“The Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

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The story ‘The Tale of two Cities’ written by Charles Dickens is considered to be dedicated to the disclosure of French Revolution period; it is the classic work representing the archetypal characters through the concepts of good and evil interaction, physical and moral courage. The paper will be concentrated on the analysis of the story central heroes, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, Lucie Mannette and Madame Defarge, combining the elements of violence and horror with the romanticism and realism style portrayed by Dickens.

Charles Darnay is depicted by Dickens as a French aristocrat, living in England through his inability to accept the injustice and cruelty of French social system. The character is the embodiment of moral values and greatest virtues by his rejection of uncle Marquis Evremonde’s snobbism. Darnay, who is presented as the protagonist of the story, is the expression of nobility and morality. Moving to London, he marries Lucie Manette and they have a little daughter Lucie.

‘He had loved Lucie Manette from the hour of his danger. He had never heard a sound so sweet and deer as the sound of her compassionate voice; he had never seen a face so tenderly beautiful, as hers when it was confronted with his own on the edge of the grave that had been dug for him.’ (Dickens 131)

The events surrounding the character are filled with envy, evilness and hatred; nevertheless, the power of love and deep moral values make the character remain just and faithful. Dickens depicts Darnay as a flat character; despite this fact, he undergoes only minor changes in the flow of the novel. It is interesting to note that the story beginning shows Darnay as a noble character with aristocratic behavior and fleeing to England.

But gradually then character is turned into a loving husband and devoted father, who is a generous and kind son-in-law and a considerate friend at the same time. His attempts to help the servant can be characterized as naïve and noble gesture making him returning to France at the period of revolution oppression. Being imprisoned and helpless, Darnay has no opportunities to help anyone and himself either. Only the character’s faithfulness and devotion, as well as honors and appreciation, expressed in the world perception and attitude to close people and society saved him through actions of Carton and Dr. Manette. (Chisick, 2000)

Sydney Carton is presented as an unrecognized lawyer and heavy drinker; physically the character resembles Darnay, nevertheless, he is quite different. Carton is shown as worthless human being having no high social position and loving family to who he can devote his life. The loneliness was the only friend of his accompanying the character’s thoughts and actions.

‘I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me.’ (Dickens, 99)

Nevertheless, it is necessary to stress that Carton never harmed anybody and even strived to provide some help he could. He helped in Darnay’s prosecution for treason allowing his colleague Stryver (a friend, who lacks ambitions and gets success due to Carton’s efforts) to reveal him. Carton’s assistance to people positioned the character as a positive personage; despite Carton’s slight hatred to Darnay through their mutual love with Lucie, he wished to become a friend of his, which characterizes carton as a kind-hearted person.

It is necessary to stress that Dickens managed to demonstrate Carton’s gradual changes in his attitude and position in the world; the novel events underline the idea that carton has got the real sense of life being ready to help others and even sacrifice his life. The depiction of Sydney Carton contributed to the central theme of the novel, underlining the symbolism of moral and physical courage. The readers gave an opportunity to see how people can sacrifice all they have for the only love of their love. Carton’s love for Lucie appeared to be the embodiment of happiness and greatest virtue. (Sims, 2009)

‘Think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you’ (Dickens, 184)

The fact that Carton gave his life for Darnay, Lucie’s husband, depicted him as a noble, generous, warm-hearted person who believed in the power of love and came to the self conclusion that his life sense was Lucie’s happiness, the only person he lived for. (Stout, 2007)

Lucie Manette seems to be an angel in the world of evilness and hatred; blue eyes and golden hair made the image of this character marvelous attracting attention of all men. Lucie, who is physically and spiritually beautiful, is considered to be ‘lesser developed’ character in the story possessing the best qualities and virtues. The readers have an opportunity to judge Lucie analyzing her actions and attitude to surrounding people, rather than words. She is the inspiration of loyalty and love; her character managed to connect the lives of Darnay, her husband, and Carton, who gave his life for his love to her, in the power of love.

