Love, in the form of great sacrifice, is more powerful than hate in A Tale of Two Cities. For example, Sydney Carton's great love for Lucie makes him sacrifice his own life to save her. Carton has always been a drunk wastrel, but Lucie's belief in him inspires him to the greatest sacrifice he can make for her. She says to him, "I am sure that you might be much, much worthier of yourself." By stepping in for Charles Darnay and volunteering to be executed, Carton becomes a Christ-like figure. At his execution, "They said of him, about the city that night, that it was the peacefullest man's face ever beheld there." In dedicating himself to love, he has found redemption and peace in a way he never did in life. On the other hand, characters who dedicate their lives to hate, such as Madame Defarge, meet with bitter ends. As Madame Defarge tries to kill Lucie, she is instead killed with her own gun. The symbolic meaning of this episode is that hate only hurts those who wish it upon others. Love is the more transformative force in the novel.
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