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.

In A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton is the clear protagonist of the book. This normally would make the antagonist (however there is no clear one) his antithesis. Yet straying from the norm, Dickens creates a very peculiar opposite for Carton in the form of Jarvis Lorry. Lorry is a man of business, and will not be strayed from his financial past even by an encroaching revolution. Carton on the other hand is a bleeding heart romantic hero, who is motivated by love and passion. To complicate the entire ordeal further, both Carton and Lorry are fighting for the same side. The different personalities of the characters play vital roles in the outcome of the book as well as the outcome of the revolution.

Carton loves Lucie just as much as Charles except Carton will do anything for her even sacrifice his life for her. The love is present and Carton makes it clear by meeting with Lucie before she marries Charles. Carton then expresses his love for Lucie but instead of asking for her love back he says all he wants is to make an impact on her life. “For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything. I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you. And when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you” (Dickens 156). Carton seems to have found his purpose and that is Lucie. During the meeting with Lucie, Carton explains that he is beyond repair and how he cannot be saved by her. By saying Carton would “embrace any sacrifice” he alluding to his purpose and legacy. Carton feels so bad about himself that he wants no one to feel the way he feels. He has discovered his purpose. Sydney Carton will trade places with Charles Darnay and be sacrificed for the greater good of Lucie. When Carton learns what has to be done he walks and thinks about the resurrection. “I am the resurrection and the life, saith the lord: that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. This allusion to Jesus gives Carton life. By saying “I am the resurrection and I am the life” Carton is saying that he is the resurrection to Lucie and Charles but also the life because even though he will be sacrificed he will live through the spirits of Lucie and Charles giving him a new life. :In a single movement at once actual and symbolic, Cartons spiritual self, “The life within him” disguised by mortality, imprisoned by the mundane world, is liberated through

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.

He says to her “for you [...] I would do anything” (147). When Darnay is sentenced to death Carton comes up with a master plan to switch with Darnay to take his place and fall into “eternal sleep” (304) for the good of Lucie and her family’s happiness. As the knitting- women count “twenty-three” (363) Sydney Carton dies. By dying he is recalled to life, he is “truly free” (363) from the hate of himself and the rejection he felt from others. Carton’s unlimited love for Lucie overcame the revolutionary’s hate, but that came with the consequence of the death of a beloved

However, in the end, he transforms into a person even better than Darnay had been. The night before Carton’s sacrifice, the reader can see that Carton’s mind is very clear; he knows his path. His plan to save Darnay shows that he is good at making quick decisions and going straight on to fulfill his plans. Carton’s last decisions fully represent his skill and intelligence, though all odds said otherwise (Heung 1). The reason behind Carton’s decision is very much like the reason behind the crucifixion of Christ; God loved the world so much that he sent his son, Christ, to die for the world (NIV, John 3:16). Carton loved Lucie and would do anything to protect her and everyone she loves. He switched places with Darnay and sacrificed himself so that Lucie could still have Darnay, whom she loves, while Carton resurrects through Darnay’s offspring, and becomes a Christ-figure. Likewise, God loved the world and sent his son to switch places with the people of the world, so that they would be saved from their sin and would not need to suffer for their sin but could live with God, who loves them. Furthermore, Lucie’s love for Carton, and hope and belief that there was potential in him, is also another part that contributes to Carton’s decision (“A Tale” 2). This is like how the love of Christ changes people’s lives. When Carton resurrects, like Christ, his life gains “meaning and value”. He resurrects as Darnay’s son, who fulfills the potential that Carton had. As Carton says, “it is a far, far better thing that I do, then I have ever done” (Dickens 390). Dickens uses Carton to show that any country that wishes to become something of “meaning and value” must rise above everything, even their “death”, and sacrifice everything and resurrect itself in order to start again and become better (“A Tale”

Alone with Lucie, Carton honestly tells her his feelings. He states how useless and lost he sees himself in the world. Also, he reveals his love for her, and most importantly, his determination that her happiness is worth more to him than his own life. As Carton declares his life lost but for her

When Carton is telling his feelings to Lucie, he exclaims that “for you and for any dear to you, I would do anything… think now and then that there is a man who would give his life to keep a life you love beside you!”(117). Carton is promising to do anything he possible can to keep a life Lucie loves alive and close to her. Carton would happily give his life to save one Lucie loves and would be proud to do it. Later in the book after Darnay has been found guilty and is due to die at the guillotine the next day Carton whispers into Lucie’s ear, “a life you love”(260). Carton is telling Lucie that he is going to save Darnay, which is the life she loves that is in danger.

