“Silence in the court! Charles Darnay had yesterday pleaded Not Guilty to an indictment denouncing him (with infinite jingle and jangle) for that he was a false traitor to our serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth, prince, our Lord the King, by reason of his having, on divers occasions, and by divers means and ways, assisted Lewis, the French King, in his wars against our said serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth; that was to say by coming and going, between the dominions of our said serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth, and those of the said French Lewis, and wickedly, falsely, traitorously, and otherwise evil-adverbiously, revealing to the said French Lewis what forces our said serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth, had in preparation to send to Canada and North America (p. 56-57).”
This quote sets up the entire case that will follow. The quote is informing the reader of what Mr. Darnay is being accused of. Darnay is pleading not guilty to having been a traitor (telling French King Louis XVI the English plans to send troops to North America). Mr. Darnay is later ruled innocent by the jury, but at this point his guilt and fate are unknown. Dickens uses a lot of conduplicatio (repetition of words in adjacent phrases or clauses) in this quote to make fun of the government and the people who idealize the government. Dickens writes, “...serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth...” to describe King George III (England’s king). This is how Dickens makes fun of the stereotyping that would make many believe that the king is a wonderful person. Dickens uses this satirical conduplicatio over and over again to reiterate that he does not believe that the king is as “illustrious” as everyone else makes him out to be. Dickens also spells the word Louis (the King of France) wrong (spelling it “Lewis”). This could be an error on Dickens part, but it is more likely an insult towards the French, the King of France, and the frivolousness of the French language. Dickens also foreshadows how the trial is going to turn out by writing, “wickedly, falsely, traitorously, and otherwise evil-adverbiously, revealing...” By writing this he is showing that the trial is based off of ridiculous accusations that are “otherwise evil-adverbiously” not true. Overall this quote is a very good way for Dickens to set-up his own time era and the Victorian era (showing the relations between England and France), and a way for him to foreshadow what will happen in the trial.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Type your comments in here.