Defarge symbolises several themes. She represents one aspect of the Fates. The
Moirai (the Fates as represented in Greek mythology) used yarn to measure out the life of a man, and cut it to end it; Defarge knits, and her knitting secretly encodes the names of people to be killed. Defarge also symbolises the nature of the
Reign of Terror during the French Revolution in which radical
Jacobins engaged in mass political persecution of all real or supposed enemies of the Revolution who were executed on grounds of sedition to the new republic with the guillotine, particularly targeting people with aristocratic heritage. Defarge often has been dismissed as a one-dimensional embodiment of 'the Terror'; however, some scholars argue that her character is much more complex than this association implies. Defarge's desire for revenge ultimately stems from the rape of her pregnant sister at the hands of the aristocratic Evrémonde brothers, and Teresa Mangum therefore suggests that "the logic driving her story is that the secret crime of sexual violence against women fuels the French Revolution". ==Portrayals in film and theatre==