The phrase “you win some, you lose some” can be applied to many different situations, including love. In the novels A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, the respective characters Sydney Carton and Cyrano de Bergerac experience loss. This loss comes in a form of unrequited love, where they are both incapable of being loved by the one they recognize as their true love. Due to their experiences of unrequited love, Sydney Carton and Cyrano are driven to discover their own inner strengths as well as self-sacrifice. Both Sydney and Cyrano are very intelligent and talented characters. Although they are intelligent and talented, they are always able to learn additional things about themselves through their experiences of unreturned love. Sydney, England, is a sad, depressed, but nevertheless talented man. According to Dickens, “If Sydney Carton ever shone anywhere, he certainly never shone in Dr. Manette's house…When he wanted to speak, he spoke well; but the cloud of caring for nothing, which overshadowed him with such fatal darkness, was very rarely pierced by the light within him” (Dickens 198). Mr. Dickens describes Sydney as an intelligent man, capable of "talking well," but who is overshadowed by a dark cloud of laziness and contempt for ideals. He is not a confident man and does not believe he can do anything the right way. After a meeting with Lucie Manette, the woman Sydney loves and as the setting moves to France, he experiences a change. Carton gains this confidence and strength to become himself – an intelligent, dignified and confident man. Carton shows this by saying: “Would I do well, in the meantime, to show myself? I think so. It is best for these people to know that there is such a... middle of paper ... couple that you – and God – have united! [De Guiche]: (Looking at him with an icy eye.) Absolutely” (Rostand 146). Cyrano blocks De Guiche by pretending he is a drunken scientist as he talks about the moon as Roxane and Christian get married. These examples show how Cyrano and Sydney are committed to their loves and keep their word by only allowing the man their wife loves to follow the right path. Sydney and Cyrano are still capable of winning a lot despite being on the wrong side of the path. love story. Through unreturned love, they learn a variety of characteristics both personal and love-related, which allow them to grow as characters in their novels. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. A tale of two cities. Lodi: Everbind Anthologies, 2002. Print. Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano de Bergerac. Trans. Brian Hooker. New York: Bantam Classic, 2004. Print