英语专业论文《双城记》中卡顿的悲剧

本科生毕业论文（设计）册

学院 XXX学院 专业 英语教育 班级 XXX级英语教育X班 学生 XX 指导教师 XX

XXXX大学本科毕业论文（设计）任务书

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编 号：

论文（设计）题目： 《双城记》中卡顿的悲剧 学院： XXXX学院 专业： 英语教育 班级： XX级英语教育XX班 学生姓名： XXXX 学号： XX 指导教师： XX 职称：教授

1、论文（设计）研究目标及主要任务

本论文的研究目标是探讨《双城记》中卡顿这一人物形象悲剧表现的三个方面，以及其悲剧形成的原因，和体现作者的思想。

其主要任务是通过研究卡顿的悲剧来弘扬作者的人道主义精神。

2、论文（设计）的主要内容

本论文分为三章，第一章介绍卡顿爱情的悲剧及表现，第二章介绍卡顿工作上的悲剧及表现，最后一章介绍了卡顿生活悲剧及表现。

3、论文（设计）的基础条件及研究路线

本论文的基础条件是小说所呈现的主题，以及学者们对《双城记》的研究。

研究路线是通过对《双城记》中卡顿人物形象的探索，来展现当时的时代背景和作者的思想，观点。

4、主要参考文献

Dickens, Charles. A tale of two cities. Qingdao: Qingdao Press, 2005. Collins, Philip. Dickens: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge, 1971. Hardy, Barbara. British Writers. London: British Council, 1982 狄更斯，2011，《双城记》，张玲 张扬译. 上海：上海译文出版社.

贺润东，2011，卡顿的救赎—《双城记》中博爱精神的体现. 《绵阳师范学院学报》2011年第4期，23—25页.

5、计划进度 阶段 1 确定初步论文题目 与导师见面，确定大致范围，填开题报告和2 任务书，导师签字 3 提交论文提纲 4 交初稿和文献综述 5 交终稿和评议书 指 导 教师： 年 月 日 教研室主任： 年 月 日

起止日期 3月16日前 3月16日-3月23日 3月23日-3月30日 3月30日-4月20日 5月8日前 2

注：一式三份，学院（系）、指导教师、学生各一份

XX大学本科生毕业论文（设计）开题报告书

XX 学院 英语教育 专业 XX 届

学生 姓名 XX 论文（设计）题目 《双城记》中卡顿的悲剧 指导 专业 所属教英语高年研究方向 英美文学 XX XX 教师 职称 研室 级教研组 课题论证：从卡顿的爱情，事业，生活三个方面悲剧的表现和形成的原因，来讴歌主人公的大义凛然，无私奉献的精神，从而弘扬作者狄更斯的人道主义精神。 方案设计：第一章介绍卡顿的爱情悲剧， 第二章阐述卡顿的工作悲剧， 第三章探讨卡顿的生活悲剧。 进度计划：3月16日前确定初步论文题目 3月30日前写开题报告、任务书 3月30日前提交论文提纲 4月20日前提交初稿和文献综述 5月8日前交终稿和评议书 指导教师意见： 指导教师签名： 年 月 日 3

教研室意见： 教研室主任签名： 年 月 日

XX大学本科生毕业论文（设计）评议书

姓 名 XX 学院 XX学院 专业 英语年级（班） 教育 完成时间 XX级英语教育一班 2013年4月29日 论 文 题 目 《双城记》中卡顿的悲剧 《双城记》是英国作家查尔斯·狄更斯所著的一部以法国大革命为背景的鸿篇巨制，情节高潮迭起，跌宕起伏，感人肺腑，泣人泪下，是世界文学经典名著之一。故事中将巴黎，伦敦两城市连接起来，通过对各种人物的遭遇及其人性的剖析，展现了人道主义视野下革命的合理性和暴力的疯狂性。 论 文 内 容 摘 要 西德尼·卡顿，一个最能代表狄更斯的人道主义思想的理想化的人物，在这部小说中是真正的主角，是悲剧化的英雄。他自始至终都是为他人着想，为他人做出退让和牺牲，以至在最后做了周密细致，十分完美的安排之后，冒名顶替，慷慨赴刑，以他一个人的性命换来了马奈特全家三代四口人的生命。 本论文将通过分析卡顿的短暂却令人惋惜和感动的一生，来探讨他人生的悲剧。它包括三部分，也是悲剧体现的在三个方面。首先是卡顿爱情的悲剧，深爱的人却爱着别人，而自己那看似卑微的爱，却不愿意为自己争取幸福。再次是只愿做狮子背后的豺狼，也没有伯乐去发现他的才华，这又体现了卡顿工作上的悲剧。最后是卡顿的人生悲剧，一个外表看起来懒惰的经常酗酒的被人忽略被人轻视的律师助理，愿意为了爱，为了他人，而牺牲自己的生命，这是美丽的悲剧。这样的牺牲，其实就是永恒。 4

指 导 教 师 评 语 年 月 日 职称 初评成绩 指 导 教 师 姓名 组长 成员 职称 教研室 答辩小组答辩记录： 记录人签字： 年 月 日

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答辩小组意见： 组长签字： 年 月 日 学院意见： 评定成绩： 签章 年 月 日 XX大学本科生毕业论文（设计）文献综述

