Darnay’s Demise Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities during a time of brewing public resentment in his country of Britain to warn the people of the danger and consequences of a social revolution. Using the French Revolution as his example, he wrote a tragic love story which ended with the death of Sydney Carton, who took the place of Charles Darnay, to bring happiness to his love, Lucie Manette. Charles Darnay had been wrongfully imprisoned by the Third Estate, who wanted all upperclassmen to be killed for the injustices they brought to them. Throughout the whole book, Dickens uses wrongful imprisonment to showcase to the people of Britain how dreadful a revolution can be, which is why Darnay should have been executed instead of Carton.