Book the Second - Vocabulary
Definitions from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
incommodiousness (noun) - an inconvenience : not commodious
"...the partners in the House were proud of its smallness, proud of its darkness, proud of its ugliness, proud of its incommodiousness." (Dickens 61).
bacchanalian (adjective) - characterized by or given to drunken revelry; riotously drunken
"The learned professions of the law was certainly not behind any other learned profession in its Bacchanalian propensities; neither was Mr. Stryver" (Dickens 92).
paunch (noun) - a belly that sticks out, especially on a man : a fat stomach
"Mr. Stryver laughed till he shook his precocious paunch" (Dickens 94).
emulative (adjective) - using or marked by the use of something else as a basis or model
"...unable to exist with fewer than two gold watches in his pocket, emulative of the noble and chaste fashion set by Monseigneur" (Dickens 109).
felicitously (adverb) - in a pleasing way
"Truly, you did well, said the Marquis, felicitously sensible that such vermin were not to ruffle him" - (Dickens 120).
postilions (noun) - a person who rides the leading left-hand horse of a team or pair drawing a coach or carriage, especially when there is no coachmen
gossamer (noun) - something light, delicate, or insubstantial
"The postilions, with a thousand gossamer gnats circling about..." (Dickens 121).
superciliously (adjective) - sneeringly: with a sneer; in an uncomplimentary sneering manner "Madame Defarge looked superciliously at the client, and nodded in confirmation." (Dickens 176).
assiduously (adverb) - with care and persistence
"Next noontide saw the admirable woman in her usual place in the wine-shop, knitting away assiduously" (Dickens 181).
coquetry (noun) - a flirtatious act or attitude
"I may find a use for it one day. If I do - well," said madame, drawing a breath and nodding her head with a stern kind of coquetry..." (Dickens 182).
anatomise (verb) - cut in pieces in order to display or examine the structure and use the parts
"His collected and calm manner could not prevent her blood from running cold, as he thus tried to anatomise his old condition" (Dickens 190).
winnowing (present participle) - removing of people or things that are less important, desirable from a larger group or list
"Similarly, during two or three hours of drawl, and the winnowing of many bushels of words..." (Dickens 222).
attenuated (adjective) - reduced in thickness, density, or force
"...the powerful frame attenuated by spare living" (Dickens 227).
"...the partners in the House were proud of its smallness, proud of its darkness, proud of its ugliness, proud of its incommodiousness." (Dickens 61).
bacchanalian (adjective) - characterized by or given to drunken revelry; riotously drunken
"The learned professions of the law was certainly not behind any other learned profession in its Bacchanalian propensities; neither was Mr. Stryver" (Dickens 92).
paunch (noun) - a belly that sticks out, especially on a man : a fat stomach
"Mr. Stryver laughed till he shook his precocious paunch" (Dickens 94).
emulative (adjective) - using or marked by the use of something else as a basis or model
"...unable to exist with fewer than two gold watches in his pocket, emulative of the noble and chaste fashion set by Monseigneur" (Dickens 109).
felicitously (adverb) - in a pleasing way
"Truly, you did well, said the Marquis, felicitously sensible that such vermin were not to ruffle him" - (Dickens 120).
postilions (noun) - a person who rides the leading left-hand horse of a team or pair drawing a coach or carriage, especially when there is no coachmen
gossamer (noun) - something light, delicate, or insubstantial
"The postilions, with a thousand gossamer gnats circling about..." (Dickens 121).
superciliously (adjective) - sneeringly: with a sneer; in an uncomplimentary sneering manner "Madame Defarge looked superciliously at the client, and nodded in confirmation." (Dickens 176).
assiduously (adverb) - with care and persistence
"Next noontide saw the admirable woman in her usual place in the wine-shop, knitting away assiduously" (Dickens 181).
coquetry (noun) - a flirtatious act or attitude
"I may find a use for it one day. If I do - well," said madame, drawing a breath and nodding her head with a stern kind of coquetry..." (Dickens 182).
anatomise (verb) - cut in pieces in order to display or examine the structure and use the parts
"His collected and calm manner could not prevent her blood from running cold, as he thus tried to anatomise his old condition" (Dickens 190).
winnowing (present participle) - removing of people or things that are less important, desirable from a larger group or list
"Similarly, during two or three hours of drawl, and the winnowing of many bushels of words..." (Dickens 222).
attenuated (adjective) - reduced in thickness, density, or force
"...the powerful frame attenuated by spare living" (Dickens 227).
A Deeper Understanding
Dickens' use of elevated language in Book the Second - as well as in the First and Third Books - served to give a deeper understanding of the message he was trying to communicate. In this Book, the stopgap between the beginning, where the class distinctions are only staring to crystallize, and the end, where revolution throttles Paris, Dickens elucidates these class distinctions through his words. With regards to the upper class, Dickens uses the phrase "precocious paunch" (Dickens 94) to describe Mr. Stryver's stomach, meaning to say that it is getting larger as he climbs the rungs of the social ladder as a lawyer. The upper-class also contains some of the more morally reprehensible characters. Dickens uses the word felicitously to describe the Marquis' silkiness of conversation. He shows no concern for other human life, but he is able to connive and get whats he wants with his smarmy conversational skill. With regard to the proletariat, Dickens uses the word attenuated, which serves to create a powerful image of a peasant with an emaciated frame. By using this word, he clearly is able to delineate the proletariat from the bourgeoisie. His best use of vocabulary comes with two accounts of Madame Defarge. His use of the word assiduously to describe Defarge's knitting invokes an image of tirelessly working to climb from poverty. However, she's more clever than the rest, as she engages in coquetry to best the people around her.