Stryver. He, the jackal, picks up the pieces and does all the dirty work while Mr. Stryver, the lion, takes the credit. Sydney Carton repeatedly illustrates himself with insignificance and inferiority, when in reality, the role he plays in the progression of the plot could not be more significant. Sydney Carton’s boldest endeavor is his sacrifice to save the life of Charles Darnay. The two characters are indistinguishable regarding appearance, speech, and attire, but Dickens describes Darnay and Carton with a plethora internal differences, personality differences, and experiential differences, leading one to conclude these two characters are foils. The dichotomy between the two comes mostly from their states of being. Darnay is living with the success and the woman Carton could never have. When Charles Darnay’s life is at risk, Carton willingly takes his place. During his final moments, he pictures a bright future of Paris, the revival of the people, and the rebirth of the nation. At last he utters, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were

I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me’” (Dickens 89). Although Carton appears to have a very strong grasp on his self-image and conveys his knowledge of others opinions of himself, it is also evident he however, over the course of the novel, acquires a confusion or blurring of himself. We view this as the transition from his original, wasted self to his heroic and honorable self leading up to his sacrifice of life. This transition from the evidence above is shown within the quote, still within Book 2. “‘For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything… I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you… Think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you’” (Dickens 158-159)! It is well accepted Carton is, by far, the most dynamic character within the book as he changes so rapidly and also so dramatically. Only in the frame of about seventy pages, Carton has defied his claim of loneliness and lack of care for another being completely. He his found converting from his isolate, negative and negligent morals to a more honorable and symbolic life that lacks misuse through the indirect characterization woven into his revamped intentions in his

Manette because not only he is “recalled to life” by showing his true identity, he is also “recalled to life” by his death. Carton shows Lucie whom he really is by telling her that he actually loves her. He even confesses to Lucie that “I would do anything . . . I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you” (173). By opening up to Lucie, Carton shows a new side of himself that the readers have never seen before.

His fate does not begin to develop with his love for Lucie; it begins when Mr. Attorney-General questions the witness and asks, “You say again you are quite sure that it was the prisoner?” and then says, “‘Look well upon that gentleman, my learned friend there,’ pointing to him [Carton] who had tossed the paper over, ‘and then look well upon the prisoner. How say you? Are they very like each other?’” (55). Later, Carton comes to the realization that he is in love with Lucie so he confesses to her by telling her, “‘The utmost good that I am capable of now, Miss Manette, I have come here to realize. Let me carry through the rest of my misdirected life, the remembrance that I open my heart to you, last of all the world; and that there was something left in me this time which I could deplore and pity’” (116). After his confession he explains to Lucie that he could never ask her to marry him because he is not good enough for her. He asks Lucie to keep it a secret, “‘…that it lies there alone, and will be shared with no one’” (116). Lucie promises that she will not tell anyone. Carton wants Lucie to live “a life [Lucie] loves” and in order for her to do that Carton feels like he has to go save Darnay from prison (260). Since he and Darnay look alike, Carton has a plan to switch places with Darnay in prison, which will later result with Darnay being able to happily go live with his wife Lucie and live “a life she loves”

Charles Darney and Sydney Carlton, both lookalikes were willing to risk their own lives so that Lucie Mannette could live in the presence of her father and husband. Carton, a true friend of the family by book two always had a “rough on the edges” sort of appearance. At the beginning of the book we are introduced to a drunken court room Carton who hates his job, hates his life, and has a difficult time finding true happiness. The first-time Carton see Lucie, he is immediately draw to her. Their friendship was rocky at the beginging in after Lucie announces her marriage to Darney but the two continue to be friends. Caront, still have strong feelings for lucie says devoted his life to Lucie saying that “’If I were dead, that could not be surer than it is henceforth. In the hour of my death, I shall hold sacred remembrance and shall than and bless you for it – that my last avowal of myself was made to you and that my name, and faults, and miseries were gently carried in your heart. May it otherwise be light and happy!’” (Dickens 117). This promise made my Sydney Carton to Lucie proves that good things can come from bad. Death was the unfortunate answer to much of the issues or crime committed by the people of France where this book is set. The ultimate

Sydney Carton had a rough life and childhood. He was brought up as an orphan, and he matured into a drunken adult. Although he is very smart (as seen with his behind-the-scenes work with Mr. Stryver), he does not ever blossom into his full potential until the end of the book. It is Lucie Manette, the love of his life, who helps him to develop into the person he should be through his love for her. Sydney loves Lucie so much and would do anything for her like he says in this quote: “O Miss Manette, when the little picture of a happy father’s face looks up in yours, when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you” (Dickens 173). In this quote, Carton explains that because of his deep love for Lucie, he would do anything to keep her happy, including giving up his life. This quote comes into fulfillment at the end of the novel when Carton trades places with Darnay for the guillotine so that Lucie can be with the man she loves. In this way, Carton shows his Christ-like self and portrays the “savior” archetype in literature. By this, Carton has, in a sense, “completed his mission,” and he finally shows the redeemable qualities he has inside with the help of sweet Lucie Manette. These reasons show that Sydney Carton is recalled to

Sydney Carton before his redemption was a hopeless drunk who had convinced himself that he was worthless. He constantly belittles himself, saying “I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth and no man on earth cares for me” (Dickens, 63). However, Lucie the golden thread seems to convince Carton that there is purpose for his life. He remains faithful in all his friendships, including his companionship with Stryver, who is a bit of a