Emigres, Jacobins, Girodins, and Sansculottes

Decathletes:

Let's talk a little about the French Revolution itself so we can further understand A Tale of Two Cities.

First, when Charles Darnay returns to France in the middle of the French Revolution he is accused of being an "emigre" and put in prison awaiting trial. An emigre in this case was a French aristocrat that had gone into self-exile to avoid being put to death by the revolutionaries--they were allied with the King. Hence, when Darnay comes back to France he is seen as an emigre who sides with the King. They didn't believe his story of him going back to check on the condition of Gabelle, the former servant of his uncle.


Second, the revolutionary forces that led the French Revolution were mainly composed of the Girodins and the Jacobins. The Girodins were the forces of moderation; they wanted to control the anarchy that became rampant during the Revolution. They became ascendant in the early years of the revolution.

The Jacobins, on the other hand, were the extremists. Beginning in 1793, they become ascendant, and take over the leadership of the Revolution. They form the Committe of Public Safety. They and their leader Robespierre begin the Reign of Terror, in which they tried to violently purge anyone suspected of threatening the Revolution.

Both the Jacobins and the Girodins were composed of well-educated, middle and upper middle class people--many of them intellectuals.

One sub-group that supported the Jacobins were the Sans-culottes who were working class/poor and largely uneducated people. (the name "sans-culottes" means without knee breeches--the wearing of knee breeches was associated with the upper and middle classes) The sans-cullottes wore full-length pants or pantaloons. The Sans-Cullotes group enthusiastically supported the Reign of Terror. They wanted revenge against the nobles, and that pent-up demand for vengeance exploded during the Reign of Terror. You can place Mr and Mrs Defarge, the Vengeance and the Wood-Sawyer in the sans-cullotes group.