Madame Defarge: My favourite Charles Dickens character Defarge's knitting is both camouflage and badge. Dickens has her as a tricoteuse (in English, a knitter), one of those terrible women who would take their knitting and watch the public beheadings in Paris during the revolution. They are tough, unforgiving and ruthless. Their knitting may seem harmless, but their needles have sharp points. Madame Defarge takes her knitting one step further - she weaves in the names of the victims of the guillotine. Her whole being is consumed by revenge and she will not rest until her bloodthirsty desires are satisfied. Despite his female 'villain' being the barrier to the happiness of innocent people, Dickens never allows us to loathe Madame Defarge: she has been done a monstrous wrong. The full series of 'My favourite Charles Dickens character' is: Miss Havisham (Great Expectations) by Lorna Bradbury