#madame defarge

[racefortheironthrone]

Long while back, you answer a question about inspiration for Madame Defarge in the novel "A Tale of Two Cities" and I guess it just stuck in my mind since I was just reading about political cartoonist of the day savaging of Theroigne de Mericourt and Olympe de Gouges and these cartoons may have helped Charles Dickens in his creation of the vengeful tricoteuse Madame Defarge (Thérèse from Theroigne and Defarge from de Gouges), but didn't much more about them?

I'm guessing you're talking about this post.

Theroigne de Mericourt was a leading French revolutionary, who was heavily involved in forming mixed-gender and women's political clubs. She became quite famous when she was arrested by the Austrians and rather violently interrogated as a supposed instigator of the Women's March on Versailles. She returned to France a revolutionary martyr, spent some time trying to recruit women's revolutionary battalions, and then was involved in the Insurrection of August 10th, where republican forces stormed the Tuileries Palace and forced the abolition of the monarchy.

While initially quite close to the Jacobins, Théroigne allied with the Girondins and was assaulted by pro-Jacobin women, requiring Marat's rescue. However, the head injuries she suffered during the attack led to increasing mental issues, and she was institutionalized from 1794 until her death in 1817.

I do find it interesting that, if Dickins did base Defarge on Théroigne, he left out the major (and visually dramatic) aspect of her public persona - her habit of wearing men's clothes, which was a constant theme of both her negative and positive press. (Lots of classical references to Amazons.)

If Théroigne was the street-fighter and orator, De Gouges was the intellectual. A voluminous playwright and pamphleteer and a constant fixture of the leading salons of Paris, De Gouges was probably best known for her "Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen" - which criticized the misogyny and patriarchy of male revolutionaries and called for equal rights for women.

Like Théroigne, De Gouges was a leading member of the Amis de la Verité, the most prominent women's political club in Paris. In addition to her advocacy for women's equality, De Gouges was a leading abolitionist and was accused of having incited the Haitian Revolution with her anti-slavery plays, which is just wild.

However, De Gouges lost a lot of political capital for opposing the execution of the King and preferring constitutional monarchy to repiblicanism. Like Théroigne, De Gouges backed the Girondins and criticized the Montagnards in the press - which led her to being arrested as a royalist, put on trial for sedition and monarchism, and ultimately executed by order of the Revolutionary Tribunal.

I don't think De Gouges is a good fit for Defarge - not only was she firmly bourgeois rather than sans-culotte, and the furthest thing from a Jacobin radical, but there's not a trace of De Gouges' literary and theatrical background in Defarge.

So yeah, if these women were the basis for Dickens' Defarge, he didn't do a very good job of highlighting the things that made them famous in the first place.

#history #historical analysis #french revolution #theroigne de mericourt #olympe de gouges #charles dickens #a tale of two cities #madame defarge #french history

[libsanonymous]

to the girls who get it, would y’all cast lucy dacus as madame defarge in a live action because i see the vision here

#boygenius #julien baker #lucy dacus #phoebe bridgers #a tale of two cities #madame defarge

[secretmellowblog]

#a tale of two cities #Les mis #pitting two girlbosses against each other #I really DONT know who would win this #I mean #Enjolras is Justice and the dawn and etc etc #but Madame Defarge is the wind and fire! #enjolras is justice but Madame defarge is Vengeance #and Enjolras DOES come from a wealthy family so you KNOw she’d want him dead #since she wants to kill Every Aristocrat and their descendants #unless he was supernaturally good at convincing her otherwise #(while she’s in the middle of trying to stab him) #it’s really a toss up. #but if they got along they could be unstoppable #ALSO #she could teach him that women CAN be very useful dangerous allies in a rebellion XD #XD #I would say ‘enemies to lovers 2K words’ but they are both pretty homosexual #enjolras #Madame defarge

[rolkstone]

A drawing of Marge as Madame Defarge from "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens?

#interesting prompt! #marge simpson #the simpsons #madame defarge #asks: answered #myart

[incorrectclassicbookquotes]

A Tale of Two Cities High School AU

Madame Defarge: They said they won't let me back into sewing club because apparently when I threaten someone with sewing needles it's deemed "inappropriate" and "I have to leave."

#a tale of two cities #madame defarge #incorrect quotes #source: 50% off

[jonquilandlace]

A Tale of Two Cities got brought up again time to revive my favorite fact that when my high school class read it we referred to Madame Defarge's knitting holding people's names to kill as The Knit List

#a tale of two cities #charles dickens #madame defarge #the knit list #atotc #dickens #classics #classic lit #classic literature #literature #novel #book #humor #college humor #high school humor #high school #college

[sydney-carton-of-sour-milk]

#Madame Defarge #A Tale of Two Cities #Dickens #victorian literature #classic literature #Pross #poll #atotc bcs poll #go go go go go #fight fight fight fight fight #the rematch we have all wanted to see #is finally here

[lunarblue21]

It has just now hit me - I'm rereading Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities - that there is a lot of Madame Defarge in the Scarlett's character concept/personality as well.

Bonus points for Cities to also have a character named Sydney in it as well! However, unlike Ice Age's Sid, Sydney Carton is a selfish man who grows beyond his selfishness out of love for both Charles Darney and Lucie Manette.

Sid the sloth wishes he could be as admirable!

#CI musings #A Tale of Two Cities #Charles Dickens #Madame Defarge #the Scarlett #why does CI as a series have to have so much scope .-. #I swear this whole longfic series/story came about becos I just wanted to write Mango fluff + Peaches fluff with them #with a mammoth bull antagonist #and then the Scarlett wrecked everything with that vivid dream #where she introduced herself to me...

