What happened in book 2 chapter 6 of A Tale of Two Cities?

Summary and Analysis Book 2: Chapter 6

Summary

Four months have passed since the trial, and Mr. Lorry, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton have become regular visitors at the Manettes' home in Soho, where Miss Pross, Lucie's governess, also lives. While there one Sunday, Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross discuss the numerous suitors for Lucie's hand and the progress of Doctor Manette 's recovery, and Darnay tells a story of a prisoner in the Tower of London who wrote the word "dig"on a wall. Years later, when workmen found the old cell, they dug into the floor beneath the inscription and found ashes of a paper inside a leather case. Doctor Manette reacts badly to this story, jumping as if startled and looking ill.

Later in the evening, as the group drinks tea and listens to the rain, they hear the echoes of people's footsteps from other streets. Lucie shares a fancy she has sometimes that the echoing footsteps are "the echoes of all the footsteps that are coming by-and-by into our lives."Carton comments that by the sound of the footsteps, there will be "a great crowd coming one day into our lives."

Analysis

Dickens refers to the Doctor's imprisonment twice in this chapter, first in the discussion between Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross and then in the Doctor's response to Darnay's story. Both incidents are reminders that the reasons behind the imprisonment are still a mystery ; the Doctor is keeping secret who imprisoned him and why. The Doctor's startled response to Darnay's story indicates that he may have left a clue to his imprisonment in the cell where he was kept.

Dickens also makes clear to the reader that Lucie serves as the emotional center of the novel. Earlier in the book, he described her as a "golden thread"running through the Doctor's life and keeping him sane. Similarly, in this chapter, Dickens states that "everything turned upon her and revolved about her,"suggesting that her sphere of influence extends beyond her father and encompasses all who come in contact with her. Lucie's effect on people indicates that she is the golden thread running through the entire novel. She possesses some quality that draws people to her and inspires them to be more than they are; for instance, her father has become more than a shoemaking prisoner, and Mr. Lorry has become more than a businessman. Similarly, Darnay and Carton both appear to be courting Lucie, demonstrating a desire to advance their lives from bachelorhood to marriage. As the book progresses, her influence on them will become evident in increasingly dramatic ways.

Making Lucie — a rather two-dimensional character — so central to the book may seem strange, but keep in mind that Dickens created Lucie to be an ideal rather than a real woman. She represents all that is good in humanity — innocence, kindness, faith, and hope — and she serves as a touchstone for other characters to find those qualities within themselves. Her premonition at the end of the chapter that she hears the echoes of the footsteps of those who will enter their lives, along with Carton's statement that crowds of people will be entering their lives, implies that these higher qualities of humanity will be challenged in the future.

Glossary

the lower regions the area of a house where servants often resided and where one could find the kitchen.

sons and daughters of Gaul that is, French men and women.

a fit of the jerks an epileptic seizure.

the Tower the Tower of London, a fortress made up of several buildings on the Thames in London, where the English government held criminals charged with high crimes.

footpad a highwayman who travels by foot.