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Literature Review Since A Tale of Two Cities is a novel, as Charles Dickens‘s masterpiece was published in installments in All The Year Round in 1859, critics have studied it from various aspects. Comments on the novel may have three sorts. First, those that are the point of view of the historical novel or not—some critics have thought so, but others haven‘t. Second, those that are on the study of humanitarianism and most of critics have agreed with the point. Third, those that on textual artistic style and most of critics have thought the novel are the exception in Dickensian novels. Especially, the second one is the hottest one that many critics are interest in. Sydney Carton is the Ⅰ The Reviews from Abroad When the novel was born, his friend and biographer, John Forster argued that ―there was probably never a book by a great humorist, and an artist so prolific in the conception of character, with so little humor and so few remember able figures.‖ It is worth pointing out that while Charles Dickens is often very funny, this book is not. This is really one of his most serious works. There's really not a lot of comic relief. But it's also one of his more emotionally satisfying books and one of his least sentimental. Stephen wrote an essay on A Tale of two cities in The Saturday Review, London. In the essay, Stephen thought: In the Tale of Two Cities, Mr. Dickens has reached the Castle Dangerous stage without Sir Walter Scott’s excuse; and instead of wholesome food ill-dressed, he has put before his readers dishes of which the quality is not disguised by the cooking?It is a most curious, production, whether it is considered in a literary, in a moral, or in a historical point of view. Pritchard did a summary comment on A Tale of Two Cities in Biographical Essay

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about Charles Dickens; Pritchard concluded the point of view of some critics that the novel is the author‘s autobiography and agreed that: Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, two main characters, portray different sides of Dickens’ initials, tires to shed his family’s past but can not hide from its reach. Sydney Carton redeems himself through his love for Lucie Manette. These two versions of Dickens are unified in the novel, and they show the destructive power of the past and the healing power of love and sacrifice. In the 21st century, Petch mainly argued The Business of the Barrister in A Tale of Two Cites. In the essay, Simon Petch declared that A Tale of Two Cities is the story of one lawyer, Sydney Carton, and his self-sacrificing love for one woman, in the context of his relations with several other professional men, at the time of the French Revolution. From the above, these critics studied A Tale of Two Cities from varied aspects, especially from history, autobiography, archetype, etc. Long before created A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens showed great solicitude for the French Revolution and retreaded an English historian, Thomas Carlyle‘s The French Revolution. So in this novel, another writer can be seen. It is Tomas Carlyle. In Ruth Glancy‘s Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities a sourcebook, he puts much importance on the Revolution. But everyone who has researched the novel knows that characters are much important than the background. In this novel, he also makes clear the characters in this novel through their actions rather than dialogue. Novelist E. M. Forster famously criticized Dickens‘s characters as ―flat,‖ lamenting that they seem to lack the depth and complexity that make literary characters realistic and believable. Sydney Carton is a flat character. He is just a drunken lawyer who works for “the lion‖. Karis Marie Kalil wrote On Dickens’ a tale of two cities ―He represents the sacrificial hero who ritually slaughtered of his own 8

free will so that society might renew itself, a prospect he envisions before he dies.‖ Dickens writes a shocking tragedy and makes Sydney Carton, his cynical and charming hero, one of his strongest and most sympathetic characters. Carton‘s tragedy is a beautiful tragedy. Ⅱ The Reviews from Home Domestic study of Charles Dickens‘s A Tale of Two Cities is often limited in the field of ideology until 1990s. Many critics give many comments on the most memorable character in this novel – Sydney Carton. The famous Chinese writer, Ba Jin once recalled the image with deep emotion and respect:“That Englishman who sacrificed his life, paced to the scaffold leisurely for other‘s happiness lingers in my mind for several decades. I can not forget him, just like I can not forget a bosom friend. He also is one of my teachers. He sets an example and teaches me to know how to make yourself sublimation.‖ Wang Ping express that the leading thinking of Dickens‘s novels is humanitarianism, which reflects in his numerous novels and among them, A Tale of Two Cities is the typical representative. Meanwhile the article clarifies embodiment of the humanistic thinking in A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, analyzes and shows its progressiveness and limitation. Anyway Sydney Carton represents the highest state of humanitarianism. So far, most of critics study A Tale of Two Cities with the trap that the author prepared for them. These critics always study the novel in the author‘s standpoint, even though they think there is much failure in the novel. As a matter of fact, they study the novel not as a woman, or as humankind with the thought of gender equality, but as a man. This fault can not attribute to these critics. This is the success of the author. He has successfully protected his belief of the central position of men in his novel from the outer pollution. From A Tale of Two Cities published to the present day, it has a history of one 9

hundred and thirty years. Whether it is in the middle of the academic or readers, it is a work which is still welcomed. Honestly, the great work is just like ―immortal‖ thought it conveying, it also can be immortal anyway. It is a splendid piece in the world history literature.

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本科生毕业论文设计

论《双城记》中卡顿的悲剧

作者姓名 XX 指导教师 XX 所在学院 XX学院 专业（系） 英语教育 班级（届）XX级 英教XX班

完成日期 2013 年 5 月 8 日

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An Analysis of the Tragedy of

Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities

By

XX

Prof. XXX, Tutor

A Thesis Submitted to Department of English

Language and Literature in Partial

Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of B.A in English

At XXXUniversity

May 8, 2013

Abstract

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A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, which is set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. It ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature. This novel shows effectively the author‘s aim to point out the injustice of oppression and the justification of the revolution. However, Dickens shows his strong criticism on the excess of bloodshed during the French Revolution.

Sydney Carton the most typical character represents Dickens‘s humanism best. He is the real tragic hero in this novel. He always thinks about others and makes concessions for others, even sacrifices. In the end, after doing careful, meticulous and perfect arrangement, Carton took Darnay's place by counterfeiting and died for the Manette family, three generations of four people.

