Sydney Carton

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Sydney Carton is a significant character in the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. He is a shrewd young Englishman who works as an assistant to his fellow barrister C.J. Stryver. In the novel, he is seen to be a drunkard, to indulge in self-pity because of his wasted life, and to have a strong love for Lucie Manette. Sydney Carton has come to be one of the most memorable characters in all of literature.

[edit] Role in novel

Carton is first encountered as barrister in the trial of Charles Darnay, a respectable young Frenchman to 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 of 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. He spends the night doing paperwork and drinking with Stryver. 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. He attempts to rationalize this unsatisfying state of affairs with the excuse that he has already tried to change his ways, but proven himself incapable of the great effort that would take. 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 ensure the wellbeing of her or any of the ones 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 behalf of a friend in distress, but Darnay had been arrested because he was a member of a notorious family of French aristocrats, 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 influence as a former Bastille prisoner to have Darnay acquitted of 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 as 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. Carton threatens to reveal that he knows Barsad is a spy for the British government unless Barsad agrees to help Carton rescue Darnay, assuming he will be convicted; Barsad agrees to do so. Darnay is convicted soon after and sentenced to be guillotined the following day. That night, Carton wanders the streets, meditating on what will take place 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 to wait in their carriage outside the prison until Carton returns.

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 suffered 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:

• "It is a 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".

[edit] 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, 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 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, as well as self-pitying and inconsiderate, that makes him one of literature's most fascinating characters.

Another possible interpretation of Carton's actions is that he is a (reasonably) self-aware functional alcoholic. He knows that even with Lucie Manette's influence he will be unable to give up drinking, but that his abilities may be of use to her in the future. This theory of Sydney's view of himself is supported in the following quote:

• "Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it rose upon no sadder sight than the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensible of the blight on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away." (Book 2, Chapter 5)

[edit] Other notes

• Whenever Sydney Carton and C.J. Stryver are contrasted, Stryver is referred to as the "lion", while Carton is referred to as the "jackal". This is an allusion to the way in which a lion and a jackal interact, and it has a double meaning. To the casual observer, it would seem that the lion is the mighty hunter, while the jackal merely eats from what the lion has caught itself. This alludes to Stryver's seeming success in contrast to Carton. However, the jackal actually prepares the food for the lion, making it suitable for the lion to eat. Therefore, it is actually the lion who is dependent on the jackal. This situation alludes to the fact that, though Stryver seems to be the more prominent of the two, his success is in reality reliant on Carton's hard work and shrewd mind.

• It is also implied in an early section of the book that Carton may have contracted syphilis in France.

• Dickens is said to have identified with Charles Darnay, who shares his first name and initials, and with Sydney Carton, who is intended to be a personification of his love for Ellen Ternan in 1859.

• A dissection of Carton's name reveals his fate. Dickens is famous for his choice of character's names, as well as his excellent historical backgrounds. The name Sydney is derived from the Anglicization of Saint Denis, who was beheaded. The surname Carton, when reversed as "On cart", refers to his final scene, as he awaits his beheading.

• In 1857 Dickens produced the play The Frozen Deep which, as with A Tale of Two Cities, involves two men who love the same woman and the self-sacrifice of one of them for the other. Dickens himself played the part of Richard Wardour, the character analogous to Sydney Carton.