118 pages • 3 hours read
Charles DickensA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Darnay is to be executed at 3 o’clock the following day. As he waits in his cell, he tries to compose himself; he isn’t afraid of dying, but he is troubled by the thought of leaving his family. He writes a letter to his wife explaining that he didn’t know his family was behind her father’s imprisonment and urging her to remind Manette that he isn’t responsible for Darnay’s fate. After writing to Manette and Lorry as well, Darnay goes to bed, dreaming that he has reunited with his wife and child. The next day, he remains calm by counting off the hours until it’s time.
Shortly after 1 o’clock, Darnay hears footsteps, and Carton appears inside his cell. Carton claims that Lucie has sent him, and that Darnay must do exactly as she asks. He persuades Darnay to exchange boots with him, and to untie his hair; Darnay protests all of this, saying any escape is impossible, but Carton overrides him with “a strength, both of will and action, that appear[s] quite supernatural” (364). Finally, Carton asks Darnay to compose a letter he (Carton) will dictate: the letter reminds its recipient (Lucie) of a promise the writer (Carton) once made to her, and urges her not to feel “regret or grief” (365)that he has been able to keep that promise.
By Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty
Charles Dickens
Bleak House
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
Charles Dickens
Dombey and Son
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
Hard Times
Charles Dickens
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
Martin Chuzzlewit
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens
Our Mutual Friend
Charles Dickens
Pickwick Papers
Charles Dickens
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Charles Dickens
The Old Curiosity Shop
Charles Dickens
The Signal-Man
Charles Dickens