This thesis will analyze Carton‘s short but touching life to explore his tragedy. It consists of three parts. The first part is Carton‘s tragedy on love. Lover in love with someone else and his humble love make him never seek happiness for himself. This is definitely resultless love. The second part consists of the jackal behind the lion and nobody give him business. These are the tragedy on his work. The last is his life tragedy. A lazy, alcoholic, ignored, despised attorney is willing to sacrifice his life for love and others. This is a beautiful tragedy, and that sacrifice is eternal.

Key words humanism tragedy love life work

摘 要

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《双城记》是英国作家查尔斯·狄更斯所著的一部以法国大革命为背景的鸿篇巨制，情节高潮迭起，感人肺腑，是世界文学经典名著之一。故事中将巴黎，伦敦两城市连接起来，通过对各种人物的遭遇及其人性的剖析，展现了人道主义视野下革命的合理性和暴力的疯狂性。

西德尼·卡顿，一个最能代表狄更斯的人道主义思想的理想化的人物，在这部小说中是真正的主角，是悲剧化的英雄。他自始至终都是为他人着想，为他人做出退让和牺牲，以至在最后做了周密细致，十分完美的安排之后，冒名顶替，慷慨赴刑，以他一个人的生命换来马奈特全家三代四口人的生命。

本论文将通过分析卡顿的短暂却令人惋惜和感动的一生，来探讨他人生的悲剧。它包括三部分，也是悲剧体现的在三个方面。首先是卡顿爱情的悲剧，深爱的人却爱着别人，这注定是一种没有结果的爱；而自己那看似卑微的爱，却不愿意为自己争取幸福。再次是只愿做狮子背后的豺狼，也没有伯乐去发现他的才华，这又体现了卡顿工作上的悲剧。最后是卡顿的人生悲剧，一个外表看起来懒惰的经常酗酒的被人忽略被人轻视的律师助理，愿意为了爱，为了他人，而牺牲自己的生命，这是美丽的悲剧。这样的牺牲，其实就是永恒。

关键词 人道主义 悲剧 爱情 生活 事业

Table of Contents

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Abstract ··························································································· Ⅲ Abstract in Chinese ········································································· Ⅳ Introduction ······················································································ 1

ChapterⅠ Carton’s Tragedy on Love ············································· 6

A. Resultless love ·········································································· 6 B. Humble love ··············································································· 7 ChapterⅡ Carton’s Tragedy on Work ··········································· 11 A. The jackal behind the lion ························································ 11 B. No talent- spotter ···································································· 12 Chapter Ⅲ Carton’s Tragedy on Life ·········································· 14 A. A lazy, alcoholic attorney ······················································· 14 B. An ignored, despised gay ·························································· 15 Conclusion ······················································································· 18 Notes ································································································ 20 Bibliography ···················································································· 21

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Introduction

In English literature history, Dickens is the most famous classical author besides Shakespeare, and he is one of the most famous writers in the world. ―To his friend and biographer, John Forster argued that ‘there was probably never a book by a great humorist, and an artist so prolific in the conception of character, with so little humor and so few remember able figures.’” 1 He is one of the greatest critical realists in the Victorian Age. His novels offer a most complete and realistic picture of the English bourgeois society of his age. ―One of the greatest modern writers, James Joyce, claimed that Dickens has entered into the language more than any writer since Shakespeare.” 2 This is not mere praise. Like Shakespeare, Dickens brims with originality but expresses and addresses human nature at large. Like Shakespeare, he is fully in possession of himself, creating an art that is powerful personal and generously accessible. Like Shakespeare, he creates an art that is powerfully personal and generously accessible. Like Shakespeare, he creates a flexible language for self-expression and imaginative creativity that commands admiration for its brilliance and virtuosity. Like Shakespeare, he creates a unique and independent-seeming world, allowing us to use that time-worn term world with precision.

Charles Dickens was born in a navy personnel family. Because of his father‘s failure of managing money very well, he ended up in prison for getting into debt. Just like the hero‘s exercise in David Copperfield, he suffers many tribulations. His education was off and on and went to several schools. Sometimes he was completely dropped out. He began his first career, as a junior clerk at a lawyer‘s office. Then he went to work as a freelance law reporter. Dickens did not take his misfortune on the others. Instead, he made good use of what had seen and gone through. Miserable childhood, persistence to work and the reality of England is his real university.

Charles Dickens can be considered as a prolific writer, but A Tale of Two Cities is the only historical work of his 14 novels. It has fewer characters and sub-plots than a typical Charles Dickens‘s novel, but it has always been one of his most popular and best-loved novels. In this somewhat uncharacteristic opening chapter, Dickens

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establishes the historical setting of the novel. No characters are introduced and no plot, it seems, is set in motion. The famous opening paragraph, actually just a single sentence, is can be considered the mirror of that time. Its interpretation of the French Revolution has strongly shaped British views of national identity and political legitimacy. At the same time, it offers a powerful melodramatic plot pitting private individuals against political systems. In this novel, the magnificent scenery of that famous Revolution which happened in France and shocked all over the world is depicted incisively and vividly. However, the most important is the author want to advocate humanitarianism, extol philanthropy through this novel. Long before created A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens showed great solicitude for the French Revolution and retreaded an English historian, Thomas Carlyle‘s The French Revolution. Charles Dickens wrote in his Preface to Tale that ―no one can hope to add anything to the philosophy of Mr. Carlyle‘s wonderful book‖. With reference to Carlyle‘s history and other historical works, Dickens has tried to make his portrayal of the working population in A Tale of Two Cities as historically accurate as possible. As the chief victims of the oppression and injustice of the old regime, the lower levels of the peasantry and the urban poor became the chief characters in the revolutionary novel. They are depicted far more sympathetically by Dickens than they were by most writers of the nineteenth century. The reason why he is interested in the revolution is that many serious social crises concealed in England during the same time period. In describing the abuses of eighteenth-century England, Dickens adopts a less critical tone. But in England the ordinary citizen can not depend upon the justice system to protect him. This comparison between the two countries will be elaborated and the differences heightened as the novel progress into the Revolution and beyond. In late 1854, he said“I believe, discontent is like smoke which is much worse than fire burns, particularly as the first revolution in France before the outbreak of the public psychology. That is dangerous, because thousands of reasons -- such as bad harvest, incompetence and imperiousness of the nobility, defeat in overseas war, domestic incident and so on -- turned into a terrible fire that have never be seen.” Dickens connects this novel with the French Revolution. Many of his descriptions refer back to

