Sidney Carton

Sidney Carton - (Tale of two cities)


Sydney Carton is the central character in the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. He is a shrewd young Englishman and sometime junior to hisfellow barrister C.J. Stryver. In the novel, he is seen to be a drunkard, self-indulgent and self-pitying because of his wasted life. He has a strong, unrequited love for Lucie Manette.
Sydney Carton isintroduced into the novel A Tale of Two Cities as a young, very sloppy but brilliant lawyer who bears an uncanny likeness to Charles Darnay, the prisoner he is defending. He uses his great skill tosave Darnay from death, passing his case to his colleague Stryver, who takes all the glory for saving Darnay. It is then revealed that Carton has a deep hatred for Darnay, as he sees him as everything heshould be but is not. Carton is called a "jackal" because it appears that, while Mr. Stryver very deftly presents each case, it is Carton's legal acumen that helps win them, though Stryver gets allthe credit—a reference to how the jackals help the lions with the kill, while the lions take all the glory. It is also seen that Carton is an alcoholic who faces a great lack of self-confidence. Hedevelops an unrequited love for Lucie Manette, which he tells her about. He says that he would do anything for her or for anybody that she loves.
Darnay returns to France, and is arrested for being anaristocrat (his original name is Charles Evrémonde). Before his execution by guillotine, Carton steps in and tricks Darnay into trading places with him, and is quickly noticed and not hung for being anaristocrat. for Lucie and for the sake of their friendship. This is done with the help of John Barsad, an English spy working at one of the French prisons, after a conversation described as a "handof cards". He experiences a conversion to Christianity afterwards, quoting John 11:25-26 to a young woman (known only as 'The Seamstress') who is executed before him.
“It is a far, far better thing...