Charles Darnay In A Tale Of Two Cities

Sydney Carton is this figure, once tormented and saddened by his own dreadful life, he is now able to redeem himself by taking this risk, dying for Darnay. This wouldn’t be possible without his one true motivation, his passionate appreciation and love that he has for Lucie, and because of this love, he will do anything for her, even death.People take risks to achieve certain goals, and Sydney Carton took a huge risk, pretending to be Charles Darnay and going to the guillotine in Darnay’s place to die. But Carton is able to disregard all these consequences, taking an enormous risk of death to complete a motivational task in which he envisioned to have great everlasting effects on the ones he

In the beginning, Sydney Carton was a mean drunk that did nothing well and was only worried about himself. Carton had never done anything correctly, or for the benefit of others until he met Lucie, which was the love of his life, that he would do anything for. In another incident he shows his love for Lucie by dying in place of her husband, Charles Darnay, and when asked why he was dying for this man, his reply was, “ It is far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done: it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known” (446). Sydney Carton is basically saying that it was the best thing that he has ever done because he did not grow up doing things for other people’s better good. This shows how much he has changed from being a drunk and mean, to dying for the happiness of a person he loves. Sydney Carton has been greatly “recalled to life”, because he has changed so much, and it has made a huge impact in the book.

After eighteen years of solitary confignment in the Bastille prison, Lucie’s father (Alexander Manette) has gone insane and is unaware of the life around him. With Lucie's patience and compassion Mr. Manette is restored to his old self. Now that Lucie and her father have reunited their bond cannot be broken. Lucie’s good-hearted nature is brought up once more when she shows her understanding toward Sydney Carton as he confesses his feelings about her, even though he has been nothing but a bitter, confused drunk around her. The first time Lucie met her father: "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" (Dickens

This wasted potential is emphasized when both Darnay and Carton fall in love with Lucie Manette. Darnay, as the typical charming hero, is chosen over desperate, brooding Carton. As a result, Carton finds himself channeling his love and his physical advantage of being Darnay’s double into keeping Lucie safe and happy by way of rescuing Darnay from the guillotine. Thus, Carton is able to become the proverbial “good guy,” a role he saw for himself in his counterpart, Darnay. He also managed to thwart the Defarges’ plot to murder all those connected to the aristocracy in any way. In this way, Dickens is able to use the comparisons and contrasts between the two men to show how love is capable of victory over violence and vengeance.

In A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, Sydney Carton is introduced as a lethargic alcoholic that has little interest in living. As the story progresses, however, Dickens shows Sydney’s interest in another character named Lucie. Later, Sydney even announces his love to her before she weds another man, Charles Darnay, yet he still continues to speak of the worthlessness of his life as the story continues. It becomes very obvious to the reader that Lucie is the focal point of Sydney’s life, and that he lives primarily in the light of her happiness. Towards the end of the novel, Darnay is in prison and soon facing the guillotine. Sydney, who looks stunningly similar to Darnay, takes his place and dies to ensure Lucie’s happiness with Darnay in their future. From the time he announced his love to Lucie until his death, Sydney showed his passionate interest and care for Lucie while showing apathy for his own life. It is clear that Sydney valued Lucie and her happiness more than his own life. Therefore, by

Sydney Carton performs many courageous acts that create positive changes for the Evrémonde family’s future. Carton’s actions strive to improve the Evrémonde family’s life, while boldly putting his at risk. His fearless actions reunite the Evrémonde family back together, producing a new, positive outlook of the future for them. When Carton enters Darnay’s prison cell, it is described that Carton, “dressed himself in the clothes the prisoner had laid aside, combed back his hair, and tied it with the ribbon the prisoner had worn” (Dickens 358). Carton acts gallantly in order to salvage Darnay’s life, for he switches places with him in the prison. As a result of Carton’s brave actions, Darnay is free once more to be with his family and lead a

Sydney thinks, as his life is slipping away, “ The murmuring of many voices, the upturning of many faces, the pressing on of many footsteps in the outskirts of the crowd, so that it swells forward in a mass, like one great heave of water, all flashes away. Twenty-Three” (320). As Sydney Carton's life fades away, his life purpose comes together. He has always thought of himself as a drunk that no one could ever love, but he now knows Lucie will love him, because he gave her Charles Darnay. Sydney describes switching clothes with charles, “There was a hurry, too, in all his thoughts, a turbulent and heated working of his heart, that contended against resignation. If, for a moment, he did feel resigned, then his wife and child who had to live after him, seemed to protest and to make it a selfish thing” (297). For Carton this decision was one of the easiest decisions of his life; for Lucie, his love, he would give her Charles, whom is Lucie's love. This seems to be one of the bravest things done, although for Carton it was a duty. Carton describes what he thought, “ The spare hand does not tremble as he releases it; nothing worse than a sweet, bright constancy is in the patient face” (320). Carton values respect, though he never got it, he values loyalty, though he never received it, he values Lucie, though he gave her away. He values multiple things, but by

Through his death, Carton redeems his sins and is reborn in the afterlife and through the life of his namesake; while also dying knowing that his life had a purpose. Carton constantly puts himself down and compares himself to Darnay, claiming that he doesn’t think he “particularly like[s]” Darnay because he reminds him of what he could have been (89). The resemblance between the two makes Carton detest Darnay because he is envious of the prosperous future that he could have had, if he were to step up to the plate. Sydney Carton has an epiphany or a sudden realization or awakening where he realizes that his life is pointless and recalls dreams that he has of improving it. a.