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the Revolution and help convey the tone of depression. In Ruth Glancy‘s Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities a sourcebook, he puts much importance on the Revolution. But everyone who has researched the novel knows that characters are much important than the background. In this novel, he also makes clear the characters in this novel through their actions rather than dialogue.

Dickens is a bourgeois humanitarian. Just as Sun Li once said, Great writers are all humanitarian. Dickens is extremely against the merciless behavior done by the aristocrats, but at the same time, he dislikes the violent revolution. Therefore, he creates many models that solve social problems with humanitarianism, which defeat hatred with philanthropy: Dr. Manette and his daughter Lucie, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton. Among them Sydney Carton represents the highest state of humanitarianism.

Just like Hamlet, Sydney Carton is the tragic hero in Charles Dickens‘s novel A Tale of Two Cities. He is the most memorable character in this novel, a story of redemption, resurrection, self-sacrifice change and love; all of these words have to do with the extreme transformation of. The famous Chinese writer, Ba Jin once recalled the image with deep emotion and respect:“That Englishman who sacrificed his life, paced to the scaffold leisurely for other‘s happiness lingers in my mind for several decades. I can not forget him, just like I can not forget a bosom friend. He also is one of my teachers. He sets an example and teaches me to know how to make yourself sublimation.‖ It is necessary for all tragic heroes to be accompanied by a tragic flaw. Sydney Carton‘s tragic flaw is love. Sydney Carton had such great love for Lucie Manette that evolves from a depressed loaner that can only attempt to substitute happiness with alcoholic indulgence to a loyal caring friend who makes the ultimate sacrifice for the ones he loves. Ultimately the tragic flaw leads to the downfall of the character. Carton‘s clouded state of mind places him in a situation where his life is lost. This tragic flaw led to death or tragedy thus making Sydney Carton the tragic hero.

Novelist E. M. Forster famously criticized Dickens‘s characters as ―flat,‖ lamenting that they seem to lack the depth and complexity that make literary

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characters realistic and believable. Sydney Carton is a flat character. He is just a drunken lawyer who works for “the lion‖. ―He represents the sacrificial hero who ritually slaughtered of his own free will so that society might renew itself, a prospect he envisions before he dies.‖ 3 Though these characters are flat, they have unique features and they can display an amazing felling. People have been comfortably talking for a hundred years about the fact that Dickens‘s descriptions of characters often evoke the prospect of humans being beats. “They have claws and beaks, and they are snakes eels, and lynxes.‖ The characters in A Tale of Two Cities have unexceptionally displayed the same quality. But his attitudes towards these dehumanized people are different. One is born cruelty, and to this kind of people, Dickens is strongly against. The other is changing cruel because of the environment, and to this kind of people, Dickens shows a lot of sympathy, but he is not for them. Above all these people work for the humanized people.

Humanitarianism, especially the core of it, fraternity which was strongly advocated by Charles Dickens was the sane answer to the problem of human existence. From his point of view the feudal aristocrats and common class both need the virtue of humanitarianism and fraternity. Dickens is aware of the social contradiction and desires the common people to get away from oppression; he wants people to pursue happiness and peace. He advocates kindness and integrity and opposes the aristocrats who tyrannize over the public. What the author in the essay wants to express is that only humanitarianism and love can solve the problems between people. Between poor and rich, love is everything. Humanitarianism and fraternity are necessary to any kinds of society; the two points are fully reflected in his novel. Sydney Carton is not the leading character of a tale of two cities. The love among Lucie Manette, Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton is a main thread of the whole novel. Dickens chooses Carton as the embodiment of ideal personality, and the development of Carton‘s character symbolizes the writer‘s view, especially shows us his deep consideration of human power. Sydney Carton was a young lawyer. He was known as a self-aware functional alcoholic in this novel. In fact he was talented and quick–minded, but he was cynical and bohemian at the same time. He had a crush on

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Lucie, but he was so self-abased that he can‘t strive for Lucie‘s love. While he mustered up some courage and made a point to let Lucie known his admiring，he also in a depressed situation. In this thesis, Caron‘s attitude towards his own life is not advisable. It is a little negative. However, his love for Lucie changes him greatly, and allows him to be a better person. Dickens writes a shocking tragedy and makes Sydney Carton, his cynical and charming hero, one of his strongest and most sympathetic characters. Carton‘s tragedy is a beautiful tragedy. It is full of touch and humanism. This is the most important reason that the thesis chooses to analyze Sydney Carton. Carton‘s tragedy is not just because of his attitude, but also because of the society. So this thesis chooses to analyze Carton‘s tragedy not his character analysis. The tragedy of work, tragedy of life, and tragedy of love are the three aspects of his tragedy. Among them, tragedy of love is the best part can express Carton‘s feature, and Dickens‘s humanism and philanthropism. People always say internal factors are the fundamental reasons, however, the external factors are also important. That is heroes are made by the time.

