In A Tale of Two Cities, when Madame Defarge ties the knots of her scarf, what does she really mimic doing and have in her mind? What does this...

Madame Defarge is constantly knitting, watching events and people go by her. Each knot represents another person who will face the wrath of the revolution when it comes. Symbolic of the knots on the ropes used to hang from the lampposts those who oppose the principles of the revolution (later followed by the guillotine), Madame Defarge keeps a running record in her own special code. She watches and she knits.

Madame Defarge sees herself as a victim of the nobility, and in a very real way she is, as was the rest of her family. The only justice that she sees is death to the upper class, both literally and figuratively. It is the peasants who must control France. She is sure that they will be just and true to the ideas of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” So, as the Fates of ancient Greece measure out, weave, and cut short the destinies of humanity, Madame Defarge knits away the destinies of those who cross her.