Trial scenes play a very important role in the novel named A Tale of Two Cities. There are three trial scenes throughout this novel. The first trial scene takes place in England.
The first trial scene takes place at the Old Bailey, the well-known law court situated very close to Newdigate Prison in London. In the novel, we can see that a huge number of people gathered in the court to watch the trial. The people who gathered in the court are expecting that the prisoner will be found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed. Old Bailey court is one of the three major sites that give the reader a very good picture of the city of London. The writer says,
“A whole crowd of drunken ruffians gathers to see the "condemned" man sentenced to death.”
The above-mentioned quotation shows that there is not much difference between Londoners and Parisians. The court also represents the British government. It is sad to see that not too many laws are followed and not that much justice is served. To give further description of the court, we can mention the following lines,
“The court is nothing more that a hall of mirrors. In fact, it’s literally a hall of mirrors: they hang big mirrors in front of the accused so the folks in the audience can watch him squirm.”
The trial scene starts with Attorney General reading a statement concerning the charges of treason. In his statement, he has accused Charles Darnay of treasonable activities. He has also said that the accused deserves death as a punishment. Mr. Stryver is Darnay’s lawyer. He is talking in favor of his client and is trying to make the prosecutor’s main witnesses, John Barsad and Roger Cly, wrong. It is clear that Judge and Jury have already assumed Darnay as guilty.
Dickens gets a pretty clear idea about how cheap the court system is when Charles Darnay gets charged with treason. He has been mentioned guilty by everyone even before he goes to trial. As he has been assumed guilty by judge and jury, the lawyers are spending time listening to their own voices.
John Barsad is the first witness who has been examined by the prosecution. He has been described as a noble patriot by the prosecutor. He has provided evidence that showed that the accused Charles Darnay is involved in treacherous activities. Another witness is Roger Cly, who is the servant of Darnay. These two witnesses seem untrustworthy, but their testimony is believed. However, at the end of the trial scene in England, these two witnesses were shown just the opposite. Barsad was shown as one of the greatest scoundrels and traitors. He was a hired spy. The second prosecution witness Roger Cly was Barsad’s friend and partner, and that the whole evidence had been produced against the accused.
Mr. Jarvis Lorry, an employee of Tellson’s Bank in London, was another important witness of this trial. He was one of the passengers in the mail-coach while traveling from London to Dover. He was asked the question if he had seen the accused on a certain Friday night in November 1774 during his journey to Dover by the mail-coach. In answer to this question, he said that it was impossible for him to identify the accused because he and the other two passengers in the coach had been wrapped to their ears in their cloaks on account of the intense cold. He was again asked if he had seen the accused anywhere before now. He replied that he had seen him on the boat while returning from France in the same month and year.
Mr. Jarvis Lorry is not an important character in this novel. But in the first trial in England, he is considered to be one of the most important characters. He was present at the court as a representative of Tellson’s Bank of which Charles Darnay had been a client.
One of the most important characters of this trial scene is Charles Darnay. He is about twenty-five years old, good-looking, and dressed in black. He is the prisoner. He is on trial on a charge of treason against England. However, he has defended himself against the charge saying that he is not guilty.
He has been suspected of giving information about the British troops in the American War of Independence to the French who were the American’s allies.
This charge of treason has clearly shown the bitter relation between England and France. These two countries are arch enemies and till now they do not have a very good relation. Another important thing that we can find in this trial scene is that France was helping America in its independence war against England. For this reason, England suspected Darnay as a French spy.
There is a big reason behind this charge. Charles Darnay was a Frenchman and his frequent traveling from London to Paris may raise the question of his activity. Because of his frequent journey from London to Paris, the prosecutor might have suspected him of providing secret information to the French authorities.
Another two important characters who were present in the courtroom were Dr. Manette and his daughter, Miss Lucie Manette. They had been summoned by the court as witnesses against the accused. It should be mentioned here that both father and daughter were accompanied by Darnay when they were returning from France to England on the same ship. When Lucie was called to be examined, she told the court that she had seen the prisoner on the boat. She also told the court how she and her sick father were helped by him during their voyage. She also showed sympathy towards the prisoner.
The trial scene in England is also important for comic elements. Lucie told the court about the conversation between her and Darnay. Comic elements can be found in their conversation. When they were talking to each other during their voyage, Darnay jokingly made a remark that George Washington would someday be as famous as George III. No doubt, it made the readers laugh. However, this unintentional statement given by Lucie turned the court against Darnay. This statement also made the crowd angry. The crowd shouted with anger. However, Dr. Manette could not give any information about the accused as because of his illness he could not remember anything.
Sydney Carton, the assistant of the lawyer, has played a very important role in the trial scene. Due to his right decision at the right moment, the accused was acquitted from the charge of treason. Darnay is saved because of the intelligence of Sidney Carton. He is also an interesting character. Most of the time in the court, he was seen spending time looking at the ceiling of the court. He is the sacrificing hero of this novel.
When Mr. Stryver was in the middle of cross-examining another witness, Sydney Carton passed him a note. After reading the note, Stryver dramatically called attention to the resemblance between the accused and his assistant. This similarity caused great confusion for the witnesses. This confusion implied that the witness could have been mistaken about the identity of the man whom he had seen in the coffee-room of a hotel. The defense attorney, Mr. Stryver, stated that Darnay is an innocent victim whose confidential family affairs caused him to travel between Paris and London. The jury returns a verdict of Innocence to the judge. As the guilt against the accused had not been proved, he was acquitted.
The acquittal disappointed the crowd gathered in the court, but it came as a great relief not only to the accused and his counsel but also to Dr. Manette and his daughter, Lucie Manette. Charles Darnay’s well-wishers now gathered around him to congratulate him on his escape from death.
Surely, Charles Darnay got a new life. If he was proved guilty then he would have been sentenced to death. So, in the trial scene, we see him coming back to new life.
The readers were excited until they came to know what had happened to the fate of Darnay. When they saw that Darnay was acquitted from the charge of treason, they felt happy and relieved. People who gathered in the court were yelling for his blood. Dickens narrates the scene as ‘a cloud of great blue flies that you would find hovering over a dead body’.
Trial scene in England is important in many ways. In this scene, we can find most of the important characters of the novel. We can find the feelings of Lucie for Darnay. This young lady feels sympathetic for him. It can be said that the relationship between Lucie and Darnay started from there. We also can find the feelings of Sidney Carton for Lucie. Sidney felt love for Lucie though she got married to another man.
Two important male characters of this novel are Charles Darnay and Sidney Carton. They have very close resemblance in their looking, and due to their close resemblance, the witness has become somewhat confused and he got released from the charge. However, despite their similar appearance, they were different in their attitudes. Their opposite attitudes made them two different persons.
Charles Dickens writes about duality using the characters of Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay. Apart from their physical similarities, they have contrasting manners and habits. Carton is bad-mannered, unkempt and a heavy drinker, whereas Darnay is well-mannered, calm and a gentleman. Carton realizes that he could lead a decent life like Darnay, but because of his bad habits, he has lost the chance. Now, he has no hope of having a happy life with someone like Lucie. For this reason, Carton dislikes Darnay because Darnay reminds him of the life he has lost. Though Charles Darnay is the male protagonist of this novel, Sidney Carton catches the attention of the readers for his interesting character. He is just the opposite of Darnay who is almost boring.
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