Dickens, Defarge and Macbeth!!!

I have a degree in literature. Well, actually I have 1+ degrees in literature since I do have post-graduate credits in the subject. I like to read and I like to read all sorts of books (but not all types--see my currently reading section to the right and down the page). As I am currently a temp employee at a job that requires me to use my hands but not my mind, I have begun downloading audiobooks so that I feel as though I have done something with my day. In this manner, I am reading A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

A Brief History of my Relationship with Mr. Dickens:
Great Expectations was an assigned read in high school which I absolutely adored for the way it managed to drip with the Industrial Revolution. In college, I read the lesser known Barnaby Rudge, a book about a very interesting and sympathetic character, but hardly a book I would advise you to seek out. That's as far as my reading has taken me. But just to add one more tid-bit, I do enjoy these facts about Dickens......1) He was an insomniac. He walked the streets of London all through the night seeing it, perhaps, at its dirtiest hour. 2) He hated America. 3) His books appeared as a series, by chapter usually, in newspapers/periodicals. Wonder why his descriptions are so voluminous? He was paid by the word.

And so we arrive at my current read. There is a vicious character in the book who, upon first entrance, seems incredibly docile. Her name is Madame Defarge and she reminds me much of a more famous vicious female character--Lady Macbeth. Now, I promise you I will not write a paper on the topic and make you read/listen, but a compare/contrast of the two characters would be very interesting---from the speech that she gives to her husband to her stabbing of the governor. She is a character of amazing faith, believing in the cause of the Revolution and the blessing to be a part of it regardless of if she sees it to fruition. This character aspect is admirable. Madame Defarge intrigues me more than any other character. She's smarter than any other character, which I find odd for a 19th century novel written by a man. I'm only halfway through the book so I'm holding out hope that Madame Defarge goes nuts like Lady Macbeth. I mean, who doesn't enjoy a good, "Out, out, damn spot!"