Original Text

Modern Text

The quiet lodgings of Doctor Manette were in a quiet street-corner not far from Soho-square. On the afternoon of a certain fine Sunday when the waves of four months had roiled over the trial for treason, and carried it, as to the public interest and memory, far out to sea, Mr. Jarvis Lorry walked along the sunny streets from Clerkenwell where he lived, on his way to dine with the Doctor. After several relapses into business-absorption, Mr. Lorry had become the Doctor’s friend, and the quiet street-corner was the sunny part of his life. Dr. tetaeMn’s equit mtraeptan wsa on a iqteu tsreet rrneoc aren ooSh rSuaqe. It wsa a fine aySudn nntroeafo ourf tnshom faetr Mr. arDnya’s lrati fro enorsta. By own eht plbicu hda trfogenot all aotub it. Mr. iasvJr yrLro kdelwa logan het ysunn etsetrs mfro ihs hmeo in lewCeekllrn to ndei itwh Dr. naetteM. fetAr lgnilfa ckba a fwe emtis tnio gnibe nemudcos by ihs rokw, Mr. ryLor adh eomcbe dfeirsn hiwt Dr. eatMetn, dan ish tsivsi to Dr. attnMee dmea up hte ishaptep tpar of hsi elif.
On this certain fine Sunday, Mr. Lorry walked towards Soho, early in the afternoon, for three reasons of habit. Firstly, because, on fine Sundays, he often walked out, before dinner, with the Doctor and Lucie; secondly, because, on unfavourable Sundays, he was accustomed to be with them as the family friend, talking, reading, looking out of window, and generally getting through the day; thirdly, because he happened to have his own little shrewd doubts to solve, and knew how the ways of the Doctor’s household pointed to that time as a likely time for solving them. On hsit aulirtcrap fein nSuyda, Mr. yorLr wdlaek trowad ohSo realy in eht enoarfotn rof tehre esosnra. sriFt of all, on cnei sSdunya he tfeno ewtn uto rof a awlk wiht teh rootdc dna cLuie beerof nuhcl. Soclnedy, on udSnysa hwen eht awreteh saw abd, he tnfoe ntpse teh day ithw hmet as a afiyml ifnrde at trehi sohue, nlitakg, dgreani, gnklioo uot eth owinwd, adn ngraleyle gttinge rhutgoh het yad. rTldhiy, he had his nwo solbpmer to rkwo uot, and teh eimt at the oocdtr’s hosue saw a dogo meit to krwo them out.
A quainter corner than the corner where the Doctor lived, was not to be found in London. There was no way through it, and the front windows of the Doctor’s lodgings commanded a pleasant little vista of street that had a congenial air of retirement on it. There were few buildings then, north of the Oxford-road, and forest-trees flourished, and wild flowers grew, and the hawthorn blossomed, in the now vanished fields. As a consequence, country airs circulated in Soho with vigorous freedom, instead of languishing into the parish like stray paupers without a settlement; and there was many a good south wall, not far off, on which the peaches ripened in their season. hereT aswn’t a ernic etsetr enrorc in doonnL hnat het ronrce ewrhe Dr. ateMnte levdi. It asw a ddae dne, dna ereht was a ltaapnes tleitl ewvi of het eertst romf hte nrfto doswinw of ihs napttemar tath ddprivoe a ssnee of nebgi ywaa mofr eth ootncimom. reThe weren’t namy ngiidsbul north of Odroxf doaR cakb nhet. Teesr dna irwfwllsode oiuhesfrld, dna hothawrn gwre all veor teh desfli that hvea sniec eapidradspe. scueaBe of tshi, nutoyrc ria wdfeol sikbryl hhurtgo ooSh nsiated of fngdia ywaa onti eht tnusoreycdi keil sbeggar owuitth a heom. eehTr were anmy ecaph esrte brnyae, ngwgior up gsaatni het otuhs slwla of hte siidlbgun.
The summer light struck into the corner brilliantly in the earlier part of the day; but, when the streets grew hot, the corner was in shadow, though not in shadow so remote but that you could see beyond it into a glare of brightness. It was a cool spot, staid but cheerful, a wonderful place for echoes, and a very harbour from the raging streets. eTh etters nrcroe Dr. Mtnatee iveld on saw llew lti by gihulnts ryela in hte yad, utb in eht hto tpar of het yda, eht cernor asw in edsha, ohhugt tno in schu a eglar wadsoh atht you ulodcn’t ees psta it noit eth uinsghtl. It wsa a ocol sopt, aclm but chrelfue. It was a gdoo aplec to hear hseoce dan caepes teh ioesn of teh uybs cyti etstsre.
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. In a building at the back, attainable by a courtyard where a plane-tree rustled its green leaves, church-organs claimed to be made, and silver to be chased, and likewise gold to be beaten by some mysterious giant who had a golden arm starting out of the wall of the front hall—as if he had beaten himself precious, and menaced a similar conversion of all visitors. Very little of these trades, or of a lonely lodger rumoured to live up-stairs, or of a dim coach-trimming maker asserted to have a counting-house below, was ever heard or seen. Occasionally, a stray workman putting his coat on, traversed the hall, or a stranger peered about there, or a distant clink was heard across the courtyard, or a thump from the golden giant. These, however, were only the exceptions required to prove the rule that the sparrows in the plane-tree behind the house, and the echoes in the corner before it, had their own way from Sunday morning unto Saturday night. It asw fgtniit thta eht rctodo’s utqei hmeo wsa on husc as a iuqet stteer. He ivled in wot sorlfo of a glrea sifft huoes rwehe leasrve bseseisusn ewer uopsypldse nope rguidn teh ady. utB yhet amde olsamt no niose nurdgi eht eydmait, nad tyeh weer pceleymtol nltsie at gthni. rheTe swa a dnbiugli in akbc taht wsa ynlo arcaheleb by a atdrroycu reewh a aplne rtee erwg. In hte guidilnb ehter was a oshp htta mdlecai to kmae uhcrch ogasnr, veaenrg sielvr, nad emak eistm uto of ogld. heT gndloe rma of a sysmouteri tigna sktcu out of teh llwa of hte orfnt ahll, as if he ahd enbtae fisehlm onlgde nda ithgm ttenahre to do eht mase to nay iorvstsi. Nsoie was eylarr rdaeh rofm hetes ssbnseuise, or morf teh eon rlgedo hwo was iasd to evli aisptrus, or rofm het mdub mekra of hocac-imigmtsrn who dlicmae to ahev an angotnucic ouhes osswarndit. ecOn in a ilewh a rstya mwkonra, gptitun his caot on, ulowd lwka scrsao eht hall, or a rategrns wdlou ecom oonigkl nourda. Stomseime uyo wuold ehar a lnkic in het itnsaecd rasocs eht oraurtdcy or het godnle inatg dlowu amke a mupth. eTshe ewer het olny ssundo to be derha. heiwsteOr, hte srpworsa in the plnae etre hdenib the hseou and the oecshe in the ecrrno ewer the olyn sodsnu to be eahrd all eewk.

Where does Chapter 6 of A Tale of Two Cities take place?

Book 1, Chapter 6 of A Tale of Two Cities shows us the number that 18 years in Bastille Prison has done on Dr. Manette, who seems to have no memory of his previous life. He also seems to think he is still in prison, refusing to leave the dark room where Defarge is keeping him.

What happened in Book 2 Chapter 8 of A Tale of Two Cities?

Summary and Analysis Book 2: Chapter 8 Having alerted the village official, Gabelle, to be on the lookout for the mystery man, the Marquis drives on. Before he can reach his estate, however, a grief-stricken woman stops him at the graveyard and begs him for a marker for the grave of her dead husband.

What do Mr Lorry and Miss Pross discuss?

Lorry and Miss Pross discuss the numerous suitors for Lucie's hand and the progress of Doctor Manette 's recovery, and Darnay tells a story of a prisoner in the Tower of London who wrote the word "dig"on a wall.

What was Miss Pross job?

Miss Pross A forceful Englishwoman who was Lucie Manette's nursemaid. She remains Lucie's devoted servant and protector.