Quote 4
I am like one who died young. All my life might have been. (2.13.17)
Why is Sydney Carton so sure that he can never deserve Lucie? Perhaps this quote offers an explanation: he’s convinced that his lower-class background makes him unfit for the life that he is capable of leading. He sees himself as one who died when his parents did. He’s never been able to believe in his own ability to transcend the circumstances of his youth.
Quote 5
"In short," said Sydney, "this is a desperate time, when desperate games are played for desperate stakes." (3.8.73)
As the new Republic quickly descends into chaos, Sydney’s back-door dealings become the only way to change the political situation of the time.
Quote 6
"I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out." (3.15.46)
Sydney’s last thoughts become a vision of more than just new life for Lucie and her family: they offer up home for a new political future for France, as well.