Is Sydney Carton static or developing in A Tale of Two Cities?

I asked the same questions to my students when studying
this book, and they decided that Sydney Carton was definitely a developing character in
this novel. Of course, in a sense, he is the hero or one of the main protagonists of
this great work of literature. Key to realise and focus on is how he is transformed by
his love for Lucy, even though he knows that his love is
hopeless.

Let us focus on how Sydney Carton is presented at
first. As the "jackal" to Stryver's "lion," he is shown to do all the hard work without
receiving any of the credit. Although he is a man of talent, it is clear he chooses not
to apply himself as he needs to to get on in life. Note how he is described at the end
of Chapter 5:

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Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it rose upon no
sadder sight than the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their
directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensible of the
blight on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him
away.

This clearly presents a
very sad picture of Sydney Carton. Likewise at the end of Chapter 4, Sydney Carton
berates himself in the mirror after his talk with Darnay, saying, "A good reason for
taking to a man, that he shows you what you have fallen away from, and what you might
have been!" Therefore Sydney Carton seems to be well aware of the kind of man he could
have been, but for whatever reason, is unable to
be.

However, when Sydney reveals his heart to Lucie, in the
chapter ironically entitled, "The Fellow of No Delicacy," he shows how Lucie's presence
in his life has given him hope, but that he has rejected that hope as a
"dream":

"I
wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul. In my degradation I have
not been so degraded but that the sight of you with your father, and of this home made
such a home by you, has stirred old shadows that I thought had died out of me. Since I
knew you, I have been troubled by a remorse that I thought would never reproach me
again, and have heard whispers from old voices impelling me upward, that I thought were
silent for ever. I have had unformed ideas of striving afresh, beginning anew, shaking
off sloth and sensuality, and fighting out the abandoned fight. A dream, all a dream,
that ends in nothing, and leaves the sleeper where he lay down, but I wish you to know
that you inspired
it."

Clearly the role of
Lucie in Sydney's life is incredibly important in provoking that change that he seems to
find so unlikely and impossible. And change he does, for, as we know, this man that
describes himself as being full of "sloth and sensuality" goads himself into action to
bring happiness to Lucie by sacrificing himself. Ironically, in his death, Sydney Carton
finally finds the peace and wholeness that eluded him in life. Note how the bystanders
described him as having the "peacefullest man's face ever beheld there." Others
described him as "sublime" and "prophetic." The unforgettable and moving ending of this
novel shows how one man is able to resurrect himself (a key theme in this novel) through
sacrificing himself to death, showing that Sydney Carton is undoubtedly a dynamic
character that develops as the novel advances.