In Charles Dickins\u2019 A Tale of Two Cities<\/u>, the character of Lucie Manette is a singularity. One of the few women characters, her role in the novel itself is vital for the advancement of the plot, however in the story she is nothing but a tool. This pattern is held through the novel. Lucie\u2019s singularity and useful yet hollow character can be seen in many places, but particularly in the passage starting on page 94 and continuing on 95, when Lucie and Doctor Manette have just returned from a walk and she is being fussed over by Miss Pross and her father. Here, the passage is initially misleading because it seems as though she is the main object of the event, which is true, however it serves more to illustrate the characters of the people around her and how her presence has affected them and the novel rather than Lucie herself.<\/p>\n
From Miss Pross\u2019 affectionate fussing, to Doctor Manette\u2019s fond remarks and Mr. Lorry\u2019s contented observation of the whole affair, it is clear each of these reactions are prompted by their devotion to Lucie. Such devotion that is more an indication of their characters and her effects on them than a further insight into her character. We see more of Miss Pross\u2019 nature in the fact that she would have \u201cretire to her own chamber and cried\u201d had Lucie meaningfully protested against the attention, than we do of Lucie\u2019s nature in her compliance to Miss Pross. Similarly, when Doctor Manette comments on how Miss Pross spoils Lucie, despite himself doing the same, it gives more insight on his constitution, and consequently how it has improved from when the reader first met him, than it gives to Lucie\u2019s character. \u00a0Though she may be the main figure in this passage, the insights provided are not about her.<\/p>\n
Another way Lucie is used as a tool in this passage, as well as in the rest of the novel, is to provide a singularity in the form of a sharp contrast to the rest of the story. The atmosphere of this scene is pleasant, gentle and happy which contrasts sharply to the death, danger and despair in the rest of the novel. As seen in this passage, Lucie is a light in the dark world depicted in the story. She saves her father, \u201crecalling him back to life\u201d, and is the object of affection and desire for most of the characters so far. She is also one half of the marriage plot that propels the story forward. However, despite all this, she is portrayed as nothing but a pretty face and lovely disposition. While she is absolutely vital for the advancement of the novel, she herself gets no dimension.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Charles Dickins\u2019 A Tale of Two Cities, the character of Lucie Manette is a singularity. One of the few women characters, her role in the novel itself is vital for the advancement of the plot, however in the story she is nothing but a tool. This pattern is held through the novel. Lucie\u2019s singularity … Continue reading The Singularity of Lucie Manette<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3384,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[138876,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2017","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}