Duality In A Tale Of Two Cities

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“It was the best of time, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…(Dickens 3)”.
Through the usage of the duality between Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton in the Tale of Two cities, the author Charles Dickens conveys how a social class that a person is born into does not predetermine his/her fate. Dickens also situates these two juxtaposed characters to symbolize the yin and yang which must exist to obtain a perfect balance in the world.
Dickens situates these two characters to come from two distinct social classes to demonstrate how people can change and move away from their expected lifestyle. Darnay is expected to mirror the Monseigneur …show more content…

Darnay’s and Carton’s desires to win over Lucie and change their lives are the driving forces of the novel. Both characters are similar in that they wanted to marry Lucie; however, due to Darnay’s positive nature, he is able to win Lucie’s love. Carton, even though he doesn't win Lucy's love, promises to keep a life Lucie loves beside her (269). Using Darnay and Carton to represent yin and yang, Dickens illustrates that neither side is stronger than the other as both are essential to the plot. If Carton never promised to save Darnay towards the end, neither character would have satisfied their purpose in life. Other motives to save a close friend - Gabelle for Darnay and Darnay for Carton - show how their intentions lead them to the same overall goal. However, they are also different in that only one of them is successful in each of their goals. Charles is successful in winning Lucie's love, but not in saving Gabelle whereas Carton is successful in saving Darnay, but not in winning Lucie's love. Although their changes are very different, they are very similar in that their paths coincide - Darnay is imprisoned and Carton replaces him in the jail cell to allow Darnay to escape- to fulfill the purpose of their lives. By providing both sides of the story, just like combining yin and yang, Dickens educates his audience that the change which both characters strove for is complete. He also shows that neither side is greater nor stronger than the other as both experienced equal amounts of success and

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