{"id": "card_n_27a91ce70388", "kind": "note", "title": "Sydney Carton", "body": "Dissolute lawyer in love with a woman he believes himself unworthy of; trades places at the guillotine for her husband, his look-alike; goes to the blade saying it is a far, far better thing.\n\nFailure mode: A wasted life before the trade.\n\nRestoration path: Spend the wasted life in one decisive act for the one you cannot have.\n\nMarkers: dissolute and self-loathing; love that cannot be returned; look-alike opportunity; trades self for the loved ones beloved; peace at the blade\n\n— Sydney Carton, Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (Literature)", "source": {"label": "Archetype — Literature", "url": "", "ref": "Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities", "authority_tier": "reference"}, "shelf": "reference", "box": "archetypes", "bands": ["archetype", "last_mercy", "literature"], "connections": [{"to_card_id": "card_k_spine_archetypes", "relationship": "figure_of", "evidence": "a figure of the Word"}], "author": "engine", "created_at": "2026-07-10T21:00:05.284658+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-10T21:00:05.284658+00:00", "visibility": "public", "lifecycle_stage": "public", "volatility": "permanent", "surface": "secular", "metrics": {"paperclips_count": 0, "helpful_count": 0, "not_helpful_count": 0, "cite_count": 0, "walks_through_count": 0, "flagged_count": 0}, "source_hash": "227e67ea29f43d5b4efca918f19432adb59b583e1119475946789df7159fd0b9", "call": "reference.archetypes", "facets": {"subject": ["archetype", "last_mercy", "literature"]}, "presentation": {"glyph": "•", "kind_label": "archetypes", "by": "Archetype — Literature", "authority": "reference", "posted": "", "standing": ""}, "neighbors": [{"id": "card_k_spine_archetypes", "title": "The archetypes — figures of the Word", "relationship": "figure of", "why": "a figure of the Word", "href": "/card/card_k_spine_archetypes", "resolved": true}]}