A Tale of Two Cities, Illuminator, Pd. 1, Post 2
For my “illumination” I decide to break down Chapter 7: Monseigneur in Town from the second book. First I would like to talk about the setting. Up until this point, the action has taken place in England. Now the focus switches to France. If you remember, back in the first chapter, Dickens wrote about the different problems that were happening in the two countries. One of the problems that France was having was rapid inflation. This does not appear to be effecting the upper class. Monseigneur’s reception is lavish, elegant, and indulgent. All of the guests are lost in a fantasy world. This can also connect back to the first chapter. England’s upper class were/are not effected by the crime that is sweeping across the city. This chapter shows how the French are also not being effected. They begin to throw coins at each other towards the end of the chapter.
Another thing I would like to mention is the party guests’ behavior. As mentioned above, the French upper class members have entered a delusional state. They have placed themselves at such a high level that Monseigneur goes as far as to even put himself above God. This can be seen when Monseigneur changes around a quote from the Bible. The adapted quote reads ” The earth and the fulness thereof are mine, saith Monseigneur.” By saying this, Monseigneur is believing himself to have more than any other man on Earth. Dickens added further meaning to this quote by placing it within the following context: “The text of his order (altered from the original by only a pronoun, which is not much) ran: ‘The earth…” Monseigneur is saying in this passage that the Lord is “not much” and that his name could be easily interchanged with the term “God”.
This brings me to my question for the group. Which upper class is behaving worse after what we have seen so far? Is it the French or the English? Keep in mind what we already know about the English upper class and what I just wrote about the French. Support your answer and give details from the text.
Have fun with that!
Erin B. 
Category: Per 1 ToTC Illum 3 comments »
February 21st, 2009 at 12:58 pm
In my opinion both upper class parties, the English and the French are behaving equally as bad. Both groups are ignoring the problems in their countries so that they don’t have to adapt to a new way of living. The upper class of the English and French are just trying overlook the issues so that they can continue with their normal lavish life style. Neither one are taking any action to help their country and being upper class, they have the power to do something.
February 21st, 2009 at 11:45 pm
I think that the upper class from both countries are acting equally bad. Both countries are overlooking issues that are affecting the lower class, but not them. It’s unfortunate that they have the power to make a difference, but they choose to do nothing. The incident concerning Monsieur the Marquis really upset me. He killed a child because he ran over him with his coach, and all he did was throw money and then continue on his way. This may partially represent how the rest of the upper class is acting-hoping that their money will take care of their problems. What do you think?
-Maddie Zinn
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:46 pm
I agree, I think they are both at fault because since it is not effecting them they really don’t care. They both look down upon their commeners and mock them for being effected by their issues. They don’t care because nothing is effecting them.
I agree with you Maddi, with the Monsieur killing that boy and then just throwing money was very upseting. They think that their money will handle any problem. But what happens when their money is not worth anything? I think some people are still like this today, they think that their money can get them anything and get them through anything. Do you agree?
I have a question, do you think that the upper class will ever really be effected and care, and if so what will bring them to this point?
~Lauren Gress~