A Tale of Two Cities-Forshadowing essays

A Tale of Two Cities-Forshadowing essays Foreshadowing is used in many of Charles Dickens' novels. It can bring about a sense of wonder and imagination of what might occur later in the novel. The concept of foreshadowing means to present a warning sign, or hint beforehand. Dickens is able to use this concept in three examples: Gaspard's illustration of "blood", the people rebelling against the aristocrats and the threatening footsteps in the Manette, are all examples of foreshadowing, that Dickens' uses in his novel A Tale of Two Cities. The French Revolution is the main event described by the use of foreshadowing. Dickens uses the phrase "one tall joker so besmirched...scrawls upon a wall with his finger dipped in muddy-lees BLOOD," to forecast the spilt wine as future blood shed during the French Revolution (37-38). Dickens also subtly states, "the one woman, Madame Defarge, who stands conspicuous, knitting, still knits on with the steadfastness of Fate," and he is foreshadowing the French Revolution by comparing Madame Defarge to Fate (117). Both Madame Defarge and Fate mark people who are destined to die which leads further into the French Revolution. Lastly, Dickens presents the statement, "they their very selves are closing in around a structure yet unbuilt, where they are to sit knitting, knitting, counting dropping heads," to show that in the future, Madame Defarge and her women knit while counting the heads being severed by La Guillotine (187). Another instance of foreshadowing is the revenge of the poor people against the aristocrats. When Dickens writes, "there is a flutter in the air that fans Saint Antoine and his devouring hunger far away," he is referring to the poor people in Saint Antoine such as the Defarges and their death craving towards the aristocrats (113). The poor that crave the aristocrats deaths have such a strong aura that they are a part of a living Saint Antoine, and for a moment, their death cravi ...