Sydney Carton As An Anti-Hero In A Tale Of Two Cities

He has the traits of an anti-hero. An anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks heroic characteristics. They derive from the tragic hero, which is a hero with a flaw and usually dies at the end of the play. However, anti-heroes do not always end up dead, they can either lead the plot to victory or redemption. (http://study.com/academy/lesson/anti-hero-definition-examples-characteristics.html).

Lastly, good did triumph over evil in Sydney Carton. Sydney Carton is a drunk who hates Darnay because if Carton was not a drunk he would have everything Darnay has, like the love of Lucie Manette. Carton is seen as the darkness because of the disparity he has and how low he has fallen. Whereas Darnay is seen as light or the good guy due to how his life is going. In the end when Sydney gives up his life for Darnay it shows how Sydney is transferring from being sad and dark. His selfless act proved that the “bad” Sydney Carton has saved Darnay and kept Lucie, Cartons love, happy.

Carton has given up his own life to give Lucie and a child whom he’s never met a better life. A main theme in A Tale of Two Cities is loyalty, and Sydney Carton’s loyalty seems to lie with not only Lucie, but with everyone but himself.

Hero. Hero comes from the greek word heros meaning “A person who faces adversity, or demonstrates courage, in the face of danger.” Growing up we have always read stories about heroes coming to save the day; for instance, Captain America. Being that our whole lives we were mostly exposed to heroism, have you ever asked yourself what is the opposite of a hero? A villain is the opposite of a hero, but their is another opposite form of a hero; a tragic hero. A Tragic hero is “A literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” (“Tragic hero as defined by Aristotle”). For instance, in the play written by Sophocles Antigone, the tragic hero is Creon. Creon who is Antigone’s

A hero is someone admired for their courage, achievements, and/or idealized qualities, however; a movie can also portray an anti-hero. An anti-hero is a central character in which lacks conventional heroic characteristics. In every movie, book, or in reality every hero has their ups and downs. Many people undergo many hardships to become a hero. There are many stages a hero has to overcome such as: Separation, Initiation, and Return.

Lucie and Sydney Carton also illustrate sacrificing for their loved ones throughout the book. “‘She was the golden thread that united him to a past beyond misery’” (p. 96). This quote describes how Lucie holds her father together. Lucie demonstrates sacrifice for her loved ones by guiding Dr.Manette to his recovery. Lucie sacrifices time to help Dr.Manette recover from his prison sentence. She makes sure that nothing will interrupt his peace and bring him back to his awful prison memories. Carton demonstrates sacrifice for his loved ones because even though he is battling with addiction and depression he still puts a smile on his face whenever he is around Lucie. He sacrifices his own heart wrenching feelings to make Lucie feel safe and sound.

Sydney Carton, the alcoholic aid of an attorney is able to break out of his depressing shell and fulfill his promise to Lucie Manette by the end of A Tale of Two Cities. He shows himself as the true hero of the novel and shines over all the other characters that were “recalled to life” (7). The ultimate sacrifice, to give up one’s life, should be rewarded as the most heroic action in any situation out of good

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.

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.

Sydney Carton's life is made meaningful by the hope that he receives from Lucy Manette. At the beginning of the story, Sydney Carton's life has no significance. He is a drunkard with a seemingly worthless life. Sydney is working as a clerk for the lawyer C.J. Stryver, and though Sydney is the real brains behind the ideas, the attorney receives all the credit. Carton has had an unfavorable life and has no inspiration, nothing to live for. Sydney really wants for his life to have served some purpose, for him to have made a difference. He changes his life around after a conversation with Miss Manette in which Carton professes his love to her. Carton

Sydney Carton is the most memorable character in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, a story of redemption, resurrection, self-sacrifice change and love, all of these words have to do with the extreme transformation of. Sydney Carton had such great love for Lucie Mannette that evolves from a depressed loaner that can only attempt to substitute happiness with alcoholic indulgence to a loyal caring friend who makes the ultimate sacrifice for the ones he loves.

Similar to Jarvis Lorry, Sydney Carton undergoes a transformation of character. When Carton is first introduced in book one he is a pitiful lawyer, an “idlest and most unpromising man,”(Dickens 78). In chapter five he is displayed as an “amazingly good jackal,”(Dickens 79), meaning that he is “content and apathetic towards the fact that he will never be accredited with the performance and outcomes of his actions,”(Trojan, Kara). However, Lucie Manette inspires redemption in Carton through love, for he knows that if he can save her in any way then he can absolve his misery and find a purpose for his years on Earth. When Lucie Manette’s husband is punished to death row, Carton is determined to keep his promise. Carton takes the place of the spouse

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.

The original hero archetype greatly contrasts the modern anti-hero archetype. A hero is someone who displays little to no flaws and is widely liked by the majority. This character presents its storyline with exceptional traits. The anti-hero archetype is completely opposite of the hero archetype. “Unlike the traditional hero who is morally upright and steadfast, the anti-hero usually has a flawed moral character” (Michael). Modern anti-heroes lack in grace, power, and social success (Neimneh). They deal with issues and insecurities such as alcoholism and infidelity (Michael). Anti-heroes make unpleasant moral compromises, in contrast to the desired, in order to reach something. They want to create order where it is impossible and put the protagonist to ‘justice’. Traditional hero characters often succeed when trying to complete their quests, which contrasts the extremely grimm success rate of anti-hero victory. Anti-heroes also do not let their inner thoughts influence their actions while original or traditional heroes seek self-definition (Teleky). Traditional hero characters often succeed when trying to complete their quests, which contrasts the extremely grimm success rate of anti-hero victory. The faultless ways of the hero archetype sets it apart from people in society, making it extremely unrelatable to the mass amount of humans today, allowing the anti-hero archetype to prevail through.

An anti hero is said to have flaws, he is gritty, and he often looks for redemption or for his own revenge satisfaction and sometimes for the greater good of society. One more significant point is that unlike tragic hero who thinks of what is a right or a moral thing to do at times, an anti hero does what appears to be right to him. He is often misunderstood by the society; he could perhaps be called as a noble criminal or a vigilante and their mostly motives are fulfilled by breaking the law a.k.a “the ends justify the means”. The last characteristic of an anti hero is his increased moral complexities and rejection of traditional