What Is Sydney Carton's Transformation

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.

The introduction of Charles Darnay's character drastically affected Carton's mental state of character. Besides realizing the fact that they look so much similar, Carton found himself unable to like Darnay's character. To Carton, Darnay becomes his constant reminder of what he could have been, "What a change you have made in yourself! A good reason for taking to a man, that he shows you what you have fallen away from, and what you might have been! Change places with him, and would you have been looked at by those blue eyes as he was."( Dickens 89) In the presence of his character, he begins to realize and think about his flaws thus accepting this better version of his doppelgänger. What he is exposed to in his life is this frequent state of being in the shadows. This is shown with Mr. Stryver who has Carton under his hands. Now with the appearance of Darnay, his spotlight or recognition is covered again. What other sees is this "drunken", miserable, and lazy man using alcohol to escape from the reality of unhappiness. Because he knows his own status he tends to

This statement is revisited at the top of the novel once Carton offers up his life so as to save lots of that of Charles to make sure Lucie’s happiness.

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.

“‘Are you dying for him?’ she whispered. ‘And his wife and child. Hush! Yes.’ ‘O you will let me hold your brave hand, stranger?’”( Dickens 631). The Seamstress recognizes that Sydney has taken Charles place to be killed, she begins to adore him because of his heroic act. Sydney gave up his opportunity to marry the love of his life, Lucie and instead gave his life for her happiness. Sydney thought of himself as a Christ-like figure because of his sacrifice. Carton a foolish hero shows how love for one's cause can cause you to take your own life.

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

He constantly gets drunk and suffers from apathy. He carries around the notion that he’s just a “disappointed drudge,” explicitly stating that “I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me” (70). With his blatant behavior it is not surprising that people tend to avoid him entirely. No one really wants to associate themselves with an emotionless drunk especially during the French Revolution, where emotions were high and running rampant through the streets. Even Stryver, the man Carton works for and with, tells Carton bluntly that his life has no “energy or purpose” as they have their usual drink with each other (86). Instead of making an argument or an excuse Carton actually agrees with Stryver, showing that he is well aware of how he is perceived. But this just makes him seem like a man who is not worth saving since he is not willing to help himself. Of course it isn’t until he meets the love of his life, Lucie, that the reader learns that he does have the capabilities to transform himself into an initially unexpected but overall honorable

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.

Charles Darnay’s uncle, the Marquis, believes his social standing to be “natural destiny” (Dickens 112), ignoring the destitute condition of the peasants in France. Darnay, however, believes the aristocracy to “have done wrong” (Dickens 111), aware that the suffering of the peasants is at the expense of the aristocrats. His personal decision to renounce “[the] property and France” (Dickens 112) does not end the peasants’ tribulations, but he establishes for himself a moral principle that places himself equal to others, unlike other aristocrats within the novel. Ultimately, it is Darnay’s self made sense of morality that allows other characters to view him as worth

This love eventually drives Carton to give his life, which protects Lucie’s happiness. Carton says to Lucie, “If it had been possible, Miss Manette, that you could have returned the love of the man you see before you-self-flung away, wasted, drunken, poor creature of misuse as you know him to be-he would have been conscious this day and hour, in spite of his happiness, that he would bring you to misery, bring you to sorrow and repentance, blight you, disgrace you, pull you down with him” (Dickens 156). In this scene, Carton is telling Lucie that even though he loves her, he knows that she does not return this love. He proceeds to tell her that even if she had loved him, he would have made her miserable because of how he lives his life. Carton’s conversation with Lucie shows that Carton is hopelessly in love with Lucie, and yet that love is unattainable to him. However, he has the strength to sacrifice his feelings for her because of this love. During this conversation, Carton also says to Lucie, “think now and then that there is a man who would give his life to keep a life you love beside you!” (Dickens 159). Here, Carton tells Lucie that if ever her life and happiness were in danger, and he could save her from that pain by giving his life, he would gladly do it. This is a direct reference to the end of the novel, where

Ariana Panizzi December 21, 2015 Mrs. Ross A Tale of Two Cities Throughout the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens creates several important themes to interpret the meaning behind the novel. One of the major themes that was reoccurring was the concept that rebirth is possible through sacrifice. The rebirth, or the reliving of an existing life, was mainly due to the sacrificial choices of the characters. Dickens demonstrates that this is possible because of Sydney Carton’s sacrificial decision to give up his life for Darnay and his family, Charles Darnay’s sacrifice to give up his wealth and family name for a better life in England, and Dr. Manette’s decision to sacrifice his unfortunate past and allow Lucie to marry Charles

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.