It is worth pointing out that while Charles Dickens is often very funny, this book is not. This is really one of his most serious works. There's really not a lot of comic relief. But it's also one of his more emotionally satisfying books and one of his least sentimental. When Dickens was writing this book, he intended to make a breakthrough in the art. The artistic achievement of this book already strongly confirms that his intention has been realized. Just take the opening long sentence as an example, contrasts, parallels, and doublings of character, incident, place, time and theme enact the dualisms established in these statements. The combination of realism and romanticism, the using of symbolism, and the exquisite analysis of psychology leave the readers a deeply impression.

From A Tale of Two Cities published to the present day, it has a history of one hundred and thirty years. Whether it is in the middle of the academic or readers, it is a work which is still welcomed. Honestly, the great work is just like ―immortal‖ thought it conveying, it also can be immortal anyway. It is a splendid piece in the world history literature.

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Chapter Ⅰ Carton’s Tragedy on Love

Carton‘s love best reflects his tragedy. His deep love for Lucie is the most touching element in this novel. However, the one he loves falls in love with another young man, and his humble love result in his sacrifice for love.

For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything. I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you. And when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you. 4

These are the sentences what Sydney Carton says to Lucie Manette. This is the first time that he shows his feelings to her. Carton is so considerate that he does not give Lucie any pression. Carton‘s fixed despair of himself comes to Lucie‘s relief and this atmosphere makes the interview unlike any other that could have been holden. In fact, at the end of the story, the promise should not be forgotten. If Carton did not stand out, he must be thought as an empty talker, so the final performance is truly moving. What is Carton sacrifice for? For Lucie, Sydney or may be that promise. This can prove his noble and selfless devotion of great love. It also can prove his kindness, faith, generosity. Life can be life without revolution. But life can not be life without love.

Just as previously mentioned, love is Sydney Carton tragic flaw. Carton‘s nobility of character is reflected most clearly in the emotional aspect. Carton‘s sacrifice of his life enables him to live in a way that he otherwise could not, for this sacrifice—the only means by which Darnay can be saved—assures Carton a place in the hearts of others and allows him to have undertaken one truly meaningful and valuable act before dying. This is most touching part. During the French revolution, most of the people are filled with violence, hatred and anger, but it is rare that Carton showed the noble sentiment in the turbulent times. This is a tragedy, but it is a

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beautiful one.

A． Resultless Love

Lucie Manette is a very important female in this novel. Pretty appearance is not her only advantage. In every detail of her being, she embodies compassion, love, and virtue. The indelible image of her cradling her father‘s head delicately on her breast encapsulates her role as the ―golden thread‖ that holds her family together. She manifests her purity of devotion to Charles Darnay in her unquestioning willingness to wait at a street corner for two hours each day, on the off chance that he will catch sight of her from his prison window. She is a perfect woman, and has changed many persons‘ fate. Carton is one of them. Just like what himself said, ―And yet I have had weakness, and have still the weakness, to wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire.‖ (141) However, such an important person chooses another young man. Charles Darnay is an outstanding young man. Whether from appearance, career, morality, personality, he can be considered perfect. Darnay met Lucie for the first time since their encounter on the boat where their epoch of romance began. In combination with other characters, they contribute to a more detailed picture of human nature. First, they provide the light that counters the vengeful Madame Defarge‘s darkness, revealing the moral aspects of the human soul so noticeably absent from Madame Defarge. Second, throughout the novel they manifest a virtuousness that Carton strives to attain and that inspires his very real and believable struggles to become a better person. From the most direct point of view, Carton died for Darnay. Because of Darnay‘s perfect, Lucie fell in love with him. Because of Darnay‘s perfect, Carton would be willing to sacrifice for him. Because of his perfect, readers will turn their attention to Carton, who is not perfect. Readers absolutely do not want to see Carton dead. And this can predict Carton‘s great sacrifice.

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B. Humble Love

Sydney Carton loves Lucie Manette very much. His love in other people‘s eyes is a little humble. It is can not be denied that all the love there is humbleness, just in different weight. Because of falling in love with a person, caring about a person, there is compromise and sacrifices. Compromises and sacrifices will naturally feel humble. But Carton‘s love has another name, it is called selfless.

In his conversation with the recently acquitted Charles Darnay, Carton‘s comments about Lucie Manette, while bitter and sardonic, betray his interest in, and budding feelings for the gentle girl. ―She was a golden- haired doll‖ and he denied Lucie was pretty. When Stryver questioned him, he even tired to hide his emotion. However, after everyone had gone, he ensured his feelings.

Waste forces within him and a desert all around, this man stood still on his way across a silent terrace, and saw for a moment, self-deni-al, and perseverance. In the fair city of this vision, there were airy galleries from which the loves and graces looked upon him, gardens in which the fruits of life hung ripening, waters of Hope that sparkled in his sight. A moment and it was gone. Climbing to a high chamber in a well of houses, he threw himself down in his clothes on a neglectedbed, and its pillow was wet with wasted tears. (83)

This is a very exquisite description, and it truly reflects Caron‘s motion. Carton falls in love with Lucie at first sight. It was he that first noticed Miss Manette‘s head dropped in her father‘s breast and called officer to help them. He even loves her, loves her dog. He cares something for the streets that environed Lucie‘s house and for the senseless stones that made their pavements. Many a night he vaguely and unhappily wandered there. However because he lacks confidence, he does not pursue her. At the very end of the novel you find out that Carton is about to go to the guillotine, but not for himself. Charles Darnay was found guilty of treason and was about to be executed.

