Lucie Manette

A Tale of Two Cities (ITV, 1989)

Serena Gordon (1989)

Ladybird (by Miss Pross)

Miss Pross (servant/caregiver)

### Personalities

Beautiful, kind, loving, innocent, angelic, compassionate, virtuous, pure, loyal, faithful, caring, polite, feminine, dutiful, quiet, weak

### Allies

Charles Darnay
Sydney Carton
Doctor Manette
Miss Pross

Little Lucie

### Enemies

Madame Defarge

Monsieur Defarge

### Likes

Her family, living a happy life in London

### Dislikes

Living in Paris during the Revolution, when her family is in danger

### Goal

To nurse her father back to health and "resurrect" him back to life
To be a dutiful daughter, wife and mother
To be loving to Carton and treat him as a family friend

To rescue Darnay from the revolutionaries
 (all succeeded)

### Fate

Escapes from Paris with her husband, daughter, father and Mr. Lorry

> "*He had loved Lucie Manette from the hour of his danger. He had never heard a sound so sweet and dear as the sound of her compassionate voice; he had never seen a face so tenderly beautiful, as hers when it was confronted with his own on the edge of the grave that had been dug for him.*"
> ― Book 2, Chapter 10
>
>

Lucie Manette is a major character in Charles Dickens’ *A Tale of Two Cities*. She is the daughter of Doctor Manette, the wife of Charles Darnay, and the mother of Little Lucie.

A symbol of virtue and compassion, Lucie has the power to bring her family together with her love and kindness. Also known as the “Golden Thread”, she can restore and transform those around her, from restoring her father back to his former self, to inspiring Sydney Carton to become a hero.

## Storyline

### Early Life/Meeting her Father

Lucie was born the only child of a respected French doctor, Alexandre Manette, and his English wife. Before she was born, her father disappeared and her mother raised her to believe he was dead to spare her pain, as she was devastated when she lost her husband. Her mother never gave up trying to find her father and begged the royal court for any news about her husband, but to no avail. When Lucie was two years old, her mother died presumably of a broken heart, and didn't want her daughter to try to figure out if her father was dead or imprisoned. Mr. Lorry, a businessman who works for Tellson's Bank in London, and was a trustee in Lucie's parents' affairs, brought her to England and placed her in the care of Tellson's Bank. He also worked for the Tellson's Bank branch in Paris for 20 years.

15 years later, in 1775, 17-year-old Lucie arrives at the Royal George Hotel in Dover to meet with Mr. Lorry. He finds her inside a dark room he arranged to meet her in and bows to her. She invites him to sit and says she has come here after she received a letter from the bank yesterday, informing her about a discovery regarding what little property her father had left her, who she thinks is dead as she has never met him. She also says that it's important that she travels to Paris and meet a gentleman from the bank who would meet her there.

Mr. Jarvis Lorry admits that he's that person. Lucie explains that she wrote back to Tellson's Bank, saying she's an orphan with no friends and that she's grateful that a businessman from the bank will accompany her for her safety, but since he already left London, she thinks a messenger has been sent to him to inform him to wait for her at Dover. The bank also told her that Mr. Lorry will explain the details of the situation and she's expected to be surprised what she will hear, which makes her anxious. After an awkward moment of silence, Lucie asks Mr. Lorry if that have met before. Mr. Lorry asks if he should address her as an English young lady, and she replies yes.

Mr. Lorry explains that he's a businessman and asks for her permission to allow him to tell the story of one of his clients, who is a French doctor from Beauvais, and whose story is like her father's. Mr. Lorry had private business with the doctor, and insists that the Tellson's Bank businessmen's relationships with their clients are treated as professional, not friendships. Lucie then recognizes Mr. Lorry as the gentleman who brought her to England two years after her mother's death. He kisses her hand, makes her sit and admits that it was him. He says that the reason he hasn't seen her since then is that he was too busy with his work and had no time to befriend Lucie or care for her while she was a ward at Tellson's.

When Mr. Lorry starts to explain about what if her father never died and he had been untraceably imprisoned by a powerful enemy, Lucie becomes panicked and grabs his wrists. He tries to console her and that it's a professional matter. She begs him to tell her the truth, and he promises if she can handle it. She promises she will except when he's making her anxious. He explains more about her mother when Lucie kneels before him, again begging for the truth. He urges her to calm down and be brave as he cannot tell the story in a confused state. After she calms down and sits in her chair, Mr. Lorry explained how her mother tried finding her father until her death and that no other property had been left for her. Lucie then becomes anxious and grabs his wrist again when Mr. Lorry reveals her father has been found alive, but has changed into a broken, man. He has been taken to the house of one of his servants in Paris and they will go there. Mr. Lorry will identify there and Lucie will lovingly care for him and restore him back to his former self.

Lucie panics that she's going to see her father's ghost, and Mr. Lorry consoles her and says that if the journey goes well, she will soon meet him. Again, Lucie is anxious