| Sydney Carton |
Article Index for Sydney |
Website Links For Sydney |
Information AboutSydney Carton |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SYDNEY CARTON | |
| a tale of two cities characters | |
| carton, sydney | |
| fictional english people | |
|
ROLE IN NOVEL Carton is first encountered as barrister in the trial of Charles Darnay , a respectable young Frenchman with whom he bears a strong resemblance. Carton defends Darnay against charges of Treason towards the English government. During the trial, Carton notices Lucie Manette, who is forced to testify against Darnay along with her father, Dr. Manette . Carton becomes enamored with her and jealous of Darnay because of the sympathy she has for him. Afterwards, Carton visits his friend and colleague C.J. Stryver, who had also defended Darnay during his trial, with whom he spends the night doing paperwork and drinking. Stryver boasts about being the more successful of the two, but in reality it is Carton who is the brain behind him, while Stryver merely lives off Carton's labor and craft. Carton shows regret for the fact that he has wasted much of his life Drinking , but he entertains the comforting thought that he has tried and proven himself unable of changing his ways. He one day reveals this to Lucie Manette, and also tells her that he would be willing to do anything for her if it would save the life of one whom she loves. Carton's next significant appearance is in France , after the French Revolution has taken place and the Reign Of Terror begun. Charles Darnay had left England for France on the behalf of a friend in distress, but Darnay had been arrested because he was a member of a notorious family of French Aristocrat s, the Evrémondes. Lucie Manette (now Darnay's wife), their child, Dr. Manette, and family friends, Mrs. Pross, Mr. Lorry, and Mr. Lorry's assistant, Mr. Cruncher, had followed Darnay to France shortly after hearing of his departure, which he had kept a secret. Dr. Manette had used his his influence as a former Bastille prisoner to have Darnay acquitted of his charges against the French Republic , but he was later put on trial again after Madame Defarge , a vindictive Frenchwoman who bears a grudge against the Evrémondes for having harmed her family, and her husband Ernest Defarge , come forth willing to testify against Darnay. Carton arrives in France just before this second trial has taken place. He confronts a man called John Barsad, who had testified against Darnay in his first trial, and threatens to reveal that he knows he is a Spy for the British government unless Barsad agrees to help Carton rescue Darnay, assuming he should be convicted, which Barsad agrees to do. Darnay is convicted soon after and sentenced to be Guillotine d the following day. That night, Carton wanders the streets, meditating on what shall be happening the following morning. During this time, he visits the wine shop of the Defarges, where he hears of Madame Defarge's plan to have Darnay's entire family killed. He returns to Mr. Lorry's residence and warns him of this, telling him to leave France with the others tomorrow. He also tells him that he would like to visit Darnay before his execution, and for him and the others wait in their carriage outside the prison until he returns from it. The next morning, Carton visits Darnay in his cell and tells him to trade clothes with him; as the two are very much alike in appearance, he believes Darnay could escape the cell disguised as himself. As Darnay is not compliant, Carton drugs him using chemicals which he had bought the previous night and makes the exchange of wardrobe. He then tells Barsad, who had waited for him at the prison, to escort Darnay to his carriage, and to tell the prison guards that Darnay had had a fainting spell. Sydney Carton soon after dies in place of Charles Darnay. It is said that if, before his death, his thoughts could have been heard, and had they been prophetic, they would have included such incidents as Mr. Defarge and John Barsad being later sentenced to the guillotine themselves, and a future child of Charles and Lucie Darnay being named after him. The words of the last of these thoughts are very famous:
CHARACTER ANALYSIS The most common interpretation of Sydney Carton is one in which he is the selfless benefactor of others. Having grown weary of his life of self-indulgence, he decides to sacrifice it in order to save the life of Charles Darnay, one who had shown himself more worthy of living it than Carton had his own. However, a more self-centered interpretation of Carton also exists. In this interpretation, Carton regrets his being regarded as a ne'er-do-well for his having wasted his life, and chooses to give it up, hoping that his past will be forgotten and that he will be remembered for his sacrifice. This interpretation suggests that Carton is more concerned with his reputation than with the well-being of Darnay and his family. A sign of Carton's selfishness is seen when he visits Lucie Manette alone, and tells her of his disappointment with his life. Lucie asks Carton if she can possibly help him, but he responds that he has tried to change his ways and failed, and that she can be of no assistance to him. If he believes that she is not able to help him, than it would seem pointless for him to trouble her with his problems. His motivation for talking with her is not to find help from her, but simply to gain her sympathy. He shows further lack of consideration when he asks Lucie to tell no one, not even her husband, what he has told her. In doing this, he is obligating her to give him a place of special status in her life, one which even her husband does not hold, and one which he knows he does not deserve. It is Carton's dual character, one that is both selfless and sensitive, and self-pitying and inconsiderate, that make him one of literature's most fascinating characters. Another possible interpretation of Carton's actions is that he is a (reasonably) self aware functional alchoholic. He knows that even with Lucy Manette's influence he will be unable to give up drinking but that his abilities may be of use to her in the future. OTHER NOTES
|
|
|