Both Lucie and Sydney Carton demonstrate that one can overcome individual setbacks to support their loved ones. Throughout the novel Sydney is fighting off drinking and depression. “‘I am like one who died young. All my life might have been’” (p.153). He questions the meaning of his life, but whenever he does it always traces back to Lucie. “‘She is everything to me; more than suffering, more than wrong more than well! This is idle talk’” (p. 139). This quote explains how much Carton loves Lucie and that he would accomplish anything to have Lucie stay pure and secure. Therefore he continues living for Lucie. When Darnay is on trial Lucie is devastated, but she quickly overcomes those emotions to support Sydney and Dr.Manette through their problematical times.

Later on, coincidentally, Darnay and Lucie get married, and Carton becomes very involved with their family. In the end, Carton switches places with Charles Darnay, the man he once hated, to save his life for Lucie’s happiness. Therefore, if Sydney Carton had not recognized the parallels between Charles Darnay and himself, the life of Charles Darnay would not have been spared, and Lucie Manette would have lived a disconsolate life. However, the fate of the innocent man is soon to be altered by a rekindled relationship between three important people.

Although the “rebirth” does not take place right then Lucie’s love for her father is never doubted for even a second. In chapter six, when she sees her father for the very first time Lucie says to him, “…that your agony is over...I have come here to take you from it...” (49), this marks the beginning of the doctor’s rebirth. Through this statement Dickens has Lucie promising that she will do anything for her father out of pure love. As the Manette’s travel back to England, in time it becomes clear that Lucie’s love towards her father is beginning to have an impact on his behavior. In chapter five, of the second book Dr. Manette is able to carry on a complete conversation, which shows the readers that he is regaining his sanity. Later on in chapter seven of the third book, Dickens reminds his readers again of how far Dr.Manette has come since that first day in the Defarge’s attic, “No garret, no shoemaking, no One Hundred and Five, North Tower, now! He had accomplished the task he had set himself…" (285-6). It is at this moment that the reader knows he has been resorted back to his old self before he was in prison. Throughout all the hardship and pain the doctor has to endure, his daughter Lucie never leaves his side.

Sydney Carton is portrayed as a person with merely any value at the beginning of the novel. He was described as “so careless as to be almost insolent” (Page 83) due to his behavior in the courtroom as being disrespectful and also due to his negligent physical appearance. For example, in the book it is said that, "Mr. Carton, who had long sat looking at the ceiling of the court, changed neither his place nor his attitude, even with this excitement” (Page 81). He frequently alludes to the fact that his life has been wasted, stating that he “cares for no man on earth and no man on earth cares for (him)” (Page 89). Shown frequently indulging in alcohol for instance during his conversation with Darnay after the trial, Carton is a drunkard. He is depicted as wasting his cleverness and youth on drink and carelessness. However, Carton sacrifices in many instance for the betterment of others which changes the perspective to look at him.

Doctor Manette was one of the most significant characters in the novel, and his imprisonment played a key role in the story’s plot, and greatly affected his life. After he was released from prison, Lucie goes out to look for him, which is when she comes face to face with Charles Darnay. If this had never occurred, the rest of the story would have never developed. Before Manette was imprisoned, he had a normal, happy life with a pregnant wife and all, until he becomes incarcerated for over seventeen years, causing him to become depressed and traumatized. After he is finally released, he meets his daughter whom he never knew about. Traumatized as he was, Manette gives his prison cell number when asked for his name, after he was told he had a visitor. He also seemed forgetful, which of course, may be why he went into a relapse. In the novel, Dickens states, “He stared at her with a fearful look, and after a while, his lips began to form some words, though no sound proceeded from them.” (47) It shows how

Charles Dickens builds Doctor Manette’s character by first explaining his background, which highlights the theme of the need for sacrifice. Doctor Manette is a kind and forgiving character that has been held captive for many years in prison because of the St. Evremonde family. Doctor Manette suffers greatly during and after

Through the book we can see how emotionally beat Carton is. He is a carton of milk, but with no milk, and what is a carton of milk with no milk? Nothing, Sydney Carton is a man of nothing. No desire, no hope, no happiness. I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me. (2.4.70) Even though Sydney Carton seems hopeless, he will see the pity people give him, the smug looks, and will change his life around. After, seeing Lucie Manette marry Charles Darnay, he decides to turn his life around. Sydney becomes a man of more than just himself. Carton visits Lucie and Charles Darnay to play with their kids and to actually enjoy himself, before the only enjoyment he really had was drinking which just made him feel worse. By the end of the book Sydney Carton has overcome his depressed, alcoholic ways and sacrificed his life for Darnay knowing Darnay will live a happy life with his kids. Sydney Carton's last thoughts before his life is sacrificed to save Charles Darnay: "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." (374). Sydney Carton is reborn in the hearts of those as a hero, and even Charles Darnay names his next child after him