Love has the power to change the world. It can do far more than any speech, treaty, or war. Love, on a smaller scale, can especially impact the lives of those who communicate and receive it. This passion has the ability to assuage, provide comfort, and provide life. In particular, one girl dedicates her life to spreading love, even when she must sacrifice a large amount of her time. This woman is Lucie Manette. In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses the character of Lucie Manette to prove that love and sacrifice can impact one’s life.
From the beginning of the novel, Lucie is willing to make sacrifices to take care of her family and keep the bond between them strong. Lucie’s first life-altering sacrifice begins when she
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When first meeting with Mr. Lorry to discuss her father, Lucie creates an everlasting first impression by simply showing consideration for his wisdom. During the meeting at her house, Lucie initially “curtseyed to him [Lorry] with a pretty desire to convey to him that she felt how much older and wiser he was than she” (Dickens 25). Greeting Mr. Lorry in such a respectful way helps Mr. Lorry to also respect himself. Later in the novel, Lucie shows a type of respect for Carton that he has never before received. When Carton asks Lucie if she will listen to his difficulties, Lucie responds, “If it will do you any good, Mr. Carton, if it would make you happier, it would make me very glad!” (Dickens 155). This type of love that Lucie gives Carton helps him believe that someone actually cares for his feelings and therefore changes his depressing outlook. Communicating with admiration and esteem to people who do not often receive it allows Lucie to make an impact on multiple lives.
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
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
When Aunt Leila comes up with a plan to save Lucie’s father from the cages, Lucie must follow through. “They called me the Golden Thread in the Dark. I said I just wanted to help people, to ease their suffering, but that was a lie. I didn’t do it to help anyone but myself. (Page 56)” one of the roles that Lucie plays in the book is the Golden Thread in the Dark, which is also a figure of the sans-merci’s rebellion but through this inner-thinking she reveals her true feeling about this role. She doesn’t want to pretend but she must do it for the plan her aunt Leila conjured up. Additionally you see that Mark holds a substantial place in Lucie’s life but is he there to support Lucie or control her ? “Mark told me to be quiet when we served the council, and I did what he said.” This shows that Mark is another reason that Lucie is being forced to play all these roles throughout the book and can’t even be
The novel, A Tale of Two Cities, was written by Charles Dickens and was published in 1859. A Tale of Two Cities is a historical fiction based during the French Revolution. As two groups of people who both live in London and Paris find themselves in a situation that affects all of them, which ends with some deaths and suffering. Charles Dickens purpose for writing A Tale of Two Cities was to inform and amplify the readers mind on human nature. Throughout the book Charles Dickens uses many themes and characteristics, that bring out human nature in all his characters, to broaden the view of the readers.
This statement is revisited at the top of the novel once Carton offers up his life so as to save lots of that of Charles to make sure Lucie’s happiness.
Lucie and Sydney Carton also illustrate sacrificing for their loved ones throughout the book. “‘She was the golden thread that united him to a past beyond misery’” (p. 96). This quote describes how Lucie holds her father together. Lucie demonstrates sacrifice for her loved ones by guiding Dr.Manette to his recovery. Lucie sacrifices time to help Dr.Manette recover from his prison sentence. She makes sure that nothing will interrupt his peace and bring him back to his awful prison memories. Carton demonstrates sacrifice for his loved ones because even though he is battling with addiction and depression he still puts a smile on his face whenever he is around Lucie. He sacrifices his own heart wrenching feelings to make Lucie feel safe and sound.
Sydney Carton proved that his life was purposeless since he is always drunk and lazy, but he wants to make right decisions that would help others since he doesn’t really care about himself. Sydney finally tells Lucie Manette that he loves her bye he say’s, sorrow and repentance, blight you, disgrace you, pull you down with him”. Sydney say’s that he is not worth it and it will bring her down too.“For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything . . . I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you” (Dickens 156). Even though Sydney is lost and hopeless, he promises Lucie that he will be ready to give his life for her happiness. Sydney Carton comes a long way where it is hard for him to find it’s true potential. Sydney’s words are so fragile but later these words help him find freedom for himself and leave a mark, so people remember him.
