Love+and+Sacrifice

1) Perhaps the most vital scene of love and sacrifice is on p.380-382. In these pages, we see Carton taking the fall for Darnay, utilizing the fact that he's physically similar to Darnay. In the near beginning of this novel, Carton admits his love for Lucie, saying that she changed his life. He even admits that he will die for her well being and happiness. He keeps this promise, knowing that Lucie would have been devastated to lose her husband, Carton shows the ultimate sacrifice: by posing as Darnay, and getting executed for the sake of Lucie,saying that it "is a far, far better thing that I did, than I has ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known." (382)

2) Darnay himself is a portrayal of love and sacrifice. His whole life was basically him sacrificing his innate opulence in order to live a life in which no one is subservient to him. His "love" for humane treatment for the poor caused him to live his life under Darnay, and not Evremonde. "His latent uneasiness had been, that bad aims were being worked out in his own unhappy land by bad instruments, and that he who could not fail to know that he was better than they, was not there, trying to do something to stay bloodshed, and assert the claims of mercy and humanity." (not sure where I found this quote)

3) Darnay again exhibits love and sacrifice when he goes to worn-torn France in order to save Gabelle, the man keeping the marquis' palace. In order to testify for this man, Darnay must travel from the safety of London to the absolute chaos of Paris. This is a huge risk on his part, seeing as he's of royal blood. The peasants were killing off all aristocrats, so it was basically suicide to Darnay. But, Darnay couldn't let his former servants wrongfully die, so he is willing to sacrifice himself for him. "... he sat up late, and wrote two fervent letters; one was to Lucie, explaining the strong obligation he was under to go to Paris [to save Gambelle]."(246)

4) The revolution as a whole is connected to this theme. It's a revolution, with a cause, that many people who participate would die for. The insurgents are, what they think, soldiers of freedom and equality, trying to free themselves from the shackles of the aristocracy. Their love for their goal persuades them to sacrifice their lives for the greater cause. "...a line of twenty men long... hurried out with cries of- "Live the Bastille prisoner!" (268)- the revolutionaries are intent on risking their lives to assist Manette.

5) In the chapter the Grindstone, Dr. Manette shows his love and willingness to sacrifice when he leads a pack of rebels to la Force, the prison in which Darnay is kept in. Obviously, Manette is risking his life to take over the prison in order to primarily free Darnay, but to also keep Lucie from suffering. His intense love for Lucie's happiness overcomes any rational thought, and although he realized what might be his death, he selflessly rallies up the growing mob outside of Tellson's Bank, and charges to the prison . "Live the Bastille prisoner!... Save the prisoner Evremonde at La Force!" -the persuaded revolutionaries. (268)