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Doctor Alexandre Manette is a character inCharles Dickens' 1859 novelA Tale of Two Cities. He isLucie's father, a brilliantphysician, and spent eighteen years "in secret" as a prisoner in theBastille prior to theFrench Revolution. He is imprisoned because in the course of his medical practice he learns of abusive actions by two members of the aristocratic Evrémonde family. While realizing the power at court of nobles such as the Evrémondes, Manette reports them to a minister of the royal government. He is seized from his young family and imprisoned under alettre de cachet.
Character and plot
editAt the start of the novel, Manette has been recently released from the Bastille after a long imprisonment. He is briefly given shelter in Paris by his former servant Ernest Defarge (who will subsequently be a leader of thestorming of the Bastille) and is then reunited with his daughter Lucie. He does nothing but make shoes, a pastime that he adopted to distract himself from the tortures of prison. He is clearly not in his mind during this time; he speaks only when necessary, and has become so used to being a prisoner that he can hardly bear light or freedom. As he overcomes his past as a prisoner, due to his daughter's love and devotion to him, however, he resumes his occupation as a physician in England, and proves to be a kind, loving father who prizes his daughter’s happiness above all things. He even blesses her marriage toCharles Darnay; the son of the aristocrat who was responsible for his imprisonment (Darnay has completely renounced his family's ill-gotten fortune and is a good fellow, unaware of the harm that his father once inflicted on his current father-in-law). When Charles Darnay is arrested in France during the French Revolution, Manette is his witness that he is innocent. Unfortunately, Darnay is arrested again, due to a diary that Manette wrote when he was in jail, which sends Darnay back to prison. Darnay is condemned for his uncle's sins, butSydney Carton (out of love for Lucie Manette), disguises himself as Charles and takes his place in the guillotine and dies for him.
Cinematic and theatrical portrayals
edit- In the 1935 filmA Tale of Two Cities, Dr. Manette is played byHenry B. Walthall.
- In the 1958film adaptation, Dr. Alexandre Manette is played byStephen Murray.
- In the 1980 TV movieA Tale of Two Cities, Dr. Manette is played byPeter Cushing.
- In the 2008Broadway musical adaptation ofA Tale of Two Cities, Dr. Alexandre Manette is played byGregg Edelman.