Charles Darnay

Charles Darnay, or Charles St. Evrémonde, is a fictional character in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Overview

A French aristocrat by birth, Darnay chooses to live in England because he cannot bear to be associated with the cruel injustices of the French social system. Darnay displays great virtue in his rejection of the snobbish and cruel values of his uncle, the Marquis Evrémonde. He exhibits an admirable honesty in his decision to reveal to Dr. Alexandre Manette his true identity as a member of the infamous Evrémonde family. So, too, does he prove his courage in his decision to return to Paris at great personal risk to save the imprisoned Gabelle. 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 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 wife Lucie during the trial. At the end of the final book, Darnay is supposed to be executed, but Carton nobly chooses to take Darnay's place.

Sydney Carton is an insolent, indifferent, and alcoholic attorney who works with Stryver. Carton has no real prospects in life and doesn’t seem to be in pursuit of any. He does, however, love Lucie, and his feelings for her eventually transform him into a man of profound merit. At first the polar opposite of Darnay, in the end Carton morally surpasses the man to whom he bears a striking physical resemblance.

Sydney Carton proves the most dynamic character in A Tale of Two Cities. He first appears as a lazy, alcoholic attorney who cannot muster even the smallest amount of interest in his own life. He describes his existence as a supreme waste of life and takes every opportunity to declare that he cares for nothing and no one. But the reader senses, even in the initial chapters of the novel, that Carton in fact feels something that he perhaps cannot articulate. 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. Eventually, Carton reaches a point where he can admit his feelings to Lucie herself. Before Lucie weds Darnay, Carton professes his love to her, though he still persists in seeing himself as essentially worthless. This scene marks a vital transition for Carton and lays the foundation for the supreme sacrifice that he makes at the novel’s end.

Character analysis

A man of honor and courage, Darnay conforms to the archetype of the hero but never exhibits the kind of inner struggle that Carton and Dr. Alexandre Manette undergo. His opposition to the Marquis’s snobbish and cruel aristocratic values is admirable.

In the book, Darnay is described as a tall, thin man, with distinct facial features.

Cinematic and theatrical portrayals

In the 2008 Broadway musical/play adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Darnay is played by Aaron Lazar.

External links

• "Cliffnotes" article on Charles Darnay
• SparkNotes: A Tale of Two Cities: Character List