[eleftherian]

is madame defarge a milf, yea/nay?

#my posts #ATOTC #a tale of two cities #charles dickens #favorite authors #classic lit #books #reading #booklr #madame defarge #draft clearance ✌️ #(the answer is that she’s the ultimate milf) #dickensian nonsense

[comma-after-dearest]

Madame Defarge is a Hufflepuff and I will die on this hill.

#a tale of two cities #atotc #hogwarts houses #madame defarge

[ingravinoveritas]

I’ve just been made aware of the most recent shenanigans involving Rosie Darby (this post sums things up pretty well, for those who don’t know what happened). The basic gist is that someone tagged her on a tweet for a Stede Bonnet version of the “gay loser” meme that’s been going around on Twitter, clearly intending it as a joke...but instead of taking it as such, Rosie took the (very obviously Photoshopped) picture seriously, and reacted thusly:

First of all, I am not sure that pun was intended, because going by her previous clashes with the OFMD fandom, I am beginning to think this woman neither possesses any discernible sense of humor nor actually knows what a pun is. Second--and more importantly--it’s very apparent that Rosie seems to see “gay” as an insult, which is distressing at best and very, very gross at worst, especially given Rhys’ role as Stede and the fact that a large majority of his fans are now members of the LGBTQ+ community.

That Rosie’s initial impulse is to defend Rhys’s sexuality and reaffirm her stance as his wife by attacking a 15-year-old queer OFMD fan is appalling but also incredibly telling, and it makes me feel the need to very specifically mention Georgia Tennant.

As my followers know, I am absolutely more than willing to call Georgia out on her occasional bullshit…but in this instance she is completely and totally the anti-Rosie. She has literally referred to Michael as David’s “other wife”:

...And basically has no problem whatsoever being like “YEP, WE’RE POLY. DAVID AND MICHAEL ARE FUCKING. THAT’S TOTALLY COOL” (albeit in a much more subtle, British kind of way).

There is a stark contrast between Rosie’s not-so-mildly homophobic response to that recent tweet and Georgia’s continuous fanning of the flames of speculation about the relationship between Michael and David. She clearly does not have an issue with people thinking there is something between them, or with people thinking David is anything other than 100% straight.

She has also never felt the need to project her own insecurities by defending David’s masculinity or deliberately distancing him from his characters, particularly characters in which fans have found comfort and a sense of identity.  Georgia has proven to be an (imperfect, but reliable) ally to the LGBTQ+ community, and is able to step outside of herself and see the larger picture.

So even if Georgia’s reasons are sometimes questionable, she understands what Good Omens and David means to the fans, and I will take that over Rosie’s absolute lunacy and homophobic weirdness any day of the week and twice on Sundays...

#rosie carnahan darby #rhys darby #ofmd #our flag means death #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #good omens #georgia tennant #crowley #stede bonnet #also i just saw pictures of Rosie up close for the first time #and she looks like if Madame DeFarge from 'History of the World Part 1' and Kate McKinnon had a baby #i do not like her in a house; i do not like her with a Scouse #i do not like Rosie Carnahan; i do not like her Sam I Am #david is lowkey bi and michael is highkey bi #also if Rhys has ever wondered about his sexuality Rosie does not seem a safe person to open up to #i'm just saying #throuples are totally cool now #'justthethreeofus' indeed #discourse

[prudencepaccard]

ecstatic to have more music stuff in the pipe. The DSA choir is planning another cabaret, at the same venue as our wildly successful first one last year, and if all goes well I'm also going to be in the ensemble of A Tale of Two Cities

#I auditioned for ensemble and not Madame Defarge for reasons #but I'm obsessed with playing her eventually #real bucket list shit #by the time this show even gets done again I'll have gotten to a place where I might actually get cast lol #all in good time

[tybaltsjuliet]

dickensian legion of doom comprised of monks, john jasper, rosa dartle, and miss havisham, AKA the most overdramatic overreactive little bitches in the entire canon

#uriah heep excluded because he sucks. madame defarge excluded because she is right. #;swan has a word. #;they who call the whole world brother.

[rillabrooke]

i just finished rereading dr. manette's letter, and i have two thoughts:

1) dickens doesn't know what "abridged" means. in no way was that abridged. my man manette was writing in the dark on a limited supply of scraps of paper with a rusty piece of metal, soot, and his own blood, and managed to scribble out 12 heavily-worded pages (at least in my edition - it could be more).

normally, i'm indifferent to dickens' wordiness, but sir. seriously.

2) i hate the evremonde twins more every time i read this book. odious, insufferable, selfish men. i'm so glad darnay took his mother's name cuz i wouldn't want to be associated with that family either. i get madame defarge. i really do.

#madame defarge is ALSO an awful person but at least her actions have due cause #i am 30 pages from the end and prolonging it cuz i don't want to have a mental breakdown #I've already teared up or straight up cried so many times already and i haven't even gotten to the 'good' parts yet #rilla.txt #a tale of two cities

[lesbianaglaya]

people talking about the editing in never after. happy for you or sorry that happened or whatever but i simply do not see it. because i am always knitting :)

#madame defarge rp here. #gabby.txt

[incorrectclassicbookquotes]

Monsieur Defarge: So, are you in an 'I just need to rest' kind of bad mood, or are you in an 'I'm about to stab stuff until I feel better' kind of bad mood?

Madame Defarge, lying on the floor with a knife clutched in her hands: I haven't decided yet.

#a tale of two cities #monsieur defarge #madame defarge #incorrect quotes #source: unknown