Love Vs. Hate In A Tale Of Two Cities

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Love is Greater Than Hate As the well known and respected sage, Buddha once proclaimed, “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule”("Buddha Quotes”). For centuries, the ongoing battle between the forces of love and hate has been a subject of many creative works. This commonly explored but intriguing subject is one of the many themes in A Tale of Two Cities, a novel written by the 18th-century author, Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities is set in pre-revolution France and England, and is centered around the lives of the people who live there. Dickens uses motifs--objects or ideas that repeat themselves throughout a literary work--throughout his novel to help support the many themes that he presents. Dickens…show more content…
The golden thread represents Lucie Manette and “her golden hair” (Dickens 47). Lucie is the very embodiment of love. Her father, Dr. Manette, was unjustly imprisoned by the Evrémonde brothers. Dr. Manette “wore his heart out in prison, [and] wasted there through many lingering years”, leaving him in a terrible mental state and enveloped in hate. By helping Dr. Manette back to health, Lucie proves that she overcame the hate that she could have had, since Lucie’s father and mother had left her at such an early age (29). Lucie could have very well lived her life with resentment of the state of her early childhood, however, Lucie’s sense of love and duty to be “true to [Dr. Manette] with all her [strength] and with all [her] faithful service” allows her to overcome the hate that she could have felt (49). Without Lucie’s love for her father, Dr. Manette may have lived his life enveloped in hated of the Evrémondes, and may have never been the same…show more content…
Miss Pross and Madame Defarge both share many similarities that define them both, yet they are completely different in many aspects. Miss Pross is described as being a “strong woman” (31), who is overly protective of Lucie Manette and her family. She wishes no one to “take [Lucie’s] affections away from [her]” (99), and vows that if any threat comes to Lucie, “[she will] not leave a handful of [hair] on [the oppressor's] head” (371). Madame Defarge is also described as being “a strong woman, [and] a grand woman” (188). Her devotion to the French revolution is remarkable; she believes that “nothing that [she does] is done in vain. [She] believes, with all [her] soul, that [she] shall see the triumph [of the revolution]” (182). Though Miss Pross and Madame Defarge possess many similarities, there is one key difference in their characters. Miss Pross’s strength and motivation comes from her love for Lucie, whereas Madame Defarge’s strength and motivation is based on her hate of the French
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