Plot Summary
Book 2, Chapter 5 of A Tale of Two Cities by opens with a portrait of the legal profession's heavy drinking culture in late-eighteenth-century London. Mr. Stryver, a bold and ambitious barrister, has been rapidly climbing the ranks at the Old Bailey and the Court of King's Bench. Though glib and aggressive, Stryver lacks the analytical ability to distill complex legal arguments—until his association with Sydney Carton mysteriously sharpens his courtroom performances.
Dickens reveals that Carton, described as the "idlest and most unpromising of men," serves as Stryver's secret intellectual engine. While Stryver plays the lion—commanding the courtroom and taking public credit—Carton operates as the jackal, doing the painstaking behind-the-scenes legal research that makes Stryver's victories possible. Their nightly routine is depicted in vivid detail: Carton arrives at Stryver's chambers at ten o'clock, wraps his head in wet towels to stay alert, and works through piles of legal briefs while both men drink heavily until three in the morning.
After their work is finished, the two men share punch and conversation. Stryver reminisces about their school days at Shrewsbury, noting that Carton was always doing others' work instead of his own. Carton acknowledges this pattern with weary self-awareness, admitting that Stryver's relentless ambition left him no role but "rust and repose." When Stryver proposes a toast to Lucie Manette, calling her a "pretty witness," Carton dismisses her as a "golden-haired doll"—though Stryver suspects his friend's indifference is a mask for deeper feelings.
The chapter ends on a note of profound melancholy. As Carton walks home through cold, grey streets at dawn, he briefly glimpses a vision of the purposeful, honourable life he might have led—only for it to vanish like a mirage. He collapses on his bed, weeping into his pillow. Dickens closes with one of the novel's most poignant passages, lamenting "the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness."
Analysis
This chapter is essential for understanding Sydney Carton's character arc, which drives the novel's climax. The lion-and-jackal metaphor establishes the parasitic professional relationship between Stryver and Carton, underscoring the bitter irony that the more talented man receives none of the recognition. Carton's self-destructive drinking, his emotional numbness, and his fleeting vision of a better life all foreshadow his eventual redemptive sacrifice. The title itself—"The Jackal"—carries a double meaning: the scavenger who feeds on others' kills, and the legal assistant who does the unglamorous preparatory work. By ending with Carton's tears, Dickens signals that beneath his cynical exterior lies a man deeply aware of his own wasted potential.