What is the meaning of the hanging "lamps" in Tale of Two Cities?
It seems as though these are hung victims of the revolution, but have the bodies actually been lit on fire?
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What is the meaning of the hanging "lamps" in Tale of Two Cities?
"Probably, Monsieur Gabelle passed a long night up there, with the distant chateau for fire and candle, and the beating at his door, combined with the joy-ringing, for music; not to mention his having an ill-omened lamp slung across the road before his posting-house gate, which the village showed a lively inclination to displace in his favour."
No, I don't believe the bodies have been lit on fore; they seem to be hanging their victims (local officials) and burning their homes. Example above; the chateau is on fire. The following excerpt, which directly follows the quote above and is written in modern English.
"Less than a hundred miles away, there were other fires burning and other local officials who weren’t as lucky as Monsieur Gabelle. That night and other nights, when the sun rose, these officials were found hanging in the once-peaceful streets, where they had been born and raised. Also, there were other villagers and townspeople less fortunate than the repairer of roads and his companions, whom the officials and soldiers defeated and hanged. Regardless, the four fierce figures who had lit the fire were steadily making their way in four different directions—east, west, north, and south—and wherever someone was hanged, fire burned. How many people would have to die to satisfy them no official could say."
No, I don't believe the bodies have been lit on fore; they seem to be hanging their victims (local officials) and burning their homes. Example above; the chateau is on fire. The following excerpt, which directly follows the quote above and is written in modern English.
"Less than a hundred miles away, there were other fires burning and other local officials who weren’t as lucky as Monsieur Gabelle. That night and other nights, when the sun rose, these officials were found hanging in the once-peaceful streets, where they had been born and raised. Also, there were other villagers and townspeople less fortunate than the repairer of roads and his companions, whom the officials and soldiers defeated and hanged. Regardless, the four fierce figures who had lit the fire were steadily making their way in four different directions—east, west, north, and south—and wherever someone was hanged, fire burned. How many people would have to die to satisfy them no official could say."
Source(s): Tale of Two Cities/ Book 2/ Chapter 23
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