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However, Darnay and Lucie are madly in love. Another thing is that Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay look very similar to each other or \could easily take each others place if they wanted to. Earlier in the novel Carton told Lucie that he would do anything for the man she loved. Well, Carton then dies in Darnay's place. He wanted to do something that was important for other people, so he took his life instead of another. Lucie had succeeded in transforming him into a man of profound merit.

Besides, Charles Dickens is very good at using writing methods. Foreshadowing is used in many of Charles Dickens' novels. It can bring about a sense of wonder and imagination of what might occur later in the novel. The concept of foreshadowing means to present a warning sign, or hint beforehand. Proclaiming these words with passion, Carton, in a rare moment of sincere sobriety, becomes the carrier of Dickens's most poignant use of foreshadowing. From the beginning, Dickens writes Sydney Carton‘s and Charles Darnay‘s appearances are very like, to the middle part, Carton professes his love to Lucie, all of those are foreshadowing.

Perhaps many readers question that is sacrifice really necessary to achieve happiness, and is Carton really necessary to die for Lucie. Dickens examines this question on both a national and personal level. For example, the revolutionaries prove that a new, egalitarian French republic can come about only with a heavy and terrible cost — personal loves and loyalties must be sacrificed for the good of the nation. Also, when Darnay is arrested for the second time, in Book the Third, Chapter 7, the guard who seizes him reminds Dr. Manette of the primacy of state interests over personal loyalties. Moreover, Madame Defarge gives her husband a similar lesson when she chastises him for his devotion to Manette—an emotion that, in her opinion, only clouds his obligation to the revolutionary cause. Most important, Carton‘s transformation into a man of moral worth depends upon his sacrificing of his former self. In choosing to die for his friends, Carton not only enables their happiness but also ensures his spiritual rebirth.

It may be argued that Sydney Carton's silent prophecy about the future on his way to the guillotine compensates for the negative image of revolutionary Paris and

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France in the novel. ―I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss,‖ thinks Carton to himself. And yet, his prophecy seems to be inappropriate, as the novel has never given a sense that Paris is likely to become a 'beautiful' city that ennobles or is ennobled by its people. This is tied up with the resurrection theme. Just as mentioned before, Charles Dickens obviously has no love for the French aristocracy; he does not characterize them in a nice light - they are rapists and murderers essentially. But he's also not purely sympathetic to the revolutionaries either. They brought the Reign of Terror; they executed lots of people, which are symbolized by Darnay's conviction for something that he really had nothing to do with. So right and wrong on both sides is what the Tale of Two Cities shows. Dickens is a humanist and he correctly reveals the source of the outbreak of the revolution, is not mean that he agrees with revolutionary violence. We soon discovered that after the revolution, Dickens is extraordinarily sensitive to the problems which will appear after the revolution. Readers can experience through his writing about riots, terrorist, bloody and uneasy, the overthrow of the ruling class people become crazy and both destructive, hate the flames consumed the oppressor evil, but also bring disaster to the innocent people. Real revolution is not perfect. Sydney Carton is the best character that expresses Dickens‘s humanitarian thought. The view of Dickens humanitarian is positive and advanced. Just as it can not deny that the position of humanitarian is important in Dickens novels，it also can not deny that some of Dickens views about humanitarian are still worth appreciating and learning today. That is humanitarian is still important to us. And only love can make the world go round.

One factor in that times that must be mentioned is that the Enlightenment has already spread to France. ―For Kant, Enlightenment was mankind's final coming of age, the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state of ignorance.” 5 The Enlightenment brings liberalism to France. Liberalism pursues freedom, emphasizing democracy. Liberalists were against government‘s economic control. The Enlightenment gave the new ideas to the French, and it took a social change to the old system. Therefore, the new ideas which were brought by the Enlightenment had a great impact on the French Revolution. It is obviously that the

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hero Sydney Carton has been effected by the famous arousal.

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Chapter Ⅱ Carton’s Tragedy on Work

In A Tale of Two Cities, ―the jackal‖ is one of the brilliant sections. Carton‘s tragedy on work can be seen in this part. Though Carton is talented, he summons no energy and purpose on his career. Besides no talent-spotter is another stumbling block to Carton‘s success on work. Eventually he is just an assistant for a lawyer.

Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it rose upon no sadder sight than the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensible of the blight on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away. (84)

When Sydney Carton first appeared, he showed his talent and successfully helped his rival in love, Charles Darnay to win the lawsuit. He had the faculty of extracting the essence from a heap of statements. He always can find the vital part of any complicated issue. However, he just wants to be a jackal behind the lion. He can be the lion, even the king of the lion, but the fact is exactly the opposite. Carton‘s career is the reflection of his tragedy. It is very pity to say Carton dose not succeed in his work. It is known that anything has two major reasons. His lack of confidence and less aggressive mood are the roots of the tragedy. The society and no talent-spotter around him are his career tragedy‘s boosters.

