Matthew Rosenthal A Tale of Two Cities Oscar Wilde once said, “The good end

happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.” In other terms, this
quote means that people who have kind hearts have a happy life and those who do
evil thing have an unhappy life (as well as ends that fit those lives). Virtuous
actions reward those who embrace them, while those who are cruel face the adverse
fate. This quote stands true for A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, as both
the good and bad characters meet ends justified by their actions. Those two
characters are Sydney Carton and Madame Defarge, both are people who are willing to
die for a cause, but the lives they have lead constituted their completely
different deaths. The character, Sydney Carton, leads an honorable life and dies
honorably as well. In the first part of the book, Carton was somewhat of a drag:
excessive alcohol drinking, rude behavior, and a generally depressed appearance
were all key characteristics that defined him. However, Carton changed for the
better after confronting Lucie about his love for her. What was created: a new
Carton who was ready to lead a much more noble lifestyle. His first change was when
he stops being an alcoholic, which shows his great determination to be a better
man, and is supported by this statement, “Sydney Carton filled another glass with
brandy, poured it slowly out upon the hearth, and watched it as it dropped” (315).
Carton’s personality had changed as well. Rather than the old- “rude Sydney
Carton”, he had changed into a much gentler man; he even walked Mr. Lorry out when
he was done speaking to him about his plans one night. Carton’s most noble deed was
the sacrifice of his own life to save Darnay, Lucie, and
her daughter from the evil revolutionaries. What makes Carton so special is the
fact that he died for a noble cause that he strongly believed in, the book even
goes to show how unafraid he was of death in these lines, “Sounds he was not afraid
of, for he divined their meaning, then began to be audible” (364). Although Carton
was beheaded, his peaceful ending was justified because he had changed his own
personality to become a better person and to act selflessly to save others. He did
meet a happy end, as he fulfilled his main wish, which was to protect Lucie. The
novel makes a specific point about his own peacefulness after he was beheaded:
“They said of him, about the city that night, that it was the peacefullest man’s
face ever beheld there” (385). Contrary to Sydney Carton, Madame Defarge led a
dishonorable life and for that reason, received an “unhappy” ending. Even from
previous parts of the book, Madame Defarge always seemed to be scheming; with her
ever-watchful eye and her evil knitting. In fact, we found out that Madame Defarge
was knitting a registry of names of those who she wanted dead before the
Guillotine! One action that was really cold hearted was when Madame Defarge pointed
her knitting needle at little Lucie. “Stopping in her work for the first time, and
pointing her knitting needle at little Lucie as if it were the finger of Fate”
(276). Madame Defarge had no sympathy, even for sweet Lucie and her innocent
daughter. Madame even coldly rejected Lucie’s plea to spare Darnay. Madame
Defarge’s most evil intention was to watch Darnay die by the Guillotine. However,
she doe not get to see is as she meets her end in a fight with Miss Pross. As a
result of Madame Defarge’s mean spirit and cruel intentions, she dies unhappily,
and her wishes remain unfulfilled to her.
The characterization of Madame Defarge and Sydney Carton has a direct effect on a
major theme of the novel: sacrifice. Both characters, Madame Defarge and Sydney
Carton lost their lives in the end, but it is what we have learned about these
characters that allow us to see this in conjunction with the quote, “The good end
happily, the bad unhappily.” As we have seen with Carton, many sacrifices were made
in order for him to have his fulfilling end. The main sacrifices were alcohol and
his own life. However, he sacrifices these things in order for himself to be happy
as well as to allow Lucie to continue living happily. In the end, Carton is
compared to Jesus, sacrificing himself for others, when he says, “I am the
Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die”
(385). His reasons for dying were of a noble cause, contradictory to those that
drove Madame Defarge. She died in the name of murder, which is not such a great
thing. She came to Miss Pross with a gun and a knife with all intentions of killing
Lucie and her little daughter. The theme of sacrifice is important because it shows
the selflessness of certain characters. Carton selflessly sacrificed his life for
Lucie, which is why he died happily. Madame Defarge made no sacrifices and even so,
her intentions were pure evil, which is why she had an “unfulfilling” death.