July, 1789, the fortress was surrounded by an armed mob, which the reactionary policy of the Court had driven into fury, and to the number of which every moment added. The garrison consisted of 82 old soldiers and 32 Swiss. The negotiations which were entered the Faubourg St. Antoine, which by no means contented the exasperated multitude. Someone cut the chains of the first drawbridge, and a contest took place, in which one of the besieged and 150 of the people were killed or wounded; but the arrival of a portion of the troops, which had already joined the people, with four field pieces, turned the fortunes of the conflict in favor of the besiegers. Be Launay, the Governor, who had been prevented by one of his officers, when on the point of blowing the prison into the air, permitted the second drawbridge to be lowered, and the people rushed in, killing De Launay himself and several of his officers. The destruction of the Bastille commenced on the following day amid the thunder of cannon and the pealing of the Te Deum. This event in itself apparently of no great moment, leading only to the release of three unknown prisoners, one of whom had been its tenant for thirty years, broke the spirit of the Court party, and changed the current of events in France. http://chestofbooks.com/reference/A- Library-Of-Wonders-And-Curiosities/The-Destruction-Of-The-Bastile-Of- Paris.html.
4. The French Third Estate
The French society then was divided into three classes, called estates. The first estate consisted of the clergy, the second State consisted the nobility, and the third estate consited peasants, city workers, the rich and poor middle class. Members of the Second Estate were highly privileged. They owned about a quarter of the land of France and held the highest offices in church, the government and the army. Some nobles owned large estates but paid almost no various services of the peasants. The nobility expanded their privileges at the expense of the peasants.
It was one of three estates or ranks that made up the country of France. Estates separated the clergy from the noblemen, and the noblemen from the peasants. Anyway you look at it, it spells oppression.
The First Estate was made up clergymen. They were very wealthy and all they did was give sermons for the Second Estate and buy land. They worked together with the Second Estate to gain majority in voting.
The Second Estate was made up of everyone who worked for the government. That also included advisers and monarchy. The Second Estate also included aristocracy, land owners, and anyone of importance or money.
The Third Estate was the worst off of all three estates. They were everyone who didn't qualify to be in the First or Second Estate. They included lawyers, housewives and teachers, or in other words, peasants. They were the ones who were stuck with paying the King's taxes because in Louis's mind, they didn't do anything helpful to him. (http://www.smfc.k12.ca.us/stage/lalosh2/francepg1.html)
D. Theoretical Framework
In order to answer the problems formulated in the previous chapter, it is necessary for the writer to understand the real history about social condition in French during the period of French Revolution which was closely related to Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities. It is also required for the writer to utilize the all writer must be able to analyze the influences of main characters and other characters in the story toward the revolutionaries and the social condition at the time; there are also theory of conflict, theory of plot, theory of revolutionaries and theory of social class which take an important role to support analysis. It is also required for the writer to take review in descriptions during the French Revolution. In order to answer the question number one, the writer will use the theory plot that explain about the beginning, the middle, and in the end of story that based on Kenney’s Theory, it will also include the theory of character, conflict, revolutionaries. The second question the writer will reveal the criticism towards revolutionaries and it is based on the novel. Thus, those are related studies and the related theories have written in order to answer the question.