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Definition of Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the... read full definition
Key Examples in A Tale of Two Cities
Book 1, Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—The Sign, Hunger:
Dickens personifies the hunger of the peasantry, adding to the novel’s sense of foreboding:
Plowed into every furrow of age and coming up afresh, was the sign, Hunger. It was prevalent everywhere…Hunger stared down from the smokeless chimneys, and started up from the filthy street that had no offal, among its refuse, of anything to eat…Hunger rattled its dry bones among the roasting chestnuts in the turned cylinder.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—The Marquis' Stone Face:
Dickens personifies one of the stone gargoyles on the Marquis’ home, turning them all into stand-ins for the Marquis himself. Describing the Marquis’ face in Book 2, Chapter 7, Dickens writes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The nose, beautifully formed otherwise, was very slightly pinched at the top of each nostril. In those two compressions, or dints, the only little change that the face ever showed, resided.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 22
Explanation and Analysis—Vengeance, Personified:
Dickens personifies Madame Defarge’s insatiable desire for revenge using the character of her friend, the Vengeance. The Vengeance is the human embodiment of merciless retaliation. She is known for her utter lack of sympathy and for her almost supernatural ability to provoke the masses to new heights of fury:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The Vengeance, uttering terrific shrieks, and flinging her arms about her head like all the forty Furies at once, was tearing from house to house, rousing the women.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 23
Explanation and Analysis—The Marquis' Stone Face:
Dickens personifies one of the stone gargoyles on the Marquis’ home, turning them all into stand-ins for the Marquis himself. Describing the Marquis’ face in Book 2, Chapter 7, Dickens writes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The nose, beautifully formed otherwise, was very slightly pinched at the top of each nostril. In those two compressions, or dints, the only little change that the face ever showed, resided.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Monseigneur as a Class:
Dickens personifies the aristocracy using the figure of Monseigneur, who stands in for the entire noble class:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Monseigneur (often a most worthy individual gentleman) was a national blessing […] nevertheless, Monseigneur as a class had, somehow or other, brought things to this. Strange that Creation, designed expressly for Monseigneur, should be so soon wrung dry and squeezed out!
Related Themes:
Book 3, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Sharp Female:
Dickens uses personification to describe the guillotine and the quasi-religious cult that has developed around its image:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Above all, one hideous figure grew as familiar as if it had been before the general gaze from the foundations of the world—the figure of the sharp female called La Guillotine. It was the popular theme for jests; it was the best cure for headache, it infallibly prevented hair from turning grey, it imparted a peculiar delicacy to the complexion, it was the National Razor which shaved close.
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