Re: A Tale of Two Cities - strengths and weakness of women
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Thu, 9 Apr 1998 10:12:25 -0100
My dear Miss Henry,
Lucie Manette, I like to think, possesses womanly strength. All of Madame
Defarge's womanly instincts have been perverted by suffering and rage.
Lucie can endure the clouding of her father's mind, and gently guide it back
towards clarity. She can endure the death of a child. She is courage
itself during her family's perilous days in Paris. It is an error, I
submit, to identify strength with action alone. Strength to endure is as
real and as admirable. Perhaps it is a strength we men can best learn from
our mothers and sisters and daughters.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
________________________________________________________________________________
>Mr. Dickens:
>
>Lucie Manette is portrayed as a passive female who gets her strength from
the men she interacts with, while Madame Defarge is a strong vengeful
independent woman. Are there hidden strengths that Lucie possesses that are
not that obvious to the beginning reader.
>
>Thank you
>Alex Henry
>
>
======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author