In A Tale of Two Cities, there are multiple topics portrayed, which have a lot of depth in them. Without these themes, this story wouldn’t have been so emotional, and it wouldn’t have been one of the best classics in English literature. The two essential themes shown in this novel are the necessity of sacrifice to achieve happiness, and revenge.
First off, the necessity of sacrifice to achieve happiness made by Sydney Carton is the most melancholy event that happened in the novel. Since he was a drinker, he always abused himself and knew that he didn’t have a purpose in life. Carton didn’t have much self-esteem and thought that he could never change his mistakes back, and had the belief that he was a useless person that happened to have a life on Earth. Some ways that he demeaned himself are even though he loved Lucie, he felt quite unworthy of her and instead of proposing to her, confessed that he was undeserving of her and that since they probably won’t be together, Carton told Lucie that he will sacrifice his life for a man that loves her, which foreshadows the conflict that happens later in the story. The sacrifice that Sydney Carton made was similar to Lord Jim, where Lord Jim redeemed himself from his sins. Sydney Carton didn’t have any sins but gained a good reputation and without his sacrifice, people would’ve called him a loser.
Likewise, Charles Darnay sacrificed his family wealth to live a happy life without having to rule France because of his ancestors’ tyrannical background. It was a very smart choice, for if he didn’t escape so early in the story, he would’ve been executed if it weren’t for Sydney Carton and the Manette family. Darnay is a very fortunate and unfortunate man in the novel. He was born in a corrupt family, saved himself by going to England, putting himself into danger again by going back to France, and then escaping one more time back to England. The only problem is if the revolutionists later find out that Darnay is still alive, what would happen to him because Sydney Carton is already dead and no one else is as willing to sacrifice their life for Darnay? (Also, no one looks like Darnay except Sydney Carton.) This is very possible since Foulon and Roger Cly were later found alive.
Moving on, Madame Defarge represents revenge. If it weren’t for her, violence wouldn’t have erupted so quickly in Paris. She thinks she is so powerful and that she can beat everyone, and luckily she was killed by Mrs. Pross when they were fighting over her gun. The ironic part is that she was killed by her want of revenge because her intention caused her to bring the gun, which ended up killing herself instead of Lucie Manette and her family. In the story, I can understand why she wanted to kill the aristocrats since her whole family was killed by them. But, those were two brothers doing those crimes and she thought that she, one person could do even more crimes than them (which she did). Madame Defarge was a very ridiculous woman, having the motivation to murder everyone related to the Evremondes, including Lucie Manette and her children, which were Dr. Manette’s family, and Madame Defarge’s husband used to be loyal to Dr. Manette, for Defarge was his servant.
In conclusion, A Tale of Two Cities is a very heartwarming book, because of the sacrifices it tells from the perspective of two cities during the French Revolution, which was very bloody and harsh. Even though the revolutionists had some reason to fight back, they went a little too tough on the aristocracy and their descendants, some who didn’t do anything but were unfortunately born into the royal crown.
Comments