A Contrasting Outlook On The French Revolution With The Novels Of A Tale Of Two Cities

A Contrasting Outlook On The French Revolution With The Novels Of A Tale Of Two Cities And The Scarlet Pimpernel

Parvathy K Arun, Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad

ABSTRACT

“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, and “The Scarlet Pimpernel” by Baroness Orczy are both fictional tales that use the French Revolution, specifically the period of the “Reign of Terror” as a backdrop. The authors have taken a contrasting approach in the portrayal of the aristocracy and the revolutionaries. Charles Dickens, born in England, lived his childhood in poverty. In his novel, he is largely sympathetic towards the ideals of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, offering an unbiased criticism of the excesses of both the revolutionaries and the nobility. During Baroness Orczy’s childhood, she had to flee her wealthy and posh lifestyle in fear of the peasant revolution. Her views on the Revolution remains unabashedly on the side of the nobility while being severely critical of the bloodbath unleashed by the guillotine. The contrasting outlook of the Revolution in the said novels remains a point of contention even today. This paper attempts to highlight the differing approaches by the authors in analyzing the French Revolution during the Reign of Terror. The main objective will be to ascertain the outlook on the exact notion of the French Revolution that got lost in the process of validating equality through violence, through the novels, thereby giving an insight into the ideals and inception of the French Revolution.

Keywords: French Revolution, Monarchy, Aristocracy, Peasantry, Democracy, Morality, Violence, Oppression