Character Exploration

Character Exploration

The Bachelorette, 1780s-Style

Opening

In a retro-themed TV game show, explore the following questions: What would a woman in the days of the French Revolution be looking for in a husband? What, for her, would make a good marriage?

As directed, join a small group. Your group will represent either Darnay, Carton, Stryver, or Lucie in your class’s version of “The Dating Game,” a show that pre-dated the familiar Bachelor/Bachelorette series.

  • The three male characters are the bachelors, and if you are assigned to one of them, decide which member of your group will become your bachelor. Then, find quotations that support reasons that Lucie should marry your character. You are going to have to convince her that your bachelor will make a great husband.
  • If you are in the Lucie group, generate questions that you might ask of the bachelors. Draw quotations from Victorian Ideas About Gender.

Open Notebook

In “The Dating Game,” the bachelorette (Lucie, in this case) can ask straightforward questions, such as, “What do you look like?”  and can ask creative questions, such as, “Where might you take me on our first date?”

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