Punishments For Breaking Laws In A Tale Of Two Cities

In Britain and France in the 18th-19th centuries, punishments for breaking the law were severe. The laws were unfair because they were passed by royals and aristocrats who were cruel, out of touch, and were out of touch. Charles Dickens is a nineteenth-century author who perfectly captures the atmosphere of the 18th-century Britain and France.

Georgian Britain had harsh laws, irrational penalties, and executions. By 1800, two hundred crimes were punishable with death. There were often only two constables for each community, so laws were not properly enforced. Constables weren’t paid and only worked during their free time. A person would be taken to court if they were accused of a criminal offense or were caught. Judges and constables could be easily bribed as they weren’t paid. The court system was unfair because judges and constables were easily bribed as they were volunteers and did not get paid (White).

In Europe, corporal discipline was a way of punishing people to the extreme. Other punishments were flogging or being put into stocks.

A Tale Of Two Cities shows how unjust law fits into the 18th-century literary world. Dickens wrote about chaos and lawlessness. The book shows how ironic it is that the revolutionaries are fighting for justice and then killing innocent people. Dickens called the court “Hall of Blood”.

A Debtor’s Prison was another irrational penalty in the 18th Century. In debtor’s jails, people who had not been able to pay off their debts could be imprisoned. These jails were a major part of British prisons for centuries. Debtor’s jail was only a way out for those who could pay back their debts or had family members pay them off. Families or individuals in debt had a very difficult time. The people would be without money and then have to pay for their prison stay. Some prisoners couldn’t pay for food and so starved in prison. Debtor’s prison was for men, but wives and children would be included if they could not provide for themselves. John Dickens Dickens sent Charles Dickens to debtors jail in 1824. Charles Dickens, aged only 12, had to give up school to work in a manufacturing factory to provide for his family.

Not only the debtor’s prison is harsh. Prisoners suffered more mental torture than death. The Tower of London is a well-known prison. The Tower of London held high-class offenders. It was unique that the Tower of London housed a zoo until 1834. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, misdemeanors such as second-degree debtors were jailed. La Force, another famous jail, was also a prison. La Force served as a French Revolution prison where civil offenders, debtors, and criminals were kept. La Force was once a luxury hotel. In 1780 it became the prison. The Bastille was another very famous prison. The Bastille served as a fortress, prison and home to criminals from all walks of life. The Bastille represented power (“Bastille”) One could argue that prison is a more terrible fate than execution.

In the book it is revealed that Dr. Manette spent around eighteen years in Bastille prison because of his knowledge about the Evremonde brother. Lucy told Lucy that during his imprisonment, Dr. Manette’s desire for revenge became unbearable. While in jail, Dr. Manette wrote a secret letter using soot and smears of blood. It was written while he had his faculties intact. “I’m sure that after the horrible warnings I’ve received, my mind will no longer be unimpaired …”. The confinement and prison made him mad. Charles, who had renounced his name in the book, was still killed by the revolutionaries, despite having denounced it. Charles was brought to Paris twice, once in prison and again in court. He was convicted and sentenced for death.

“In 1759, The Gentleman’s Magazine estimated that 1 in 4 prisoners died each year while in prison. That amounted approximately to 5,000 fatalities”. Prisons were owned privately, and profit was the most important thing. Prisoners are often chained to save on costs by eliminating the need for wardens. Board fees and other expenses are also charged. Inmates suffered from diseases, violence and starvation. Gaol fever was a common and deadly disease.

John Howard has dedicated his life towards improving the prisons. John had been a French prisoner, and he learned how to convince authorities. John published The State of Prisons – a revolutionary book – in 1774.

The legal system in England was so awful that it gained the name ‘bloody-code’. The term ‘bloody codes’ was used to describe the English legal system between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was coined because many crimes carried a death sentence. Even minor crimes were punishable by death. Wealthy men who are merciless, made laws. They created laws for their own protection and to protect their wealth. They believed that by punishing crimes so severely, people would stop committing them. To scare people into following the law, the authorities made public the executions (“What”), as examples. French law is similar to that of the English bloody code.

Dickens depicts the upper class in A Tale Of Two Cities. They are cruel. They have no empathy for the poor or common people. The revolutionists were fed up with being treated as animals. Foulon is the one who said to my father, ‘I have no bread, so I might as well let him eat some grass.’ Another woman said to her, Foulon has told my infant that it may eat grass because my breasts are dry from want. Foulon’s old age in the story can be compared Marie Antoinette. Marie also died during the revolution.

