Dickens' Tale of Two Cities rings the changes on the Girardian dynamic of mimetic violence. Blood evokes and demands more blood, until an oppressive and disordered ancien regime collapses into chaos. And the only path out of the game of violence and counter-violence is through Sidney Carton's voluntary - and substitutionary - shedding of blood.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, January 23, 2006 at 11:44 AM
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