A. The Jackal Behind The Lion

Sydney Carton has a strong ability of working. But he has a bit of inferiority, for his inferior. he indulges himself, and then he allowed himself to a despair situation. Dickens creates a contrast between Carton and C.J. Stryver. Mr. Stryver ―a favorite at the Old Bailey, and eke at the Sessions?[It is obviously to be seen that] Mr. Stryver was a glib man, and an unscrupulous, and a ready, and a bold.‖ (78) Mr. Stryver

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never has a case in his hand, because Carton is there. While Sydney Carton, though he is brilliant, he is not recognized by the legal profession. He has no business and he is just an assistant of ―the lion‖ Mr. Stryver. He had a good education in Shrewsbury School, but he did exercises for other people, and seldom did his own. He dose not apply his intelligence properly. So people around him are not aware of his outstanding abilities, even Carton himself is thinking that he is a futile man. Mr. Stryver may be the one best able to understand Carton, ―your way is, and always was, a lame way. You summon no energy and purpose.‖ The most important contrast is between Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay. Dickens‘s doubling technique functions not only to draw oppositions, but to reveal hidden parallels. Carton initially seems a foil to Darnay; Darnay as a figure reminds him of what he could have been but has failed to become. Carton once showed his jealousy to Darnay, ―he was a rather handsome fellow and I thought I must have been much the same sort of the fellow, if I had had any luck.‖ By the end of the novel, however, Carton transforms himself from a good-for-nothing to a hero whose goodness equals or even surpasses that of the honorable Darnay. While the two men‘s physical resemblance initially serves only to underscore Carton‘s moral inferiority to Darnay, it ultimately enables Carton‘s supremely self-elevating deed, allowing him to disguise himself as the condemned Darnay and die in his place. As Carton goes to the guillotine in his double‘s stead, he raises himself up to, or above, Darnay‘s virtuous status. In other people‘s eyes, it‘s a very hard to understand his ―way‖, however, behind all the things he did, there is a heart always thinks about other people, and does not care for wealth and fame. That is Carton.

If Carton has ambitions to become a good lawyer, he will succeed. This is Charles Dickens‘s trick: he will model a very flat character, which has a lot of shortcomings. But this flat character will give a very extraordinary story.

B. No Talented-spotter

People only see him often excessive drinking, but never see his competence.

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People only see his carelessness, but never see his brilliant. Many people are not the same as Carton, like him, can devote his everything to help others. So no one can find Carton‘s halo, and no one will give a man who he think is worthless a business. Since the First Industrial Revolution has already risen, people‘s life style and idea is changing gradually. The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Technological and economic progress have gained momentum with the increasing adoption of steam-powered boats, ships and railways, the large scale manufacture of machine tools and the increasing use of steam powered factories. Pre-industrial society is very static and often cruel—child labour, dirty living conditions, and long working hours were just as prevalent before the Industrial Revolution. Money and efficiency are the most important to these just entered industrialized countries. People are more indifferent and the contradiction between different classes is more intense.

Sydney Carton is not a man who cares worldly possessions too much, so he becomes a man who has great talent, but has no way to integrate into the society of that time.

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Chapter Ⅲ Carton’s Tragedy on Life

Sydney Carton is a failure in his love for Lucie and also in his work. He lives a melancholy life, and his whole lifetime is a tragedy. From a lazy alcoholic attorney to an ignored despised gay, Carton‘s life is definitely to be a tragedy.

Mr. Carton, who had so long sat looking at the ceiling of the court, changed neither in place nor his attitude, even in this excitement. This one man sat leaning back?his hands in his pockets, and his eyes on the ceiling as they had been all day. Something especially reckless in his demeanor, not only gave him a disreputable look, but so diminished the strong resemblance he undoubtedly bore to the prisoner. (69)

Sydney Carton‘s the character that everyone looks down upon. He is depression, hate and self-loathing personified. His total carelessness overshadows anything else about him. He never does things forwardly, and his whole life time is a tragedy. He is seen to be a lazy, alcoholic attorney and an ignored, despised gay.

A. A Lazy Alcoholic Attorney

Sydney Carton was a young lawyer. He was known as a self-aware functional alcoholic in this novel. Charles Dickens mentions many times in this novel that Sydney Carton‘s appearance is careless and slovenly. Whether he is court or in daily life, he always gives people an idle impression. When they congratulate Charles Darnay is acquitted, Mr. Jarvis Lorry, an old clerk in Tellson‘s Bank is thoroughly heated by Carton‘s difference. Carton also is a disagreeable fellow in Doctor Manette‘s house. Nobody really treat him as a friend. So wine is his best friend and he believes in saying of drinking down sorrow. Wine is a very important thing in Carton‘s life. In the novel Dickens points out that the time is drinking days and most man drink hard. The wine Mr. Stryver and drink together between Hilary Term and

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Michaelmas, might have floated a king‘s ship. Carton explains to Charles Darnay why he drunks so excessively:“I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me.‖ He describes his existence as a supreme waste of life and takes every opportunity to declare that he cares for nothing and no one.

Although usually Carton appears cynical and do not ask progress, but his love has been in the heart of the bud, flowing in the blood, and gradually developed into a broad boundless love. He not only has to save Lucie, and Manette‘s family, but also has to contend with killing countercurrent, and call for the human conscience. A social exclusion abandoned youth save the society at the cost of his own life with the noble spirit of sacrifice oneself to redeem society.

In fact, Sydney Carton is a very clever person. His wisdom is beyond everyone‘s imagination. In order to help Darnay‘s families fled, he made a thorough arrangement. First he went to Defarge‘s wine shop, and let Mrs. Defarge, Vengeance and Jacques Three know there was a person who was like Evremonde. Second he believed Mr. Lorry can help Lucie‘s family to escape misery and told him again “Quietly and steadily have all these arrangements made in the court-yard here, even to the taking of your own seat in the carriage. The moment I come to you, take me in, and drive away.‖ When all the things had been arranged appropriately, Carton went to entered Lucie‘s court yard and remained there for a few moments alone, looking up at the light in the window of her room. Before he went away, he breathed a blessing towards it and a Farewell. Then, he began his rescue operations. Sydney Carton is not a lazy alcoholic at that time. He is a brave, brilliant hero. He does not accommodate with the society. Since he was born, he has paced to the sparse crowd, and run counter to the crowd. Eventually he will search a new life by destruction and seek balance by a certain tilt.

