Dynamic Characters in a Tale of Two Cities

Dynamic Characters in A Tale of Two Cities

. Charles Dickens is an influential writer in his time. Charles Dickens is born on February 7, 1812 in England. Many of the books he writes are classics. One of the his classics is A Tale of Two Cities. A Tale of Two Cities is about a group of people who get stuck in France at the time of the revolution and only a very dear friend saves them from living lives of sadness. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses dynamic characters that change drastically from the beginning to the end of he book.

One example of a dynamic character is Sydney Carton. He is one of the "idlest and most unpromising of men" (83). Dickens also describes Carton as "a problem or carelessness and recklessness" (200). Carton is unpromising and reckless because the other characters in the book see him as a man who drinks too much and can't take care of himself. While sitting in Mr. Lorry's office with John Barsad and Jerry Cruncher "Sydney Carton fill[s] another glass with brandy, pour[s] it slowly upon the hearth, and watche[s] it as it drop[s]" (296). Sydney Carton spills the brandy to signify that he won't be a drunken man any more. Carton also changes in the aspect that he feels love towards Lucie. After Darnay's first trial in England Carton treats Darnay to dinner at a local tavern. During their conversation Darnay's love, Lucie, is mentioned. Carton feels no love towards Lucie at that time. He says, "I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me" (82). Soon after Sydney Carton finds himself falling in love with Lucie Manette. Carton says, "[F]or you and any dear to you I would do anything . . . . I would embrace any sacrifice for you and those dear to you . . . . think now and then that there is a man who would give his life to keep a life you love beside you!" (147 - 148). Sydney Carton obviously changes his opinion on loving and caring. Sydney Carton is an example of a main character that is dynamic in A Tale of Two Cities.

Dr. Manette is a second example of a dynamic character in A Tale of Two Cities. When Lucie, Mr. Lorry, and Monsieur Defarge meet Dr. Manette for the first time after his imprisonment, Dr. Manette is so weak that his voice "[is] like the last feeble echo of a sound made long and long ago" (38). Dr. Manette has a "haggard, faded surface of face" (187) from being in a prison cell for so long. Dr. Manette's features make him appear as an old man in the worst possible mental state. Over time and with love from his daughter, Lucie, Dr. Manette's mental state improves greatly from the time that he met his daughter. When he is reminded of his eighteen years in prison he relapses. During his relapses he cobbles. Cobbling is a profession he learned in prison and only practices when he is depressed; "[H]is shirt was open at the throat as it use to be when he did that work [cobbling in prison]; even the old, haggard face ha[s] come back to him. He work[s] hard - impatiently - as if in some sense of being interrupted" (187). Dr. Manette has been interrupted because he hasn't cobbled in a long tine. His mental state is changing for the better because he is cared for by the people he loves most. Near the end of the book Dr. Manette is trying to save Charles Darnay. At this point in time, Dr.

Manette thinks little about his time in prison and the worst eighteen years of his life. The "Doctor walk[s] with a steady head: confident in his power, cautiously persistent in his end, never doubting" himself (266). Dr. Manette was a dynamic character because he changes from a man who doesn't know his own name to a very confident