John Barsad
Encyclopedia
Overview
Barsad is a turncoat English con-man and spy. In the pay of the Marquis St. EvremondeMarquis St. Evremonde
The Marquis St. Evrémonde is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.-Overview:The Marquis St. Evrémonde is Charles Darnay's uncle and is of the noble class in France. He is very cruel and is also slightly disliked by the other nobility. He runs over and kills the child of...
he initially frames the Marquis' nephew, Charles Darnay
Charles Darnay
Charles Darnay, or Charles St. Evrémonde, is a fictional character in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.-Overview:A French aristocrat by birth, Darnay chooses to live in England because he cannot bear to be associated with the cruel injustices of the French social system...
by planting evidence on him on a voyage across the English Channel to England. He unwittingly shows his hand to the lawyer Sydney Carton
Sydney Carton
Sydney Carton is the central character in the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. He is a shrewd young Englishman and sometime junior to his fellow barrister C.J. Stryver. In the novel, he is seen to be a drunkard, self-indulgent and self-pitying because of his wasted life...
drinking in a bar on the night before Darnay’s trial. Under examination, Carton tricks him into recanting his testimony. Roger Cly then flees England and fakes his own death which Jerry Cruncher
Jerry Cruncher
-Overview:Jerry Cruncher is employed as a porter for Tellson's Bank of London. He earns extra money as a 'resurrection man' removing bodies from their graves for sale to medical schools and students as cadavers. During the story, Jerry Cruncher accompanies Jarvis Lorry and Lucie Manette to Paris...
discovers when he attempts to 'resurrect' his body for medical research. Cruncher initially blames his wife's praying and thinks Roger Cly has been removed through spiritual means. When Carton discovers Barsad alive in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
much later (as Miss Pross' long-lost brother Solomon), enlists Barsad's aid by blackmailing him to get into the prison to rescue Charles Darnay
Charles Darnay
Charles Darnay, or Charles St. Evrémonde, is a fictional character in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.-Overview:A French aristocrat by birth, Darnay chooses to live in England because he cannot bear to be associated with the cruel injustices of the French social system...
by changing places with him leading to Carton's eventual execution by guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
. Barsad then brings Darnay out of the prison and back to his family. He is genuinely dumbfounded by Carton’s sacrifice - though not enough to change his own ways. In the final prophetic chapter, Barsad, along with many others, is revealed to die by the guillotine sometime in the future.
Analysis
Barsad is described in Book 2, Chapter 3 of A Tale of Two CitiesA Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
as "one of the greatest scoundrels upon the earth since accursed Judas-which he certainly did look rather like." This is a direct reference to Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus Christ in the Bible, and is explaining that Barsad is a very untrustworthy man.
Cinematic and Theatrical Portrayals
In the 2008 Broadway musical adaptation of 'A Tale of Two CitiesA Tale of Two Cities (musical)
A Tale of Two Cities is a musical with book, music and lyrics by Jill Santoriello based on the novel of the same name by Charles Dickens....
,' John Barsad is played by Nick Wyman
Nick Wyman
Nick Wyman is an American stage, television, and film actor, and is the President of the Actors' Equity Association.-Career:...
.