Book I - Chapter VI. The Shoemaker Practice Quiz — A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Book I - Chapter VI. The Shoemaker
Where is Dr. Manette being kept when Mr. Lorry and Lucie find him?
In a dark garret (attic room) above Monsieur Defarge's wine shop in the Saint Antoine district of Paris.
What is Dr. Manette doing when Defarge first greets him?
He is sitting on a bench making shoes, bent low over his work with his white head down.
How does Dr. Manette respond when asked his name?
"One Hundred and Five, North Tower"—the number and location of his cell in the Bastille.
What does Dr. Manette keep in a folded rag around his neck?
A very small quantity of golden hair—one or two long strands wound off upon his finger—from his wife.
What memory does the golden hair trigger in Dr. Manette?
He recalls the night he was summoned and taken to the North Tower. His wife had laid her head on his shoulder, and the hairs were found on his sleeve.
What does Dr. Manette ask for as he gets into the carriage to leave Paris?
His shoemaking tools and the unfinished shoes. Madame Defarge retrieves them for him.
What is the final exchange that closes the chapter?
Mr. Lorry silently wonders: "I hope you care to be recalled to life?" And the old answer comes: "I can't say."
How does Dickens describe Dr. Manette's physical appearance when the light falls on him?
He has a white beard, hollow face, exceedingly bright eyes, a withered body, and yellow rags of clothing that have faded to a uniform parchment-yellow from lack of light and air.
How does Mr. Lorry react emotionally during the reunion scene?
He is deeply moved but tries to contain it, repeatedly blowing his nose to hide his emotion and quickly resuming his "methodical manners" when business needs doing.
Who is the last person seen as the carriage departs, and what is she doing?
Madame Defarge, leaning against the door-post, knitting, and seeing nothing.
What does Lucie do that prevents Lorry and Defarge from rushing forward when Dr. Manette picks up the knife?
She stays them with a motion of her hand, showing no fear that her father would strike at her with the shoemaker's knife.
What does the phrase "recalled to life" mean in the context of this chapter?
It refers to the attempt to restore Dr. Manette from the living death of imprisonment—to bring back his identity, memories, and humanity through love and freedom.
Why does Dr. Manette expect a drawbridge when he reaches the courtyard?
Eighteen years in the Bastille have conditioned him to expect prison architecture. His mind is still imprisoned even though his body is free.
What does the shoemaking represent in the novel?
It represents both the psychological damage of imprisonment and a coping mechanism. Dr. Manette retreats to shoemaking whenever traumatic memories surface, making it a barometer of his mental state.
How does the light-and-darkness imagery function in this chapter?
The garret begins in near-total darkness. When Defarge opens the half-door to admit light, it symbolizes the first glimmer of hope and the beginning of Dr. Manette's return from his buried existence.
What does Dr. Manette say when Defarge asks if he can bear more light?
"I must bear it, if you let it in"—laying the palest shadow of stress on the word "must," suggesting passive resignation rather than choice.
What are Lucie's repeated words as she holds her father?
"Weep for it, weep for it!" She urges him to weep for his lost life, her dead mother, their home, and the freedom he was denied.
How does Dr. Manette describe the shoe he is making?
"It is a lady's shoe. It is a young lady's walking-shoe. It is in the present mode. I never saw the mode. I have had a pattern in my hand."—He glances at it with "some little passing touch of pride."
What extended simile does Dickens use to describe Dr. Manette's voice?
He compares it to a faded color, "the last feeble echo of a sound made long and long ago," a voice underground, and the tone of a famished traveler about to lie down and die.
What is the dramatic irony of Madame Defarge's knitting in this chapter?
She appears merely passive and domestic, but readers later learn her knitting is a coded register of names condemned to die during the Revolution. Her apparent indifference masks lethal calculation.
How does Dickens use the technique of mirrored expressions between Lucie and her father?
The same expression of "actively intent intelligence" that appears on Dr. Manette's forehead is replicated on Lucie's face, "as though it had passed like a moving light, from him to her"—visually linking parent and child.
What does Dickens mean by "vagrancy" when describing Dr. Manette's mental state?
It refers to the doctor's habitual mental wandering—the way his attention drifts away after speaking, requiring effort to recall him, "like recalling some very weak person from a swoon."