"'But it is very strange - now, at least is it now very strange' said Defarge, rather pleading with his wife to induce her to admit it, 'that after all our sympathy for Monsieur her father and herself, her husband's name should be proscribed under your hand at this moment, by the side of that infernal dog's who has just left us?'
'Stranger things than that, will happen when it does come,'answered madame. ' I have them both here, of a certainty; and they are both here for their merits, that is enough'" (193).
Two chapters prior to this, Mr.Carton promised Lucie that if she or her loved one was ever in trouble, he would give his life to get them out of it. And now presents that trouble. Charles Darnay, Lucie's love and most-likely future husband, has been knitted into Madame Defarge's registry. Not only Darnay's name, but also Lucie's, because, Madame Defarge says, she will have the same name as him once they are wed. And that is where the double comes out - in the name Defarge, and how once they are married they will be Charles Darnay and Lucie Darnay. Although Charles does not approve of what some of the members of his family do, the hate that is assosiated to whatever his familial name is, followed him when the spy, John Barsad, informed the Defarges that Darnay is the nephew of the Marquis.
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5 comments:
I agree, it is very strange that even though the Defarges seem to be on quite good terms with the Manettes they would turn against Lucie if she were to marry Darnay even if it was unbeknownst to her. But they don't know that...hmm we'll see
Thats true. I think its interesting that Ms. Defarge wants some sort of vengeance against Charles, even thought none of the wrongs his family committed were on him. It seems like she wants the entire family gone, no matter what.
Also, if we look earlier in the story, Carton told Lucie he "would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you" (159). And since the two men look so alike, maybe this promise will be fufilled...
Similar to what Jon was saying, it is very interesting that Ms. DeFarge has some sort of a grudge against Charles. Darnay has done nothing terrible enough to make the Defarges resent him that much. Also, in the case of Carton defending Lucie's loved ones, I think he will hold very true to that promise.
I think that Madame Defarge only cares about the person's past (although Darnay hasn't done anything wrong himself, and therefore his family), so she cannot let go of the fact that he is married to Lucie because it isn't his past; it's his present. Madame Defarge doesn't care about people's present if they've done something wrong.
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