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A Tale of Two Cities Family Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

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. (2.4.3)

Lucie becomes a conduit for Doctor Manette’s own experiences. Deprived of his life in prison, he begins to live through her.

Quote #2

There ought to have been a tranquil bark in such an anchorage, and there was. The Doctor occupied two floors of a large stiff house, where several callings purported to be pursued by day, but whereof little was audible any day, and which was shunned by all of them at night. (2.6.6)

Lucie seems to create a space of calm around her entire family—perhaps because we’re never really allowed to see a dark side to her character.

Quote #3

Although the Doctor's daughter had known nothing of the country of her birth, she appeared to have innately derived from it that ability to make much of little means, which is one of its most useful and most agreeable characteristics. (2.6.16)

The home that Doctor Manette occupies is emphatically Lucie’s home: she’s the one who makes every room she inhabits comfortable.