Miss Pross sacrifices her own life and happiness for Lucie Manette. After asking Miss Pross about Lucie, Jarvis Lorry then understands how much Lucie means to Miss Pross. “Mr. Lorry knew Miss Pross to be very jealous, but he also knew her by this time to be, beneath the surface of her eccentricity, one of those unselfish creatures-found only among women-who will, for pure love and admiration, bind themselves willing slaves, to youth when they have lost it, to beauty that they never had, to accomplishments that they were never fortunate enough to gain, to bright hopes that never shone upon their own somber lives.” This quote is important because it shows Miss Pross’ personality and character. It expresses that Miss Pross cares for Lucie Manette. She wants Lucie to have a happily fulfilled life. Miss Pross was never given these chances to be successful so she wants to make sure that Lucie has a better life than
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
In the beginning, Sydney Carton was a mean drunk that did nothing well and was only worried about himself. Carton had never done anything correctly, or for the benefit of others until he met Lucie, which was the love of his life, that he would do anything for. In another incident he shows his love for Lucie by dying in place of her husband, Charles Darnay, and when asked why he was dying for this man, his reply was, “ It is far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done: it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known” (446). Sydney Carton is basically saying that it was the best thing that he has ever done because he did not grow up doing things for other people’s better good. This shows how much he has changed from being a drunk and mean, to dying for the happiness of a person he loves. Sydney Carton has been greatly “recalled to life”, because he has changed so much, and it has made a huge impact in the book.
Darnay’s imprisonment marks the high point of Dr. Manette’s resurrection as he realizes that “his suffering is strength and power ” (Dickens 260). Manette acknowledges that he can be Darnay’s savior and rejoices, “As my beloved child was helpful in restoring me to myself, I will be helpful now in restoring the dearest part of herself to her”(” (Dickens 260). Although Dr. Manette’s imprisonment had initially been the death of him, “he He had slowly forged the iron which could break the prison door of his daughter’s husband and deliver him” (Dickens 260). Eventually, Dr. Manette convinces the court to set Darnay free. He is finally able to be the father Lucie never had as he assures her that “I have saved him” (Dickens 280).
In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, it uses duality throughout the story. Duality often refers to having two parts and is usually used with opposite meanings. Charles Dickens wanted us to know about duality by the very first paragraph of his novel. One of the dualities has to deal with the two cities of the title, London, England and Paris, France. Also, some of the dualities show us opposite parallels dealing with two or more people. The two emotions love and hate also have something to do with the theme. I think the use of the doubles is significant
Lucie Manette is first introduced as a an emotional girl that, when she receives bad news, faints. As the novel proceeds, Lucie is able to have more control of her emotions. When she first meets her father, she does all she can to keep herself focused on taking care of him. Guiding her father out of madness and into the world again through the sheer strength of her love, Lucie becomes the poster child for tenderness and female self-sacrifice. One important part that shows Lucie’s strength is when her husband Charles Darnay was sentenced to death at his second trial. She was so shocked that she dropped to the floor in agony, but then she picked herself up. She knew that even though she was hurting, she had to manage her feelings, and put on a brave face for Charles. That is a strong woman. Despite the terror and the bloodshed that surround her, Lucie remains an innocent mother whose only priority is her family. Lucie’s deep sympathy for Sydney Carton’s pain doesn’t cloud her realism, she could never marry the man herself. Despite this, she becomes a fierce defender of Sydney’s hidden strengths. She knows that her response would affect him dearly, but she sticks up for what she wants. Everything she has been through, her father in prison for eighteen years, her son passing away, to her husband being sentenced to death, she was still capable of maintaining her sanity to provide joy to
While the Victorian people called for romantic intrigue and petty drama in the literature of their time, Dickens’ added complexity to his novels not to satisfy the frivolous needs of Victorians but to further the theme of irony in his novel. In A Tale of Two Cities, irony is an ever-present theme and is woven into the plot seamlessly by author Charles Dickens. Coincidence is a complementary theme to irony in this novel. Dickens’ constant implementation of situations of coincidence and chance leads to a greater sense of irony throughout this book. Dickens adds complexity to the plot and further enforces the theme of irony in the novel through circumstances of coincidence, including the indictments of Charles Darnay, the life and associates of Dr. Manette, and Madame Defarge’s need for and path to revenge.
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.
Sacrifice, even when it comes to one’s ultimate end, is crucial in order to survive as a productive race. In the book Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, he illustrates the hardships of the early-nineteenth-century lifestyles. With the resurrection of an evicted man, the novel sprouts from a broken family recovering and growing. This novel incorporates many grand gestures and adventures, such as the French Revolution, treason trials, and the sacrifice of one’s own life in the name of love.