St. Evrémonde have been punished for his crime? And if it had been the other way around, would things have been dealt with differently? Darnay goes to England and asks Manette’s permission to marry Lucie. Carton is also in love with her, but knows it is not requited on her side. He shows he really does love her, despite his obvious inner hurt, by not being bitter or cruel to her or Darnay, and tells Lucie that he will “embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you.” Before their honeymoon, Darnay reveals to Manette who he is, and his real name. Manette goes back to his shoe-making after hearing the news, but by the time Darnay and Lucie return from their honeymoon, they have both decided to keep it all a secret from Lucie. Lorry and Pross destroy Manette’s shoe-making bench and tools, which seems to indicate a fresh new start. Soon Darnay and Lucie have a family. Their son dies in childhood, and they have a daughter called after her mother. Meanwhile, over in France, on July 1789, the Defarges have been leaders in the storming of the Bastille, and Monsieur Defarge searches Manette’s former cell. Local officials and representatives of the aristocrary have been killed, and St. Evrémonde’s chateau
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has been burned to cinders. Dickens raises the question again of whether violence is the answer, and whether the acts are of revenge or of desperation for a better, fairer society. And also the question of whether it is for equality and recognition for wrongs done that is being sought, or if it is power. In the midst of this, Darnay sees a letter by Gabelle, a servant of his uncle, who is in prison, and is pleading with the Marquis to help free him. Darnay goes to Paris. Soon he is found out and put into La Force Prison. Manette, Lucie, little Lucie, Cruncher, and Pross go to Paris to meet Lorry. They attempt to free Darnay. A year and three months pass before he is tried. Manette testifies, and Darnay is released. However, later that day Darnay is arrested once more, and a new trial begins under new charges by the Defarges and Manette, whose written account of his imprisonment under Darnay’s father was found in his cell by Monsieur Defarge. This time is third time unlucky for Darnay, who is sent to Conciergerie (a former royal palace turned prison) and sentenced to be guillotined the next day. Carton begins investigating, and goes to the Defarges’ wine shop. He overhears
Madame Defarge speaking about how she wants Lucie and their daughter also condemned, and realises that she is the sister of the peasant family savaged by the Evrémondes. She clearly wants to destroy everyone in their family, like they have in hers. In response, Carton goes to visit Darnay, swaps clothes with him and drugs him so’s he is unconscious. Manette and Lucie bring Darnay back to London, while Carton sacrifices his life to save Darnay’s for Lucie’s sake. Madame Defarge is killed in a struggle with Pross, when she tries to kill Manette and Lucie with a pistol. Carton’s death is very reminiscent of Christ’s death on the cross - the whole one man/one huge sacrifice for others and for the betterment of the world. His humility and acceptance is also very like Christ’s attitude to his death. The way he protects and reassures the seamstress before their deaths, seems to mirror the way Jesus reassured the thief on the cross before their deaths. He assures her that they are both going to a better world. The comparison is very interesting and quite creative. “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”