- Marquis St. Evrémonde
-
The Marquis St. Evrémonde is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.
Overview
The Marquis St. Evrémonde is Charles Darnay's uncle and is of the noble class in France. He is very cruel and is also slightly disliked by the other nobility. He runs over and kills the child of Gaspard with his carriage and shows no sympathy. He is later murdered by Gaspard and all of his property is inherited by Darnay.
The Monseigneur Evrémonde is introduced in Book the Second, symbolizing the aristocracy. In "Monseigneur in town", the Marquis is insulted by the Monseigneur in town. Angry, he tells the driver of his carriage to chase after the citizens (this is what amuses him). As the peasants run away in terror, the Marquis laughing, the carriage runs over a little child, that child being one of Gaspard's.
The Monseigneur (Evrémonde), having only concern for his carriage, tosses a coin to Gaspard, as payment for killing the child. Madame Defarge, who is busily knitting the Marquis into her register, then throws the coin back at Monseigneur as he is driving away. This is a scene that foreshadows the oncoming revolution in France. Evrémonde also is shown in "Monseigneur in the Country" (the next chapter of the book) as an aristocrat who cares nothing of the peasantry.
Cinematic and Theatrical Portrayals
In the 2008 Broadway musical adaptation of 'A Tale of Two Cities,' the Marquis St. Evrémonde is played by Les Minski, while on film he has been played by such actors as Basil Rathbone, Christopher Lee, and Max Adrian. In 2003, the Rathborne portrayal of St. Evrémonde was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains as one of the Top 50 Villains.[1]
External links
This literature article about a character is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
