"What is this?" ("The Shoemaker")

Fred Barnard

1870s

13.8 x 10.6 cm

Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, Book I, chap. vi

Lucie Manette, who has long thought herself an orphan, and Dr. Manette (who has lost his identity through long years of imprisonment in the Bastille) meet at last in the garret above the Defarges' wine shop in the seedy Paris district of St. Antoine.

[Continued below]

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.]

The mental deterioration of the bearded figure on the shoe mender's bench is admirably conveyed by his ragged clothing and riveted gaze upon the fashionable young woman whose presence illuminates his garret. The scene of gradual recognition and returning self-awareness occurs in the text on the self-same page as Barnard's illustration:

"What is this?"

With the tears streaming down her face, she put her two hands to her lips, and kissed them to him; then clasped them on her breast, as if she laid his ruined head there. [20]

Thus, Barnard captures the precise moment when Lucie attempts to engage her father's attention as her father clasps the beautiful young woman's skirt, and then (presumably) drops the hem. The artist captures well the old man's amazement, but fails to suggest the strong emotions welling up in Lucie. The picture is nevertheless effective because of its internal tensions, between youth and age, smooth cheek and bearded, ill-kempt visage, standing versus sitting, fashionable versus rotten apparel. The gaze between the two figures, so very different and yet intimately connected, speaks volumes.

References

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1870s.

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Last modified 20 February 2011