Sydney Carton Quotes

It is 1775, and a revolution is brewing throughout France. From England, the main protagonists of this story look at the events with dread and find themselves in the heart of the uprising, which tests the strengths and weaknesses of the characters and society on a whole. Sydney Carton, a drunk, who originally felt like he had no purpose in life, transforms himself when he chooses to sacrifice his own life in order to protect his friends, a choice which ultimately redeems him when he leaves the world in a state of peace and acceptance instead of discontentment and misery. Doctor Manette recovers from his broken state after spending more than a decade in Bastille, and also overcomes his hatred and thirst for vengeance towards the

After Darnay’s trial, the two men head to a tavern, and when Darnay comments that Carton had been drinking, Carton replies, “I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me,” (Dickens 106). This quote reveals Carton’s main reason for drinking is because he is lonely, and alcohol is his escape from reality. But Carton’s love for his friends redeems him, as his final choice to sacrifice his own life in order to protect them and smuggle them to safety guarantees their future and happiness. As he heads towards his execution, Carton notes the fact that the oppressors in the crowd “have risen on the destruction of the old,” (Dickens 473) but also realizes that someday, Paris will recover from these horrors and become beautiful and great. In his last moments, he sees a future where all his friends are happy and safe, Lucie and Darnay with a child named after him; a future where he holds a special place in their hearts and in the hearts of generations hence, and the mistakes he made in his life balance out with his ultimate sacrifice. Sydney Carton dies with the knowledge that his sacrifice will not be for naught, and after a wasted life, he has finally managed to overcome his internal struggle and will be reborn into glory, or as

As Dickens words it, “It was the best of times, 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, It was the season of Light, It was the season of Darkness, It was the spring of hope, It was the winter of despair, everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way— in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”(Dickens 4, 5). In France, a revolution is brewing, due to the commoners witnessing the aristocrats’ excessive spending and extreme violence, even though the country was impoverished, it is a trend that anticipates the erection of the guillotine, and much bloodshed. In the beginning of the book, the setting shifts from England to Saint Antonie, a poor suburb of Paris. When a wine cask falls to the pavement of the street, everyone rushes to it, desperate for even the most simple of necessities and