The tragic hero in Charles Dickens novel The Tale of Two Cities is Sydney Carton. It is necessary for all tragic heroes to be accompanied by a tragic flaw. Sydney Carton's tragic flaw is love. Ultimately the tragic flaw leads to the downfall of the character. Carton's clouded state of mind places him in a situation where his life is lost. This tragic flaw led to death or tragedy thus making Sydney Carton the tragic hero.
             Love is Sydney's tragic flaw. Sydney devotes his heart and soul to Lucie Manette while she possesses similar feelings for Charles Darnay, and not Sydney. Sydney accepts this rejection but still he pursues the goal of making Lucie happy. He is willing to die for her happiness and he does. This leads to Sydney Carton's tragic flaw.
             Another element that plays a significant role in Sydney's destruction is alcohol. Sydney enjoys getting befuddled by himself. Depression is clearly evident in Sydney due to the abundance of alcohol in his body throughout the novel. This catalyzes his actions that make him a tragic hero.
             A tragic hero must break a divine law or moral precept in order for the actions to be heroic. The similarities in Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton are great. The two are seemingly identical. Sydney drugs Charles who is in jail waiting to be sent to the guillotine. Sydney switches places with Charles in jail and chooses suicide as his final destiny.
             The strength of love is immeasurable. It possesses the power to drive people to attempt insane acts. This is evident in Sydney Carton as love is his tragic flaw. This is the flaw that leads him to be the tragic hero he was known as.
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