Love for a beautiful, compassionate woman has inspired poets, artists, writers, and ordinary men for ages. It also inspires and binds the principal male characters in A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens' novel that beseeches the people of his time to right the social wrongs plaguing England before they end up in a bloody revolution, as France had done 75 years earlier. The woman in this case is Lucie Manette, the "Golden Thread," who is loved by her father, her husband, and a loyal friend. Lucie's relationships with Dr. Manette, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton demonstrate that she has a beneficial effect on each character because she is the force that ties them to their best selves.

Lucie is crucial to Dr. Manette because she connects him to his past, present, and future, while inspiring him to be a better man. She brings Dr. Manette out of his...