A Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens

Sydney Carton, “one of Dickens’s most loved and best-remembered characters” (Stout 29), is not just another two-dimensional character; he seems to fly off the pages and into real life throughout all the trials and tribulations he experiences. He touches many hearts, and he even saves the life of Charles Darnay, a man who looks surprisingly similar to him. In Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton is a selfish man of habit, a cynic, a self-loathing drunk, and an incorrigible barrister until he meets Lucie Manette; throughout the novel Sydney is overcome by his noble love for Lucie and transforms from a cynic to a hero as he accomplishes one of the most selfless acts a man can carry out.

Charles Dickens’ extensive use of foil characters in A Tale of Two Cities also includes the duo of Mr. Stryver and his business partner, Carton. Although the characters in the novel are spaced apart among various chapters, meaning certain characters only appear on occasion, the few scenes involving both Carton and Stryver undeniably indicate their status as foils. Both Carton and Stryver wish to marry Lucie Manette, although they go about it in much different ways. Carton, “the fellow of no delicacy,” obtains a personal discussion with Lucie, in which he, already defeated, acknowledges the hopelessness of his situation (148-153).

Carton" and feels sympathy for him (189).  Charles Evrémonde, called Darnay, is loved by his wife Lucie and his daughter; he is "the object of sympathy and compassion" (74).  Carton and Darnay both adore Lucie Manette, but they are two very different men.    

Manette’s example, Sydney Carton, becomes someone honorable enough to be called a savior. At first low self-esteem was the almost unbreakable chain that twisted Sydney Carton into a creature not worthy of the name human, however, by setting thoughts of himself aside he rises from his dark position. Charles Dickens presents many of his characters as being touched by the inky tentacles of misery, from Manette’s agony in prison to Carton’s self inflicted pain, to explain how all humans are tortured. The readers come to realize how deep Carton’s internal sufferings run when he reveals his heart to Lucie Manette. His growing love for her, he communicates “Has stirred old shadows that I thought had died out of me.

A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, takes place during the French Revolution. The book centers on the heroic attempts of Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay. Sydney Carton puts on the façade of being insolent and indifferent, but his true nature is expressed in the book when he puts others first, defends Charles, and dies for the ones he loves. Charles Darnay is a once wealthy aristocrat whose attempts at heroism include going back to France, his financial sacrifice, and the noble way in which he was willing to face his death.

In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, isolation impacts Madame Defarge and Sydney Carton by altering their perception of life, influencing Madame to become obsessive with her vengeful goal of eliminating the aristocracy and damaging Carton by forcing him to contain his depressive emotions.

In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, it is explicitly mentioned several times that Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton look particularly similar. The similarities in the appearances of Carton and Darnay later play a substantial role in the conclusion of the novel. Despite their physical similarities, the two are completely different individuals and are nothing alike. Chapter 4 of the novel juxtaposes the two characters together and displays the differences in their personalities. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens exhibits the diversity of Carton and Darnay’s personalities, by embedding imagery and characterization into the context.

Lucie Manette is a compassionate and benevolent character that aids in the resurrection of Sydney Carton and Dr. Manette. At the beginning of the book Lucie is only

Charles Darnay is on his way to Paris in the fall of 1792 in search of Gabelle. Along the way, he is stopped in several villages by revolutionaries, and is scorned as an emigrant and an aristocrat. At one point, he is forced to hire two men to “escort” him to Paris. When he finally gets to Paris, he is declared to be a prisoner and is taken to La Force prison. He encounters several other aristocrats and French royalty who are imprisoned there, and who seem so lifeless and dead that he refers to them as “ghosts.” Darnay is said to be at the prison “in secret”, and although he does not realize it at the time, means that he will be kept in solitary confinement. He is brought up to a small room at the top of a tower that measures “five paces by four and a half.” Locked alone in the small room, Darnay resorts to pacing back and forth in an effort to clear his mind. He seems helpless and confused, unsure of how he ended up in this predicament, and more importantly, how he is going to escape from it.

Twelve months later Dr. Manette asked for Lucie’s hand in marriage. If Lucie accepts, Darnay will give his true identity to the Manettes. Sydney is also falling in love with Lucie but he knows that she is much to good for him and she will never be his. Lucies’s beauty is so magnificent to Carton that by knowing here, she has made his life worth living. Her presence gives Sydney a reason to get up in the morning. Sydney would do any thing for her "…O Miss Manette, when the little

Humanity is inherently flawed. Charles Dickens illustrates this in his novel A Tale of Two Cities as he writes about the lives of the Manettes and the people they draw around them. In this novel, Dickens uses Sydney Carton, a main character in the novel and the lover of Lucie Manette, to reveal his thoughts about the inherent nature of humanity. The characteristics of humanity change and mutate with the experiences of each person and the workings of their own mind, as illustrated by Mr. Stryver’s inhumane and thoughtless treatment of Sydney, the first time Sydney saves Charles Darnay’s life, and Sydney’s love for Lucie Manette.

In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, ambiguity is a common motif. Said ambiguity is shown through the complex characters, Madame Defarge and Sydney Carton. Dickens uses these characters to show the natural human need for happiness and how people will do virtually anything if they are passionate about it, no matter whom they hurt along the way. Sydney Carton is an exemplary example of Dickens’ attempt to show ambiguity through different characters. In the beginning of the novel, he is a hopeless, cynical, pessimistic, and unlikeable drunk.

In the historical fiction novel A Tale of Two Cities, a lawyer named Sydney Carton falls in love with a woman named Lucie whom becomes married to a different man. In the earlier parts of the novel, Carton was a drunkard. He describes himself as, “self-flung away, wasted, drunken, poor creature of misuse,” (156) and says, “I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth and no man on earth cares for me,” (86) showing that he believes his life is meaningless. Through the development of Sydney Carton, Charles Dickens demonstrates the ability of love to bring positive personal transformation.

When Lucie gave birth and named their first daughter “Little Lucie”, Little Lucie become closed to Sydney Carton. Carton enjoys hanging out with the family and felt worthy around Darnay’s family. Later in the 3rd Book, once Charles is tried once more then sentenced to death, Carton remembers his promise to Lucie. He realizes that he will most likely escape with shift places with Charles and nobody can notice due to their similar look. He devises and carries out a thought to save lots of Charles. As he's progressing to the scaffold to die, he is bothered however this is often the foremost worthy issue he has ever wiped out his life (Dickens 55). He is aware of that his life currently has that means even supposing he's close to behave.

Sydney Carton: In the beginning of the story, he is uncaring and an alcoholic attorney that has no goal in life, until he meets Lucie Manette. After his encounter with Lucie, Sydney becomes a compassionate person.