Dickens is a misogynist. There's no way around it. I was thoroughly underwhelmed by Dickens' creation of Lucie Manette as a character. She possesses many important qualities, serving as his life-giving crutch after his imprisonment. Her conviviality and vivacity are crucial to "restoring to life" her father. She serves as a foil to her cadaverous father, Dr. Manette. Her golden hair and fair skin starkly differ from his bald head and cold skin. "His head and throat were bare, and as he spoke with a helpless look straying all around, he took his coat off, and let it drop on the floor" (Dickens 160). I found it coincidental - or probably not so coincidental, because Dickens definitely knew exactly what he was doing - that although Dr. Manette is a physician, HE is the one who needs to be fixed and "restored to life". Lucie essentially acts as his perpetual doctor, restoring to life his cadaverous corpse, time and time again, with her fullness and conviviality.
Despite the positive effect she has on her father, I find Lucie to be a relatively vapid character. Dickens does an excellent job portraying a competitive jockeying for Lucie's affections between Charles Darnay and Syndey Carton, but it's unclear why she's so desirable. If I had to equate her to another literary character, I'd say she reminds me most of Daisy Buchanan from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The two men in that novel fight for Daisy's attentions, but Daisy is flighty and an uninspiring object of attainment throughout the entirety of the book. The same holds true for Lucie Manette.
My favorite part of the book was the comparison between Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Dickens uses the two men as models, juxtaposing alcoholism with temperance. The facial similarities between the two is an attempt, I believe, to show that they were once similar, but their paths splintered due to alcohol. Charles Darnay is urbane, well-bred, and aesthetically pleasing. He has abstained from alcohol even though he used to be well-known at Old Bailey Bar. Dickens adequately forecasts this comparison at the beginning of Book the Second, Chapter 5 by saying, "Those were drinking days, and most men drank hard" (Dickens 123). Although Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay look similar, Sydney was the "idlest and most unpromising of men" (Dickens 123). Lucie fawns over Charles Darnay by congratulating him for his acquittal, and Sydney Carton bitterly offers, "That's a fair young lady to be pitied by and wept for by! How does it feel? (Dickens 118). Darnay shrugs off his ability to attract Lucie, further separating him and Carton despite their ostensible similarities. The fourth and fifth chapters of the second book are commendable efforts by Dickens to portray the gulf that exists between these two men. Alcoholism was seen as a cancer during the early 1800s - more so than today - and Dickens shows that to the sober, not the bacchanalian, belong the spoils. Through the first part of the second book, Charles Darnay has the upper hand; he has been acquitted and he holds the affections of Lucie Manette.
Overall, I liked the whole book much more after Book the First was over. Obviously, Charles Dickens' symbolism of the verb "dig" and the "recalled to life" letter makes sense now, after having finished the book, but initially, it was difficult to follow. Dickens' heavy descriptions of the characters were dull, but eventually, as Ms. Elizabeth Rose said in her book review, Dickens certainly knows how to "quicken your pulse" (Rose). I most appreciated his use of vocabulary, as I enjoy using elevated vocabulary when I write and speak myself, and I believe the words he chose did half of his job of advancing the plot for him. I went into greater detail about my appreciation of Dickens' vocabulary usage in the Vocabulary section of Book the Second, but I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading the classics, and to those who have an innate appreciation for history. I found myself hooked once I started imagining the plot and setting in light of French history I already knew. I imagined the executions, the Marquis running over the boy, and the riots, for example, alongside events that I had learned about regarding Louis XV, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, etc. Ultimately, it was a well-written book by one of the greatest authors of all time; a novel that all should read to converse confidently as a learned adult.
Despite the positive effect she has on her father, I find Lucie to be a relatively vapid character. Dickens does an excellent job portraying a competitive jockeying for Lucie's affections between Charles Darnay and Syndey Carton, but it's unclear why she's so desirable. If I had to equate her to another literary character, I'd say she reminds me most of Daisy Buchanan from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The two men in that novel fight for Daisy's attentions, but Daisy is flighty and an uninspiring object of attainment throughout the entirety of the book. The same holds true for Lucie Manette.
My favorite part of the book was the comparison between Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Dickens uses the two men as models, juxtaposing alcoholism with temperance. The facial similarities between the two is an attempt, I believe, to show that they were once similar, but their paths splintered due to alcohol. Charles Darnay is urbane, well-bred, and aesthetically pleasing. He has abstained from alcohol even though he used to be well-known at Old Bailey Bar. Dickens adequately forecasts this comparison at the beginning of Book the Second, Chapter 5 by saying, "Those were drinking days, and most men drank hard" (Dickens 123). Although Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay look similar, Sydney was the "idlest and most unpromising of men" (Dickens 123). Lucie fawns over Charles Darnay by congratulating him for his acquittal, and Sydney Carton bitterly offers, "That's a fair young lady to be pitied by and wept for by! How does it feel? (Dickens 118). Darnay shrugs off his ability to attract Lucie, further separating him and Carton despite their ostensible similarities. The fourth and fifth chapters of the second book are commendable efforts by Dickens to portray the gulf that exists between these two men. Alcoholism was seen as a cancer during the early 1800s - more so than today - and Dickens shows that to the sober, not the bacchanalian, belong the spoils. Through the first part of the second book, Charles Darnay has the upper hand; he has been acquitted and he holds the affections of Lucie Manette.
Overall, I liked the whole book much more after Book the First was over. Obviously, Charles Dickens' symbolism of the verb "dig" and the "recalled to life" letter makes sense now, after having finished the book, but initially, it was difficult to follow. Dickens' heavy descriptions of the characters were dull, but eventually, as Ms. Elizabeth Rose said in her book review, Dickens certainly knows how to "quicken your pulse" (Rose). I most appreciated his use of vocabulary, as I enjoy using elevated vocabulary when I write and speak myself, and I believe the words he chose did half of his job of advancing the plot for him. I went into greater detail about my appreciation of Dickens' vocabulary usage in the Vocabulary section of Book the Second, but I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading the classics, and to those who have an innate appreciation for history. I found myself hooked once I started imagining the plot and setting in light of French history I already knew. I imagined the executions, the Marquis running over the boy, and the riots, for example, alongside events that I had learned about regarding Louis XV, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, etc. Ultimately, it was a well-written book by one of the greatest authors of all time; a novel that all should read to converse confidently as a learned adult.