B. An Ignored Despised Gay.

People around Carton are disapprobation for his behavior, because he is always the same moody and morose lounger, the cloud of caring for nothing makes him much

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different from others. In this novel, Carton is just an ignored despised gay. Most of the people are a little cold blood. Hatred holds the top of their mind, so they kills any people they hate even the innocent. Mrs. Defarge, Vengeance and Jacques Three are these people, and they can represent many people in that time.

Charles Dickens connects this novel with the French Revolution. Many of his descriptions refer back to the Revolution and help to convey the tone of depression. Just like the novel‘s opening lines writing.

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, and it was winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. (1)

Dickens goes on in that speech to list a whole bunch of other opposites. Right from the beginning there is good, there is evil, there is darkness, there is light. It is not suitable to talk about the French Revolution without talking about social justice, because that's what it's all about. It is can be said that Dickens‘s main purpose is to argue that injustice and deprivation irreparably damage the sufferers, transforming them into tyrants in their turn. In preparing to write his novel, Dickens went to historical sources that would inform him about the conditions under which the French working class lived in the years preceding the Revolution and also the attitudes of the ruling classes at that time. In accounts of the Revolution, the depiction of the Revolutionaries varied according to the point of view of the writer, so Dickens use his humanism perspectives seeing those sympathetic to their cause usually found their violent methods inexcusable. Dickens obviously has no love for the French aristocracy; he does not characterize them in a nice light - they are rapists and murderers essentially. After the overthrow of the Bastille, optimism that democracy was going to triumph gave way to fear and revulsion with the Reign of Terror and

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September Massacres. This shift sympathy is evident in Dickens’s also. 6 Dickens is a reformist, reformist politics inevitably leads to the thought of humanism, and the essence of humanism is to respect people, treat people as people. This is love. And love is the highest level of love. In a tale of two cities, like Sydney Carton, Dr. Manette, Lucie Manette and Miss Pross, they show love is sacrifice. Sacrifice oneself to protect others and never require. The main idea of this novel is sacrificing oneself for love. The core of the human spirit is love, and literature bears human spirit awakening and carrying forward, and Dickens is a love of the preacher. Therefore he creates many characters to represent his belief.

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Conclusion

Charles Dickens‘s monumental masterpiece A tale of Two Cities tells a story full of love, hate, enmity and passion. The author wants to show his thought that blood can not wash off hatred and it can not be a substitution of love. Carton‘s selflessness, Lucie‘s kind, Dr Manette‘s mercy, Darnay‘s upright, Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross‘s warm heart have touched the hearts of one generation and another. For hundreds of years, Dickens and his work as the dew of love nourishes people's emotions, cultivate and improve people's spiritual realm.

Sydney Carton proves the most dynamic character in A Tale of Two Cities. He first appears as a lazy, alcoholic attorney who can not muster even the smallest amount of interest in his own life. His life is a tragedy; his career is a tragedy and his love is his tragedy flaw. But the reader senses, even in the initial chapters of the novel, that Carton in fact feels something that he perhaps can not articulate. His act is a heroic deed or a foolish one can be debated, or perhaps Carton can be a hero and fool. His life is short, but meaningful. As Carton goes to the guillotine, Dickens writes that he envisions a beautiful, idyllic Paris ―rising from the abyss‖ and sees ―the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.‖ Just as the apocalyptic violence of the revolution precedes a new society‘s birth, perhaps it is only in the sacrifice of his life that Carton can establish his life‘s great worth. Sydney Carton‘s death secures a new, peaceful life for Lucie Manette, Charles Darnay, and even Carton himself. It can be said that Carton died for love also for himself salvation. By delivering himself to the guillotine, Carton ascends to the plane of heroism, becoming a Christ-like figure whose death serves to save the lives of others. His own life thus gains meaning and value. Sydney Carton, the tragic hero, his tragedy is a really beautiful tale. Just like, the child will lift the innocent and sad face to ask, ―Mr. Dickens died, and Santa Claus will die?‖ Moreover, the final pages of the novel suggest that, like Christ, Carton will be resurrected—Carton is reborn in the hearts of those he has died to save. Similarly, the

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text implies that the death of the old regime in France prepares the way for the beautiful and renewed Paris that Carton supposedly envisions from the guillotine.

Carton has died. Dickens has died. They all died with ideality and faith. But their spirit will leave the world forever. Perhaps because of this point, people are more willing to ponder the meaning of death.

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Notes:

1. Philip Collins, Dickens: The Critical Heritage (London: Routledge, 1971) 422. 2. Barbara Hardy, British Writers (London: British Council, 1982) 41.

3. Karis Marie Kalil, On Dickens’ a tale of two cities (New York: Wiley Publishing

Inc, 2000) 98.

4. Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (Qingdao: Qingdao Press, 2005) 142 (All

the quotations in this thesis refer to this book unless otherwise stated) . 5. Roy Porter, The Enlightenment (New York: Wiley Publishing Inc, 2012) 30. 6. Ruth Glancy, Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities a sourcebook (New York:

Routledge, 2011) 32.

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Hardy, Barbara. British Writers. London: British Council, 1982.

Kalil, Karis Marie. On Dickens’ a tale of two cities. New York: Wiley Publishing Inc, 2000.

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