Beheaded or hung were the two options for those sentenced to death before the invention of guillotine. The Earl Northumberland of 1076 was the first British man to beheaded. Britain quickly favored ax-beheadings of the wealthy over hangings.

It is not as simple as it may seem. Instant death was rare. The death can go wrong if the rope isn’t the right length. If the length of the rope is not correct, it will result in the decapitation of the person.

Hanging someone was not always a science. Before the AngloSaxon era men would strangle their victims by hoisting them off the floor and throwing the noose on a branch. In the Anglo Saxon era a completely different approach began. They had the victim climb a broken-out ladder to cause him/her to lose his/her footing, and they then hung them. The fall would have been too short for most to survive, and so they were usually strangled. The Triple Three was built at Tyburn in the 16th century. The triple three at Tyburn was created in the late 16th century. A cart was introduced in the 17thcentury to replace the ladder. The convicts would get into the cart with the hangman, who would then tie them up. Once the cart was driven away, they were left to hang. The majority of prisoners and hanged people were strangled. It can be an extremely painful death. A doctor in the 18th century suggested the knot be placed on either the left or right side of the ear to speed up the death. In the 18th century it was made law that the face of the prisoner be covered prior to the hanging.

One method is for the victim to stand on top of a platform and then drop a door. They would then be hung by opening the door. It wasn’t until long-drop experiments were conducted that science became a reality. The scientists realized that if they dropped the victims too far, their heads would be severed. The process became more scientific and the entire thing could be completed in just eight seconds.

In Britain and other parts of Europe, the practice of hanging people to death became more common during the 18thcentury. Capital offenses reached their highest level. Even minor crimes like cutting down a shrub or tree, or showing up on the road with a dirty-faced face could result in death. Many juries and judge thought the punishments were extreme and tried finding them ‘not guilt’.

In the story, Gabelle was hanged for the murder of the Marquis.

The Guillotine is another method of execution. The guillotine gets its name from Dr. Joseph Guillotin. Joseph Guillotine wasn’t invented by him but he was the one who introduced it to France. Joseph believed that everyone sentenced for death should die by beheading. He didn’t like it when the poor were tortured and/or hanged. Romans, Persians, and other ancient cultures used guillotine devices. Ireland was next in 1307. France was the first country to introduce the guillotine just before the French Revolution.

The French Revolution began in 1789 when the Bastille was stormed. The radical revolutionaries took control, and not only did they want to kill royals and other aristocrats; but also anyone in their path. The job of the executioners was passed on from generation-to-generation. Sanson held the position between 1688 and 1889. Charles-Henri Sanson, during the Revolution, was the Executioner. Charles-Henri was not a fan of his job as he sympathized more with women than men. At the maximum, he killed 300 women and men in three day. Charles-Henri’s own son was killed when he slipped in the blood and fell. Most people didn’t sympathize much with those who had been sentenced death like Charles Henri Sanson. The executioner is called Samson in A Tale of Two Cities. This is a very close match to the actual executioner, Sanson. In the book too, revolutionaries got excited about the death of someone.

Charles Dickens was a famous writer who witnessed a guillotine death in Rome, 1845. Dickens’ disgust was overwhelming. Dickens was particularly shocked by the carelessness of the crowd.

Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities perfectly illustrates the guillotine as well as the revolutionary’s willingness to go the extra mile. Defarges was the leader of this charge. They would kill anyone to get their way. Madame Defarge wished to see every Evremonde killed, even Lucy’s little Lucy. When Ernest stated that the killing of Charles was enough, Madame Defarge said “Tell fire and wind to stop but not me”. In the story, many revolutionaries joked about the guillotine. Jacque, aka The Wood-sawyer, tortured Lucy with the words “See My Say! It’s my Little Guillotine… And off comes his head! I am the Samson who wields the firewood-guillotine…And off her head it comes! Now a child is coming…And the head of that child will be removed. Many characters make jokes and compare the guillotine procedure to a ‘close-shave’. Carton is guillotined in the book.

Dickens added many more elements to his work, including making Jerry the grave robber. In the 18th century, many surgeons paid body snatchers for the body parts they needed to practice and research. Some bodies had been claimed by the snatchers before the body was dead.

In the past, especially in the 1700s-1800s, punishments for breaking the law were either extreme, unjust, or simply lawless. Dickens created a book which can transport the reader to France during the French Revolution. Dickens included many elements such as rude aristocrats and hanging.