A Tale of Two Cities: Lucie Manette Character Analysis
Titled "golden thread" in A Tale of Two Cities, Lucie Manette symbolized loyalty, compassion, and resurrection. She was portrayed by Charles Dickens as the epitomic, perfect woman, "a pretty figure, a quantity of golden hair," with "a pair of blue eyes." In addition, Lucie was delineated as polite, loyal, timid, and loving. For example, Lucie's love was the only thing that kept Dr. Manette from reverting back to his former miserable self and was described as "the golden thread that united him to a Past beyond misery." The golden thread represented Lucie's behavior and sinewy support for others. Lucie is very taciturn and does not talk often. However, her dialogue always involves the well-being of others in a caring nature. For example, when she meets her father for the first time, she implores him to remember who he is. Also, when Sydney Carton confesses his love to Lucie and laments about his life, Lucie tries to mitigate Carton’s remorse and offers her help. Lucie’s actions defined her compassionate nature. For example, when Dr. Manette was recovering, Lucie cradled her father’s head on her chest, comforting him when he was feckless. When he relapsed into his shoemaker phase, Lucie stayed up with him night after night. She even showed sympathy for the desolate Sydney Carton and eventually allowed him to become a part of her family. Lucie even exhibits loyalty when she stood outside of Charles’ prison window everyday for over a year just to alleviate his loneliness. Everyone praised Lucie for her compassion and kindness, but sometimes regarded her as a child. For instance, when Charles went to Paris, he did not inform her. Similarly, because Dr. Manette loved her, he sheltered her from harm and spent countless hours working at the prisons to save Charles, who was persistently loving and loyal towards Lucie. However, Madame DeFarge loathed Lucie because of the misdeed Charles‘s family had done to her sister. In the end, Sydney Carton sacrificed his life for