Darnay And Sydney Carton Essay

In Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses Sydney Carton to show that sacrifice is necessary to achieve happiness and this is shown through both the sacrifice of his past and present self throughout the novel.

A Tale of Two Cities, involves many complicated situations in which the characters must choose between chance or death, career or family, honor or revenge. As a result, ambiguity has evolved in multiple characters because of these difficult choices. Two prominently ambiguous characters are John Barsad and Monsieur Defarge. While Barsad recognizes the importance of career and honor, Defarge sees more prominence in family and revenge.

Life seems to abide by equality, for every person with a trait, there is the a person with the opposite. Following this concept, A Tale of Two Cities, a historical novel by Charles Dickens set in both England and France, uses characters that are easily contrasted with one another in terms of characteristics. The Marquis St. Evremonde and Charles Darnay, although related, possess traits that completely oppose the other. Dickens is a strong believer in parallelism, uses his characters to contrast each other to emphasize their traits. The character foil of Charles Darnay and the Marquis St. Evremonde helps support the theme of parallelism and opposites in the novel itself.

Throughout the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens uses powerful contrast to present a story that reflects the situations in his life, as well as the life of two cities. Best/worst, wisdom/foolishness, belief/incredulity, light/darkness, spring/winter, hope/despair, everything/nothing; these antithesis springing up from the first paragraph provide contrasting ideas that highlight the extreme conflict revealed throughout the novel. Looking at the character motifs, Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, in addition to Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge are contrasting characters evolving with the progressing story. Contradicting scenes between London and Paris set the background for a light versus dark motif. Dickens’ use of contrast through antithesis, character motifs and two different cities demonstrate the intense conflict, change, and struggle that existed during the French Revolution.

The book, A Tale of Two Cities is about a man named Jarvis Lorry who works odd jobs. He lives in 1800th century England and France. The man works for an employer at Tellson’s Bank. A man by the name of Charles Darnay

Charles Darnay struggled had several run ins with the law throughout his whole life. When he is first introduced in The Tale of Two Cities he is on trial for treason. He is, of course, falsely accused of working against the British government but he is still left to fight for his life which is a horrible situation to be in. In the end he escapes his detach sentence but he still happens to be hated in his original country of France which comes into play as the tale goes on.

Charles Dickens once stated, "My faith in the people governing is, on the whole, infinitesimal; my faith in the people is, on the whole, illimitable."(Fido 102), this is certainly reflected in A tale of two cities, which is a historical novel written by Dickens that outlines the events of the French Revolution through the story of a French aristocrat named Charles Darnay. Darnay is a Parisian aristocrat that renounces his aristocracy in order to pursue a new life in London where he falls in love with a woman by the name of Lucie Manette after escaping prosecution for treason due to the help of barrister named Sydney Carton. In Paris there is an uprising among the citizens known as the French Revolution, which is caused by the

Book one introduces several main characters of the novel, including Jarvis Lorry, Madame Defarge, Lucie Manette, and Sydney Carton. Jarvis Lorry is an English businessman who is utterly devoted to his career at Tellson’s Bank. He is hardworking, he is determined, he is stern. The austere businessman heeds no emotion, unlike Lucie Mannette, who is filled with strong such as love and sympathy. Madame Defarge,however, is filled with feelings of anger, revenge, and violence. She is a strategic French woman who has devoted herself to the revolution and she is determined to take merciless revenge on the county’s aristocrats.Lastly, Sydney Carton is a self-loathing englishman who wants to redeem himself but feels like it is not possible to do so.

In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, we follow the life of Lucie Manette in the year 1775. Lucie originally travels to Paris to become reconnected with her previously imprisoned father, Dr. Manette. After they are reunited, we jump five years into the future, 1780, to the court case of Charles Darnay. Darnay is accused of high treason against the crown of England, however, Darnay is proven innocent by his lawyers, Mr. Stryver and Mr. Carton, under the accusation that there is no proof it was Darnay at all. Darnay is a significant figure because he is the nephew of the presiding Marquis. Another year passes and it is 1781, Darnay wishes for the hand of Lucie in marriage, which he is approved for by Dr. Manette and marries her. As the

A Tale of Two Cities is exactly as the title suggests: a tale of two cities. The two cities that the novel focuses on are London, England and Paris, France. London is still upset after losing the Revolutionary War with America, which the French had supported, while Paris is on the brink of its very own revolution: the French Revolution. While these two cities may seem so far away that the events could not be connected anyway, a person could not be more wrong. The story mainly follows two families whose lives become more intertwined as the story moves along. Those two families are the Manettes and the Defarges. Through the actions and inactions of one Charles Darnay, these two families will meet unconventionally and for the worst.

The novel is set in two cities, London and Paris, during the French Revolution. The story begins with Mr. Lorry, an official from Tellson’s Bank in London, and Lucie Manette as they make their way to Paris to save Lucie’s father, Alexandre Manette. Previously, Mr. Lorry was informed that he was alive after Alexandre had disappeared for eighteen years due to his imprisonment in Bastille. The two of them find Lucie’s father in the house of Monsieur Defarge, who is a wine-seller in Paris. Manette is found in a mentally damaged state of mind where he was cobbling shoes for comfort. Lucie and Lorry take Manette home, where Lucie nursed her father back to health. Within five years, he was doing much better, and a man named Charles Darnay became involved in the story. He is a Frenchman who is on trial for the accusations that he is a traitor and a spy.

In looking at the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, and the Masterpiece Theater film version, produced in 1989, three similarities between the two can be found to include the characterization of Dr. Manette, the trial of Charles Darnay in London, and the history of Madame Defarge. The novel and film, A Tale of Two Cities, follow the characters in London and Paris in the midst of the time during and leading up to the French Revolution. Throughout the story, there are many aspects that are present in both the novel and the film, those of which vary in type, from characters to events to setting. Wherefore, three of the parallels present in the novel and film, A Tale of Two Cities, are the portrayal of Dr. Manette, Darnay’s trial in London, and Madame Defarge’s backstory.

“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens is an artfully crafted tale that unabashedly tells the story of the injustice, the horror and the madness of the French Revolution. More than this, it is a story of one man’s redemption, one man who Dickens vividly portrays as being “a nobody”. This nobody had thrown away his life. “A Tale of Two Cities” is the tale of Sydney Carton and his full circle redemption.

Charles Dickens’ pain in his personal life heavily influenced his writing. In A Tale of Two Cities his suffering coincides with the violence and horrors of the French Revolution. Having his father imprisoned as a child and later having a failed marriage could have lead to his belief in a fixed fate. The future of the characters has already been laid out for them and through a series of coincidences they are ultimately lead to their end. Fate is predetermined and all coincidences, which are not accidental, determine the outcome through the characters of Lucie, Dr. Manette, and Sydney Carton.

Sydney Carton is the most dynamic character because his intelligence and love cause him to find new purpose in life. Sydney starts out as a depressed drunk. He has no sense of purpose for living. Sydney does not take credit for the amazing work he does for Stryver. When he meets Lucie Manette, he falls in love. She teaches him to take credit for his work and to achieve as much as possible with his life. Sydney eventually sees an opportunity for purpose by sacrificing his life for Charles’ life. He is almost a new person by the end of A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. As Sydney walks by the Seine River, the stars and moon fade before the sun rises. The world is completely dark, but then the sun rises and is brighter than anything else. The rising sun represents resurrection. Sydney’s final sacrifice for Charles on the day of the executing is compared to the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of the world. Sydney Carton changes from a depressed drunk to a magnanimous figure because his love for Lucie inspires purpose in his life.