A Tale of Two Cities Characters
Every major character in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, with a portrait, who they are and the chapters they appear in.
Dr. ManetteMajor character · 29 chaptersA formerly imprisoned French physician whose trauma and recovery anchor his daughter and shape his efforts to save her husband.
Lucie ManetteMajor character · 29 chaptersDevoted daughter and wife whose compassion and constancy hold her family and friends together through personal and political crises.
Jarvis LorryMajor character · 27 chaptersA dependable senior banker at Tellson’s who arranges journeys and quietly protects the Manette family through civil upheaval.
Charles DarnayProtagonist · 25 chaptersA French-born gentleman who renounces his aristocratic name and seeks an honorable life in England, married to Lucie Manette.
Ernest DefargeMajor character · 16 chaptersParis wine‑shop keeper of Saint Antoine; organizer of the Jacques and husband of Madame Defarge, caught between loyalty and revolution.
Madame DefargeAntagonist · 16 chaptersCalm, implacable revolutionary who records and pursues vengeance for the oppressed through secret knitting.
Miss ProssMajor character · 15 chaptersLucie Manette’s fierce, plainspoken English companion and protector, devotedly called her “Ladybird.”
Sydney CartonProtagonist · 15 chaptersA brilliant but wasted English barrister whose cynicism and drinking hide a capacity for self-sacrifice and moral renewal.
Jerry CruncherMajor character · 14 chaptersA coarse Tellson’s Bank messenger who secretly works as a grave-robber and ferries news between London and Paris.
C. J. StryverMajor character · 11 chaptersAmbitious, boastful London barrister who takes credit, courts Lucie, and relies on Sydney Carton's unseen labor.
Marquis St. EvrémondeAntagonist · 11 chaptersA ruthless, aristocratic nobleman whose callousness and pride exemplify the Evrémonde tyranny that provokes revolutionary rage.
The VengeanceMajor character · 10 chaptersA furious, militant woman of Saint Antoine who is Madame Defarge’s most zealous lieutenant and instigator among the revolutionary women.
John BarsadAntagonist · 8 chaptersAn English professional informer and spy whose false testimony and furtive work further prosecutions and operate under a respectable guise.
GabelleMinor character · 7 chaptersA timid steward and postmaster of the Evrémonde estate whose imprisonment sparks Darnay’s return to France.- JJacques ThreeMinor character · 5 chaptersA member of the revolutionary club (one of the Jacques) who listens, plots, and supports the Defarges' vengeance.
- MMonseigneurMinor character · 5 chaptersAn idle, privileged aristocrat whose vanity and contempt exemplify the decadent ruling class.
Roger ClyMinor character · 5 chaptersAn English spy and paid informer whose dubious testimony and staged “death” reveal the murky world of informers.
The SeamstressMinor character · 4 chaptersA humble, condemned young prisoner who offers quiet companionship and faith at the novel's climax.
All chapter summaries ›Characters ›
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