3. Why does Dickens describe Madame Defarge in her early scenes as seeing nothing? "Madame Defarge was a stout woman of about his own age, with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything..." (page 33). "Only one soul was to be seen, and that was Madame Defarge—who leaned against the door-post, knitting, and saw nothing" (page 49). Why does this depiction of her change?

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Penguin Books and Penguin Classics wish to thank and credit the following writers and books for information used in creating this Reading Group Guide:

Janice Carlisle (editor), Charles Dickens, Great Expectations: Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism, New York, Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1996

Edmond Jabes, The Book of Questions (Volume 1), Middletown, CT., Wesleyan University Press, 1976

Fred Kaplan, Dickens: A Biography, New York, William Morrow & Co., Inc., 1988

Norman Page, A Dickens Chronology, Boston, MA., G.K. Hall & Co., 1988

Published 12/06/2010

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