In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the characters created contribute to the plot revolving around the French Revolution. Each character portrays a role that ultimately intertwines with the plot. Dickens does a very good job in creating a habit, trait or turn of phrase for the characters. These roles vary from inner struggles between themselves, their family, and the country in which they live. Madame Defarge is a prime example of a character who portrays all of these roles. She is definitely a person who is justly driven by horrible life experiences that commit to her heinous deeds. These deeds come to effect both the countries of England and France, and the lives of many of the other characters created in the novel. Madame Defarge is described as a stout woman with a watchful eye that seldomly seemed to look at anything. She had a large heavily ringed hand, a steady face, strong features and was very well composed. She has a look, which informs much self-confidence in herself. She also has an extensive habit of knitting, which will become a significant theme in the novel. Madame Defarge spends most of her days, weeks, and years before the revolution sitting in her wine shop, knitting a list of names. This list of names is a register of those she's marked for death, come the revolution. This hobby links her closely with the reoccurring theme of fate, while all she knits is death into her list. These names are mainly the ones of the French aristocracy who she plans to kill. The reason behind her vulgar temptations is not only the growing poverty, and extremely poor living and working conditions in France. The actual reason for her vicious dreams date back to the fate of her own family. Madame Defarge¡¯s sister was raped and killed along with her brother who was murdered by members of the French aristocracy. This is the main reason behind her temptations that she wishes and demands revenge for. As her siblings were ...