Carton becomes a Christ-like figure, a selfless saint whose death enables the happiness of his beloved and ensures his own immortality. This scene marks a vital transition for Carton and lays foundation for the supreme sacrifice he makes at the end of the novel. ”(Dickens 127) This quote shows that although Carton is in love with Lucie, he is glad that Lucie is not in love with him because he feels he would only make her unhappy. I know very well that you can have no tenderness for me I ask for none I am even thankful that it cannot be. “If it had been possible, Miss Manette, that you could have returned the love of the man you see before yourself-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. ” The reader sees that he quickly changes the subject and therefore causes us to sense that Carton in fact feels something that he may not even be able to put into words.īefore Lucie weds Darnay, Carton professes his love to her, though he still persists seeing himself as essentially worthless. And now I’ll have no more drink I’ll get to bed. “If a girl, doll or no doll, swoons within a yard or two of a man’s nose, he can see it without a perspective-glass. Stryver also asks Carton about Lucie but his response shows no care for her at all. In chapter 6, when Carton is drinking with Stryver and says, “I had no chance for my life but in rust and repose”.īasically what Carton is saying in this quote is that he had no chance in life but to sit back and waste away and concludes that it is Stryver’s fault. He describes his existence as a supreme waste of life and takes every opportunity to declare that he cares for nothing and no one. Carton’s manner was so careless as to be almost insolent” (Dickens65). He first appears to be a lazy, alcoholic attorney who cannot find even the smallest amount of interest in his own life. Sydney Carton is probably the most dynamic character in A Tale of Two Cities.

A tale of two cities sydney carton