AS SEEN ON TV: SIDNEY CARTON & CHARLES DARNAY

SIDNEY CARTON & CHARLES DARNAY

AS SEEN IN:

"A Tale Of Two Cities"

CREATED BY:

Charles Dickens

PORTRAYED BY:

Chris Sarandon

TV STATUS:

Recastaway

TV LOCATION:

Alternate Dimension TBD

From Wikipedia:

SIDNEY CARTON

Sydney Carton is introduced into the novel "A Tale of Two Cities" as a young, very sloppy but brilliant lawyer who bears an uncanny likeness to Charles Darnay, the prisoner he is defending. He uses his great skill to save Darnay from death, passing his case to his colleague Stryver, who takes all the glory for saving Darnay. It is then revealed that Carton has a deep hatred for Darnay, as he sees him as everything he should be but is not.

CHARLES DARNAY

Charles Darnay, or Charles St. Evrémonde, is a wealthy gentleman who spends time in both France and England during the time of the story. However, he resents how the lower classes are extorted and kept in extreme poverty by the upper class. Darney specifically goes against his uncle, Marquis St. Evrèmonde, who has no respect for the people in poverty.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

[Darnay] is put on trial for treason against the Kingdom of Great Britain, but he is acquitted on a point noticed by Sydney Carton. Carton also falls in love with Darnay's future wife Lucie during the trial.

Carton is called a "jackal" because it appears that, while Mr. Stryver very deftly presents each case, it is Carton's legal acumen that helps win them, though Stryver gets all the credit—a reference to how the jackals help the lions with the kill, while the lions take all the glory. It is also seen that Carton is an alcoholic who faces a great lack of self-confidence. He develops an unrequited love for Lucie Manette, which he tells her about. He says that he would do anything for her or for anybody that she loves.

When the revolutionaries are trying to find and kill the Marquis, Darnay realizes that his uncle has been murdered, making him the new Marquis.  Darnay returns to France, and is arrested for being an aristocrat (his original name is Charles Evrémonde).

At the end of the final book, Darnay is supposed to be executed, but Carton nobly chooses to take Darnay's place.

Before his execution by guillotine, Carton steps in and tricks Darnay into trading places with him, for Lucie and for the sake of their friendship. This is done with the help of John Barsad, an English spy working at one of the French prisons, after a conversation described as a "hand of cards". He experiences a conversion to Christianity afterwards, quoting John 11:25-26 to a young woman (known only as 'The Seamstress') who is executed before him:

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

Two for Tuesday!

BCnU!

PS:

For alls I know, I may have those two pictures reversed......