"Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dickens Charles)

with the forces of light. The force of dark seems to come from
Lucie's opposite in most respects, the brunette Madame Defarge.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES: SYDNEY CARTON

Sydney Carton dies on the guillotine to spare Charles Darnay. How
you interpret Carton's sacrifice--positively or negatively--will
affect your judgment of his character, and of Dickens' entire work.

Some readers take the positive view that Carton's act is a triumph of
individual love over the mob hatred of the Revolution. Carton and
the seamstress he comforts meet their deaths with great dignity. In
fulfilling his old promise to Lucie, Carton attains peace; those
watching see "the peacefullest man's face ever beheld" at the
guillotine. In a prophetic vision, the former "jackal" glimpses a
better world rising out of the ashes of revolution, and long life for
Lucie and her family--made possible by his sacrifice.

This argument also links Carton's death with Christian sacrifice and
love. When Carton makes his decision to die, the New Testament verse
beginning "I am the Resurrection and the Life" nearly becomes his
theme song. The words are repeated a last time at the moment Carton
dies. In what sense may we see Carton's dying in Darnay's place as
Christ-like? It wipes away his sin, just as Christ's death washed
clean man's accumulated sins.

For readers who choose the negative view, Carton's death seems an act
of giving up. These readers point out that Stryver's jackal has
little to lose. Never useful or happy, Carton has already succumbed
to the depression eating away at him. In the midst of a promising
youth, Carton had "followed his father to the grave"--that is, he's
already dead in spirit. For such a man, physical death would seem no
sacrifice, but a welcome relief.

Some readers even go so far as to claim that Carton's happy vision of
the future at the novel's close is out of place with his overall
gloominess. According to this interpretation, the bright prophecies
of better times ahead are basically Dickens' way of copping out, of
pleasing his audience with a hopeful ending.

If Sydney Carton's motives seem complicated to you, try stepping back
and viewing him as a man, rather than an influence on the story.
He's a complex, realistic character. We see him so clearly, working
early morning hours on Stryver's business, padding between table and
punch bowl in his headdress of sopping towels, that we're able to
feel for him. Have you ever known someone who's thrown away his
talent or potential, yet retains a spark of achievement, as well as
people's sympathy? That's one way of looking at Sydney Carton.

Dickens adds an extra dimension to Carton's portrait by giving him a