Portrayal of women in a tale of two cities

Charles Dickens portrays women, in A Tail of Two Cities in ways that follow stereotypes of the period. His depictions of strong and strong minded women constantly pair strength with negative personality traits. His depictions of weak or soft women suggest that this characteristic matches a rather passive personality. <Tab/>One of the women that Dickens portrays as strong but disliked is Madame Defarge. From the beginning of her appearance in …

…as "the golden thread." In addition, her love has the power to transform those around her. It enables her father to be "recalled to life," and it generates Sydney Carton's transformation from a "jackal" into a hero. Dicken' portrayals of these two women indicate that during the period in which he wrote, strong and powerful women were reviled and weak, passive women were praised. This stereotype has not, of course entirely disappeared to this day.