Book II - Chapter XVI. Still Knitting Practice Quiz — A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Book II - Chapter XVI. Still Knitting
What news does Defarge receive from his police contact at the Paris gate?
That a new government spy named John Barsad has been commissioned for their quarter of Saint Antoine.
How does Madame Defarge plan to record Barsad's identity?
She will knit his name and physical description into her coded register the next day.
What physical description is given of John Barsad?
About forty years old, five feet nine, black hair, dark complexion, handsome face, dark eyes, thin long sallow face, aquiline nose inclining toward the left cheek, giving a sinister expression.
What complaint does Defarge voice about the revolution during their late-night conversation?
He says it has been "a long time" and worries they may not live to see the triumph of the revolution.
What natural forces does Madame Defarge compare the revolution to?
Lightning and earthquakes—forces that take a long time to prepare but are devastating and unstoppable once they are ready.
What does Madame Defarge do with each knot she ties while speaking about the revolution?
Each knot symbolically represents an enemy being strangled—Dickens writes she ties one "as if it throttled a foe" and another "as if there were another enemy strangled."
What is the significance of Madame Defarge placing a rose in her headdress?
It is a secret signal warning the other customers that a spy or enemy is present; upon seeing it, the customers silently leave the wine-shop.
How does Barsad try to provoke the Defarges into revealing revolutionary sympathies?
He expresses false compassion for the executed Gaspard and claims there is much anger and sympathy in the neighborhood, trying to get them to agree.
How does Madame Defarge respond to Barsad's attempts to draw her out?
She deflects coolly, saying she and her husband think only about how to survive and have no time to concern themselves with others.
What method does Madame Defarge use to signal Defarge to answer Barsad's questions briefly?
An accidental touch of her elbow while she knits and warbles a little song.
What does Barsad call Defarge when he enters the wine-shop, and why?
He calls him "Jacques," the code name used by members of the revolutionary network, trying to trick Defarge into revealing his affiliation. Defarge firmly denies it.
What crucial piece of information does Barsad reveal before leaving?
That Lucie Manette is engaged to marry Charles Darnay, who is actually the nephew of the murdered Marquis St. Evrémonde.
How does Defarge react to the news of Darnay's engagement to Lucie?
He is visibly troubled—his hand shakes as he tries to light his pipe, and he later expresses hope that Darnay will stay out of France for Lucie's sake.
How does Madame Defarge react to the news about Darnay?
She shows no mercy or sympathy, saying Darnay's name is in her register "for his merits" and that his destiny will lead him where it must.
What is Darnay's mother's family name, as revealed by Barsad?
D'Aulnais.
What do the village peasants believe about the stone faces on the Marquis's chateau?
They believe the carved stone faces changed expression after the murder—from pride to anger and pain when the knife struck, then to a cruel look of vengeance when the killer was hanged.
What does the "structure yet unbuilt" at the chapter's end refer to?
The guillotine. Dickens foreshadows that the knitting women will one day sit around it, "knitting, knitting, counting dropping heads."
What is Madame Defarge's role in the evenings as described at the end of the chapter?
She moves from group to group through Saint Antoine like a "Missionary," spreading revolutionary fervor, making the women knit faster and more fiercely after she speaks with them.
How does Defarge describe his wife at the close of the chapter?
"A great woman, a strong woman, a grand woman, a frightfully grand woman!"
What contrast does Dickens draw between the knitting women's present and future?
Now they knit "worthless things" as a substitute for eating, but the chapter foreshadows a time when they will knit while watching executions during the Reign of Terror.