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

revolutionary); the older Marquis sticks to the old, wicked ways.

The resemblance between Darnay and Sydney Carton is so marked that it
saves Darnay's life at two critical junctures. As we've seen, the
two men are doubles. For many readers, they form halves of a whole
personality. Darnay is sunny and hopeful, representing the chance
for happiness in life; Carton is depressed and despairing. Both
characters compete for Lucie Manette, and both enact the novel's
all-important theme of resurrection. If we think of Darnay, saved
twice by Carton's intervention, as the resurrectee, then Carton
becomes the resurrector. (As you'll recall, Carton in fact dies
imagining himself "the Resurrection and the Life.")

Many readers have noted that "Charles Dickens" and "Charles Darnay"
are similar names, and they view Darnay as the bright,
forward-looking side of Dickens, the hero. Though he undergoes trial
and imprisonment, Darnay ultimately gets the girl and leads a long,
blissful life. He has a pronounced capacity for domestic happiness,
something Dickens yearned for.

There's also been debate over whether Darnay is a fully realized
character or just a handsome puppet. You'll have to reach your own
conclusions about Darnay, of course. In doing so, take into account
that Dickens intended his plot to define character, and was working
in a limited space--A Tale of Two Cities is one of his shortest
novels.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES: DR. ALEXANDRE MANETTE

Dr. Manette's release from the Bastille after 18 years of solitary
confinement sounds the first note in the theme of resurrection, and
sets Dickens' plot in motion. The secret papers left in Manette's
cell lead directly to A Tale's climax, Charles Darnay's sentence to
die.

Does the doctor seem believable, a man of psychological depth? To
support a yes answer, look at Dickens' rendering of a white-haired
man, just released from his living tomb, whose face reflects "scared,
blank wonder." As the story continues, Dr. Manette's spells of
amnesia feel authentic. Doesn't it seem natural that Dr. Manette
returns to shoemaking--the task that preserved his sanity in the
Bastille--whenever he's reminded of that dark period of his life?

Less believable for some readers is the journal Dr. Manette composes
in blood and haste, and hides in his cell. These readers find the
doctor's journal long and melodramatic, and point to the dying
peasant boy, gasping a vengeful monologue, as an instance of realism
being sacrificed to drama.

From the point of view of the French Revolutionaries, Dr. Manette is