‘I think, Charles, poor Mr. Carton deserves more consideration and respect than you expressed for him to-night… I fear he is not to be reclaimed; there is scarcely a hope that anything in his character or fortunes is reparable now… remember how strong we are in our happiness, and how weak he is in his misery?’ (Dickens 207)

The flatness of Lucie character does not push her to indifferent position in the story; she is an important figure who indirectly symbolizes unconditional compassion and love. It is necessary to stress that dickens uses this character to underline the power of love and spiritual wealth in the atmosphere of hatred and violence. Her rare dialogues in the novel do not make her actions transparent to the readers; the author managed to depict successfully the symbol of kindness and justice, which is also transferred to Lucia’ and Darnay’s daughter.

The character of Madame Defarge is considered to be unrelievedly horrible; she is illustrated as cruel revolutionary combining the features of aristocracy hatred with evilness expressed to everyone interacting with her interests.

‘Madame Defarge was a stout woman…, with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything, a large hand heavily ringed, a steady face, strong features, and great composure of manner.’ (Dickens 35)

It is necessary to stress that throughout the novel Madame Defarge is busy with making a list of those, who are to die for revolution. The character is depicted as blood-thirsty with the unbounded lust for vengeance. Dickens underlined the fact that Madame Defarge and her family used to suffer cruel oppression, influencing her worldview and attitude to the society.

‘…imbued from her childhood with a brooding sense of wrong, and an inveterate hatred of a class, opportunity had developed her into a tigress.’ (Dickens, 369)

It is necessary to stress that the flow of story events shows Madame Defarge as less than human, characterized by the features of Greek tragedy moral world. The early life experience resulted in the woman moral oppression and internal evilness expressed to people.

The author lets the readers to understand how people, who suffered deprivation and old regime oppression from the very childhood, change their perception of the surrounding environment and react violently to the opportunities they get. Reading ‘The Tale of Two Cities’ provides a clear connection between the people making the Revolution and those, who suffered its conditions. It is necessary to stress that Dickens success fully illustrated a memorable, powerful and chilling character through Madame Defarge depiction, who was concerned about the Revolution flow in England. (Patterson, 2009)

The analysis of four different lives in the story ‘The Tale of two Cities’ written by Charles Dickens gave an opportunity to the reader evaluate the features of the characters living in the same era. The characteristics presented above demonstrate the idea that Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton can be perceived as the dynamic characters, while Lucie Manette and Mrs. Defarge as static ones. Such a position underlines the fact that the author strived to depict female characters for the novel events and mood background, symbolizing the contrast of evil and good, hatred and justice. Dickens managed to centralize these characters even through their rare communicative roles and dialogues, making special stress on dynamism of Darnay and Carton in the play.

The novel ‘The Tale of two Cities’ appeared to be a valuable contribution to the world literature. This masterpiece is generally recognized on the international level, through the author’s successful description of the most important virtues of humanity.

The description of four different lives in one epoch, living under the pressure of old regime and French revolution, disclosed the way in which people can change through weak willed nature and lack of resistance to internal interference. Despite the focus on evil and cruelty promotion, Dickens brightly illustrated the victory of good and justice. The author managed to underline the importance of love, showing how his characters were ready to sacrifice everything they had for human virtues and this great feeling.

Works Cited

Chisick, Harvey “Dickens’ Portrayal of the People in A Tale of Two Cities.” European Legacy 5.5 (2000): 645. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Dickens, Ch. “A Tale of Two Cities: Easyread Edition”. ReadHowYouWant. 584p. 2009.

Patterson, Frank M. “Dickens’s A tale of Two Cities” Explicator 47.4 (1989): 30. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Stout, Daniel “Nothing Personal: The Decapitation of Character in A Tale of Two Cities.” Novel: A Forum on Fiction 41.1 (2007): 29. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Sims, Jennifer S. “Dickens’s A TALE OF TWO CITIES.” Explicator 63.4 (2005): 219. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web.

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“The Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

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