Despite the little information known about Dr. Manette at the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens presents him as a complex character. Although Dr. Manette stayed in prison for an unknown period of time, one can confirm that his stay in prison affected his well-being. Being in prison for a number of years not only affected his physical health, but his mental health. Dr. Manette is “greatly changed . . . [and] almost a wreck” (Dickens 42), as described by Mr. Lorry. When asked a question, he takes a rather long time to reply. “After a long silence, the head was lifted for another moment, and the voice replied, ‘Yes—I am working.’ This time, a pair of haggard eyes had looked at the questioner, before the face had dropped again” (Dickens 68). Another indicator of Dr. Manette’s conditions is in his appearance. From his “hollowness and thinness of his face . . . his yellow rags of shirt . . . withered and worn”, it is quite evident he does not fare well. The introduction Dr. Manette at the end of “Book the First” leaves
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Manette faces internal conflicts involving his past, he is a protagonist because of his relationship with Lucie. The conflict Dr. Manette faces is between the happy thoughts and the dark thoughts in his mind. Lucie who helps him in trying to let go of the past. In Chapter VI of “Book the Second”, the readers see that “in a corner, stood the disused shoemaker’s bench and tray of tools, much as it had stood on the fifth floor of the dismal house by the wine-shop” (Dickens 163). The title of the first chapter “Five Years Later” dictates that Dr. Manette kept the shoemaker’s bench for over five years. It is not until Chapter XIX where the shoemaker’s bench is “hacked . . . to pieces . . . the tools, shoes, and leather . . . buried in the garden” (Dickens 362). Furthermore, Dr. Manette’s recovery is a slow process because of how long the shoemaker’s bench resides in his house. In time however, he does heal thanks to the help of
Manette faces internal conflicts involving his past, he is a protagonist because of his relationship with Lucie. The conflict Dr. Manette faces is between the happy thoughts and the dark thoughts in his mind. Lucie who helps him in trying to let go of the past. In Chapter VI of “Book the Second”, the readers see that “in a corner, stood the disused shoemaker’s bench and tray of tools, much as it had stood on the fifth floor of the dismal house by the wine-shop” (Dickens 163). The title of the first chapter “Five Years Later” dictates that Dr. Manette kept the shoemaker’s bench for over five years. It is not until Chapter XIX where the shoemaker’s bench is “hacked . . . to pieces . . . the tools, shoes, and leather . . . buried in the garden” (Dickens 362). Furthermore, Dr. Manette’s recovery is a slow process because of how long the shoemaker’s bench resides in his house. In time however, he does heal thanks to the help of