# Monseigneur — A Tale of Two Cities character guide

> Monseigneur in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Monsieur the Marquis, Monsieur heretofore the Marquis, Marquis

**First appearance:** 0016-vii-monseigneur-in-town

## Snapshot

A powdered, pitiless French nobleman whose carriage kills a child in the street and whose shrug costs him nothing — for now.

## Who they are

The Marquis St. Evrémonde glides through Paris in a gilded coach, tossing a coin to a grieving father as if grief were a toll. He is uncle to Charles Darnay, who has renounced the family name and its cruelties, and the two men's contempt for each other is mutual and absolute. His casual brutality in the early chapters plants the debt that the Revolution will one day collect.

## In the story

### [The Period](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se/chapters/i-the-period)

Referenced as the king with a large jaw on the throne of France, representing the aristocracy.

### [VII: Monseigneur in Town](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se/chapters/vii-monseigneur-in-town)

The Marquis Evrémonde, a haughty and cruel aristocrat, whose carriage kills a child. He shows no remorse, treating the common people as vermin and tossing coins as payment.

### [Monseigneur in the Country](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se/chapters/viii-monseigneur-in-the-country)

Travels through the countryside, dismissive of the peasants' suffering and petitions.

### [IX: The Gorgon's Head](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se/chapters/ix-the-gorgon-s-head)

The Marquis Evrémonde, unrepentant aristocrat who defends the system of oppression and is murdered in his bed.

### [Fire Rises](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se/chapters/xxiii-fire-rises)

Referenced as the aristocratic class that has squeezed the people dry, now fleeing the uprising. The château belonging to Monseigneur is burned.

### [Drawn to the Loadstone Rock](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se/chapters/xxiv-drawn-to-the-loadstone-rock)

As a class, scattered and in exile in London, haunting Tellson's Bank; their fall and flight are described.

### [X: The Substance of the Shadow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se/chapters/x-the-substance-of-the-shadow)

The elder Evrémonde brother, referred to as the Marquis in Manette's narrative; his family is denounced.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se/characters/monseigneur
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_tale_of_two_cities_se/characters