The Conscious and Unconscious Mind in A Tale of Two Cities
Just as it was “the best of times and the worst of times” in pre-revolutionary France, Doctor Alexandre Manette had the best of personalities and the worst of personalities. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Sigmund Freud’s theories of the conscious and unconscious mind can be applied to Dr. Alexandre Manette in order to expose an understanding of the spoken and unspoken desires of the human mind. Dr. Manette's ceaseless inner conflict between his desire to regain his civilized lifestyle and his constant retrogression to his prison habits helps to establish him as the embodiment of the conscious and unconscious mind. Through this inability to escape from this inner conflict, Dickens illustrates humanity’s dual nature and that man, no matter how morally conscious, eventually succumbs to the primitive, instinctual desires of human nature
Driven by the …show more content…
Manette assumes two very conflicting personalities: One of a feeble, introspective, shoemaker and the other of an outgoing, well educated man who flourished within society. However, when Dickens first introduces Manette, he is both mentally and physically frail. Manette is initially described as “a white-haired man” that “ sat on a low bench, stooping forward and very busy, making shoes.” who would “tear himself to pieces if his door was left open” due to his prolonged time in prison (Dickens). The imagery of Doctor Manette’s preference to stay locked away in his “prison”, embodies the faint, enfeebled, lost cognition trapped within the prison otherwise known as the unconscious mind. Due to Manette’s prolonged isolation, “He is completely incapable of
Just as it was “the best of times and the worst of times” in pre-revolutionary France, Doctor Alexandre Manette had the best of personalities and the worst of personalities. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Sigmund Freud’s theories of the conscious and unconscious mind can be applied to Dr. Alexandre Manette in order to expose an understanding of the spoken and unspoken desires of the human mind. Dr. Manette's ceaseless inner conflict between his desire to regain his civilized lifestyle and his constant retrogression to his prison habits helps to establish him as the embodiment of the conscious and unconscious mind. Through this inability to escape from this inner conflict, Dickens illustrates humanity’s dual nature and that man, no matter how morally conscious, eventually succumbs to the primitive, instinctual desires of human nature
Driven by the …show more content…
Manette assumes two very conflicting personalities: One of a feeble, introspective, shoemaker and the other of an outgoing, well educated man who flourished within society. However, when Dickens first introduces Manette, he is both mentally and physically frail. Manette is initially described as “a white-haired man” that “ sat on a low bench, stooping forward and very busy, making shoes.” who would “tear himself to pieces if his door was left open” due to his prolonged time in prison (Dickens). The imagery of Doctor Manette’s preference to stay locked away in his “prison”, embodies the faint, enfeebled, lost cognition trapped within the prison otherwise known as the unconscious mind. Due to Manette’s prolonged isolation, “He is completely incapable of