Examples Of Ambiguity In A Tale Of Two Cities

After eighteen years of solitary confignment in the Bastille prison, Lucie’s father (Alexander Manette) has gone insane and is unaware of the life around him. With Lucie's patience and compassion Mr. Manette is restored to his old self. Now that Lucie and her father have reunited their bond cannot be broken. Lucie’s good-hearted nature is brought up once more when she shows her understanding toward Sydney Carton as he confesses his feelings about her, even though he has been nothing but a bitter, confused drunk around her. The first time Lucie met her father: "With the tears streaming down her face , she put her two hands to her lips, and kissed them to him; then clasped them on her breast, as if she laid his ruined head there" (Dickens

One prominent example of emotional suffering in A Tale of Two Cities is how Carton sacrificed his life just for the sake of Lucie’s happiness. He knew that Lucie would be devastated if Charles Darnay were to be executed, so he wanted to switch places with Darnay instead. In the last sentence of the novel, Dickens

Madame Defarge is portrayed as the condemner of death; she lurks the corners, as she continues to knit an endless kill list of all who have exasperated her. Dickens reveals Madame Defarge’s true intentions when Monsieur Defarge mentions, “To be registered, as doomed to destruction,”(p.7). Furthermore, Monsieur Defarge declared that Madame Defarge will never forget who is on the kill list. Madame Defarge holds an undeniable grudge against Charles’ father, thus meaning that Charles poses a threat to the Defarges, due to the fact that he is guilty by association. In Madame Defarge's eyes, murder is a virtuous necessity, in order to clear out the hazardous individuals who have in any way “wronged” her.

Lucy proves her love and impact on the men in her life with patience, loyalty and devotion. Although Lucie starts a marriage with Darnay, she manages to still take care of her father. In many conversations between Dr. Manette and Lucie, the doctor tells Lucie that “he found her more devoted to him married (if that could be) than single” (Dickens 219). Although marriage is a very demanding relationship, Lucie remains loyal to her

Madame Defarge’s anger is generated because of the fact that her sister was raped and her brother was killed. The crimes committed against her family have little to do with helping the people even though she doesn't want to admit it. She feels the only way to relieve herself of this hatred is to kill all of them. “ my husband has not my reason for pursuing this family to annihilation, and I have not this reason for regarding this doctor with any sensibility. I must act for myself therefore” (Dickens 424). Madame Defarge explains that her anger is strictly taken out on the Evremonde family and no one else. The issue she has with the Evremonde family is

It was the morning of Lucie’s wedding day, all was well until Dickens states, “The door of the Doctor’s room opened, and he came out with Charles Darnay. He was so deadly pale—which had not been the case when they went in together—that no vestige of colour was to be seen in his face. But, in the composure of his manner he was unaltered, except that to the shrewd glance of Mr. Lorry it disclosed some shadowy indication that the old air of avoidance and dread had lately passed over him, like a cold wind” (149). This scene in the novel foreshadows the event of the Doctor’s unstable behavior. Dr. Manette has just learned that Charles Darnay is an Evrémonde. He is the son and nephew of the men who imprisoned Doctor Manette without trial. Doctor Manette feels dread from the fact that he was marrying his daughter off to a man of a cruel family, but Manette stays strong and sacrifices his mental stability for Lucie. All he wants is for Lucie to be happy, and for that, she must have his permission to marry Darnay. Later in the chapter, Dickens describes Doctor Manette’s mental state saying, “He had laid aside his coat and waistcoat; his shirt was open at the throat, as it used to be when he did that work; and even the old haggard, faded surface of face had come back to him. He worked

When the reader learns more about Madame Defarge's past, they have already seen her as a ruthless vengeful monster. Therefore it is hard for the reader to sympathize with her because of all the cold and dreadful things that she has committed. You see this very clearly in the scene where Lucie Manette goes to beg Madame Defarge. “As a wife and mother,” cried Lucie, most earnestly, “I implore you to have pity on me.” (Dickens ). Madame Defarge just looks coldly at Lucie and just continues

She didn’t say much but the air around her must have been tense. She would often cough to get her husband’s attention when a visitor would enter the shop. Madam Defarge would be seen knitting away while her husband would conduct business. She may have seem busy knitting but she was always listening to what was going on.

After learning about Charles’ departure, Lucie and Dr. Manette follows Darnay to France. Dr. Manette tells Lucie about a window in the prison where Charles can see her at a certain spot on the street. As a result, Lucie shows up there on that street everyday. But one day, the revolutionaries is seen on the streets performing a frightful revolutionary song.

Twelve months later Dr. Manette asked for Lucie’s hand in marriage. If Lucie accepts, Darnay will give his true identity to the Manettes. Sydney is also falling in love with Lucie but he knows that she is much to good for him and she will never be his. Lucies’s beauty is so magnificent to Carton that by knowing here, she has made his life worth living. Her presence gives Sydney a reason to get up in the morning. Sydney would do any thing for her "…O Miss Manette, when the little

Dickens lastly proclaims, “‘She will now be at home, awaiting the moment of mind to impeach the justice of the Republic. She will be full of sympathy with its enemies’” (280). This elaborates how Madame Defarge plans to condemn Lucie because she knows that Lucie will be mourning. This also describes how Madame Defarge has her revenge planned

In the Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, mysteries are present throughout the book. Through the characters Jerry, Charles Darnay, Doctor Manette, the Marque, and Madame Defarge, Dickens is able to create mysteries. Charles Dickens develops mysteries through the point of view, motifs, and allusions.

Manette went back into his demented state with hopelessness. Carton arrived in Paris and heard a plot by Defarge to also kill Lucie and Dr. Manette. Quickly, he made his way into the prison with the help of spies and, with his close resemblance, switched places with Darnay. Carton had arranged for the escape of Lucie, Darnay, and Dr. Manette. Madame Defarge had been killed by Miss Pross, a sort of stereotype nanny to Lucie, and escaped with Lucie.

Dickens elucidates the complexity of Madame Defarge by stating, “But, imbued from her childhood with a brooding sense of wrong, and an invertebrate hatred of a class, opportunity had developed her into a tigress. She was absolutely without pity. If she ever had the virtue in her, it had quite gone out of her” (281). From this excerpt one sees Madame Defarge taking the pain of losing her entire family at a young age and developing that pain into a goal; she becomes a tigress, a beautiful and fierce yet heartless and impenetrable tigress. We can evidently come to the conclusion that although admirable for being firm and determined in her goal, that goal is evidently obsessive revenge against the Evremonde family, and leaves her without pity or compassion.

Although the “rebirth” does not take place right then Lucie’s love for her father is never doubted for even a second. In chapter six, when she sees her father for the very first time Lucie says to him, “…that your agony is over...I have come here to take you from it...” (49), this marks the beginning of the doctor’s rebirth. Through this statement Dickens has Lucie promising that she will do anything for her father out of pure love. As the Manette’s travel back to England, in time it becomes clear that Lucie’s love towards her father is beginning to have an impact on his behavior. In chapter five, of the second book Dr. Manette is able to carry on a complete conversation, which shows the readers that he is regaining his sanity. Later on in chapter seven of the third book, Dickens reminds his readers again of how far Dr.Manette has come since that first day in the Defarge’s attic, “No garret, no shoemaking, no One Hundred and Five, North Tower, now! He had accomplished the task he had set himself…" (285-6). It is at this moment that the reader knows he has been resorted back to his old self before he was in prison. Throughout all the hardship and pain the doctor has to endure, his daughter Lucie never leaves his side.