Was Madame Defarge justified in her actions?

Answer 1

Madame Defarge can be considered to represent the French Revolution in general. The aristocracy of France did commit terrible abuses, and they did deserve to be overthrown, but they did not deserve to be slaughtered indiscriminately as if all members of the nobility were guilty of the same crimes. In the end, many innocent people were killed by the French Revolution, both nobles and commoners who were in some way found guilty of disloyalty to the revolution. All people deserve to be judged as individuals, not as members of a group. We are responsible for our actions, but we are not responsible for the family into which we are born.