Sydney Carton And Charles Darnay Look example essay topic

In life, one may run into an old friend at a hotel conference in Los Angeles, or see one's old teacher from grade school at the grocery store. Such are the coincidental events that may take place throughout the course of any one person's life. However, in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, there are more than just the occasional, once in a lifetime, coincidental events that happen to everyone. There are coincidences left and right in Dickens' book. Three of the most coincidental characters in the book are Charles Darnay, Madame Defarge, and John Barsad (aka Solomon Pross). Charles Darnay is only alive at the end of the book due to the many coincidences credited to him.

The two main coincidences are that he happens to look like Sydney Carton, and that he marries the daughter of the doctor that his family ruined long ago. At the Old Bailey trial in England, the narrator speaks of Carton in comparison to Darnay: Allowing for my learned friend's appearance being careless and slovenly if not debauched, they were sufficiently like each other to surprise, not only the witness, but everybody present, when they were thus brought into comparison. (67) When Charles and Lucie are leaving for their honeymoon, the narrator describes Lucie's first parting from her father since he was brought back from France, "It was a hard parting, though it was not for long. But her father cheered her, and said at last, gently disengaging himself from her enfolding arms, 'Take her, Charles! She is yours (179)!' " The fact that Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay look alike is coincidental because that fact saves Charles' life twice, in the Old Bailey trial, and in the execution in Paris.

The fact that Charles Darnay marries the daughter of the man his family ruined is both coincidental and ironic. It is coincidental because Darnay just happens to meet Doctor Mannette's daughter, Lucie, and they happen to fall in love with each other. It is dramatic irony because Charles is the son of the man who put the doctor in jail, although one could argue that the doctor might have known this. Madame Defarge is also a coincidental character because of her past.

She happens to be the husband of Doctor Mannette's former servant, who happens to find the Bastille document describing the destruction of her family. She also happens to be the daughter of the family that the doctor was called to help when they were injured by the Ever mondes. As Sydney Carton eavesdrops on the Defarges' conversation, Madame Defarge says: In the beginning of the great days, when the Bastille falls, he finds this paper of to-day, and he brings it home, and in the middle of the night when this place is clear and shut, we read it, here on this spot, by the light of this lamp. Later in the same conversation, Madame Defarge says: 'Defarge, that sister of the mortally wounded boy upon the ground was my sister, that husband was my sister's husband, that unborn child was their child, that brother was my brother, that father was my father, those dead are my dead, and that summons to answer for those things descends to me!' (318) It is coincidental that her husband finds the Bastille paper because he does not know her past yet, but he has actually discovered it and they both have a history with the Mannette. He was their servant and looks for hidden items for this reason, but it actually serves the reason of getting Darnay thrown back in jail.

It is coincidental that Madame Defarge is the daughter / sister of the family that was destructed because Charles' mother was looking for her all her life, and now that Charles knows her as Madame Defarge, he still does not know that she was the person his mother had been searching for in hopes of redeeming her of the damage done to her family. John Barsad, or Solomon Pross, is also a coincidental character in a humorous way. When Jerry Cruncher and Miss Pross are out getting wine, they run into Barsad, who happens to be a former British spy, Miss Pross's sister, and a current French spy. Cruncher, Miss Pross, and Sydney Carton, who is seen in France for the first time, all recognize Barsad. Miss Pross recognizes him as her brother, but Jerry Cruncher and Sydney Carton recognize him as the man at Charles Darnay's first trial. When Carton first arrives on the scene he says: Don't be alarmed, my dear Miss Pross.

I arrived at Mr. Lorry's, to his surprise, yesterday evening; we agreed that I would not present myself elsewhere until all was well, or unless I could be useful; I present myself here, to beg a little talk with your brother. I wish you had a better employed brother than Mr. Barsad. I wish for your sake Mr. Barsad was not a Sheep of the Prisons. The fact that Barsad is recognized by so many people is humorous because he is supposed to be a spy and coincidental because he was at Darnay's Old Bailey trial and will also help Darnay get out of prison. He is also Miss Pross's sister and is a spy against the French revolution.

Another coincidental aspect of Barsad is that he has access to Darnay's prison cell, which serves to advance the plot and develop the theme of resurrection. Barsad is a "Sheep of the Prisons", meaning he is a spy in the prisons, which is why he has access to Darnay's cell. The fact that he has access to Darnay's prison cell is coincidental because he is the only person that could have helped Carton to get in and it is used to advance the plot of the story as well as develop the theme of resurrection because Darnay will be resurrected from his death sentence. Also Sydney Carton will be recalled to life, which serves to help develop the theme of the story.

For the characters in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, there are a lot of coincidences in a period of only a few weeks or months. These coincidences serve to advance the plot of the story, develop themes in the story, and help to bring all the characters together in the end. They also contribute to the saving of Darnay's life and the sacrifice of Carton's. Dicken's uses the randomness of events to further emotions by allowing the reader to connect with the story.