Light In A Tale Of Two Cities

Lucie approaches, with tears in her eyes. The shoemaker asks who she is. Noticing her blonde hair, he removes a necklace he wears and reveals a scrap of paper containing some golden threads of hair—stray hairs from his wife, which he has kept all these years as a spiritual escape from his imprisonment. Overcome by emotion, Manette struggles to recognize his daughter. Lucie rocks Manette's head on her chest like a child. She promises him that his agony has ended, and gives thanks to God.

Although neither Madame Defarge nor Lucie Manette are well-developed as characters in themselves, both symbolize opposing forces. Lucie is lovely, golden-haired, and good, a symbol of light. By her very presence she draws the people together and brings them to their full potential. She enables Dr. Manette to return to health and peace, and inspires Sydney Carton to find redemption for his degenerate living in the ultimate sacrifice of his life. Madame DeFarge, however, is the symbol of evil and the inevitable forces of the French Revolution. Driven by the ravages of the aristocrats to an inconsumable hatreds she patiently knits the names of the tormentors soon to be

Lucie Manette is a compassionate and benevolent character that aids in the resurrection of Sydney Carton and Dr. Manette. At the beginning of the book Lucie is only

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

Carton’s story begins with him as “...the jackal...” and with him questioning “...what [he] might have been!” while drunk and alone. In the beginning, Sydney Carton is surrounded by the dark of the world and seemingly swallowed by depression and resentment of a life that could have been, a life where he could have been happy. Although, Carton has old feelings emerge when he meets the golden Lucie and admits to her that she is the “...last dream of [his] soul.” and that he would do anything for her, including giving his own life, but cannot be in a relationship with her.

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

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.

After marrying Lucie, Charles gets a letter from an old servant, saying he needs to go to Paris to help the servant out of prison. When Charles goes back he is arrested for being an aristocrat and for being an emigrant. His trial is one year and three months after he is imprisoned. Dr. Manette saves Charles Darnay during his first trial because he related to the crowd with his story of his imprisonment in the Bastille. The people took pity on Darnay and were inspired by Manette’s story and allow Charles to go free. This was the second time Charles is recalled. Charles is condemned again by three people who are later revealed as Monsieur and Madame Defarge, and Dr. Manette. He then goes back to prison to await his second trial. At this point, Sydney Carton is also in France. He knows of Charles’s danger and is planning a way to save him. Charles is waiting in his cell for his trial when Sydney comes in to talk with him. Sydney gets Charles to switch clothes with him and gives him something to sedate him. Once he is asleep and they have swapped clothes, John Barsad takes Charles out to an awaiting carriage. The next day Sydney goes to the guillotine in Charles’s place. Before he goes to die he is completely happy and content because he knows that this is what he meant when he told Lucie he loved her. “I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful,

They’re lives are interwoven from their first meeting. “They are so like each other in feature, so unlike in manner, both reflected in the glass above them.” In the beginning of the novel, Carton seems to be a foil to Darnay—who reminds Carton of what he could be, but has failed to become—but by the end of the novel, Carton has altered himself from a worthless person to a hero who far transcends the honorable Darnay. In both London and Paris, Carton saves the life of his double, and ultimately sacrifices himself for Darnay, Lucie and their family to

This passage develops the relationship between Darnay and Dr. Manette that will lead to Manette trying to insure Darnay’s safety during his imprisonment. It also leads to the marriage of Darnay and Lucie, which leads to Carton sacrificing himself for Lucie and Darnay. The conversation develops Darnay and Dr. Manette. It evolves Darnay as a character by revealing his love for Lucie and his respect of her relationship with her father. It advances Dr. Manette as a character by showing his love and respect for Darnay as well as his pain of losing his daughter until Darnay assures him that they will stay with him. When Darnay tries to tell Dr. Manette his real name, Darnay is potentially sacrificing Dr. Manette’s approval and therefore sacrificing

The character Lucie Manette has grown a great deal and has been “recalled to life,” through her strength. The first couple chapters of the book Lucie faints due to the news she heard about her father. As it got to the very end Lucie was told her husband would die, and learning from her experiences she

When Carton was working for C.J. Stryver, who is opposite to him in personality. While Sydney is reserved, Stryver is power-hungry, and strives to climb to the top. Because of this, Carton is a slave to the other man and is the much harder worker of the two. In this chapter, Dickens described these men as animals based on their traits, and stating, “Although Sydney Carton would never be a lion, he was an amazingly good jackal” (Dickens 102). This comparison depicts Carton’s lack of motivations perfectly and shows that he is responsible for all the grunt work but does not take the lead. Without an individual or purpose in the world to try and succeed for, Carton feels no need to expose himself as the genius behind Stryver, and therefore is sacrificing showcasing his potential to eventually be that

Where there is no light there is only darkness. Light is a universal symbol for something good or something peaceful. However, there also the universal symbol of something dark meaning something bad or disruptive. In the light, we are able to see things more clearly therefore, do more in the light. In addition, people’s smiles, eyes, and personalities often depict light. During the night, it is hard for anyone to see or do anything productive because of this darkness of the night. Lucie Manette in Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities is many times a light, shining, or glowing. She is a peaceful character who meets her father, falls in love, and witnesses the French Revolution. Throughout the novel, she constantly brings peace and light in the seemingly dark times of people’s lives. Lucie’s name even comes from the Latin name Lucia meaning light. Lucie’s light brings peace. Lucie’s light brings peace upon

When Lucie gave birth and named their first daughter “Little Lucie”, Little Lucie become closed to Sydney Carton. Carton enjoys hanging out with the family and felt worthy around Darnay’s family. Later in the 3rd Book, once Charles is tried once more then sentenced to death, Carton remembers his promise to Lucie. He realizes that he will most likely escape with shift places with Charles and nobody can notice due to their similar look. He devises and carries out a thought to save lots of Charles. As he's progressing to the scaffold to die, he is bothered however this is often the foremost worthy issue he has ever wiped out his life (Dickens 55). He is aware of that his life currently has that means even supposing he's close to behave.

Lucie is represented as a unifying force. “Only his daughter had the power of charming this black brooding from his mind. She was the golden thread that united him to a Past beyond his misery, and to a Present beyond his misery: and the sound of her voice, the light of her face, the touch of her hand, had a strong beneficial influence with him almost always” (Dickens 80). In the metaphor, Lucie is compared to a golden thread which links Dr. Manette to his former self. Lucie, the golden thread, is symbolic of the force that binds her family together, and explains her ability to heal Dr. Manette as he connects with his past via Lucie.