The Red and the Black

Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) is a novel by Stendhal, published in 1831. The title has been translated into English variously as Scarlet and Black, Red and Black, and The Red and the Black. It is a melodramatic novel set in 1830s France relating a young man's hypocritical rise to power, influence and wealth and subsequent fall. With this book Stendhal has been said to have practically invented the psychological novel.

The story is told mostly through detailed descriptions of the characters' states of mind, an unusual technique at the time this novel was written. Few events pass in which we are not treated to a bird's-eye view of the mental state of all participants.

The title of the novel has never been satisfactorily explained. One explanation is that red and black are the contrasting colours of the army uniform of the times, and the robes of priests, respectively. Another is, that red could stand for love, while black is for death and mourning. These colours are those of the roulette as well, so they may indicate the unexpected changes in the hero's career.

A "writer's writer," Stendhal is known more in literary circles than to the public at large. Many writers have acknowledged his influence on their work and used his technique of detailed psychological description in their own stories.

Plot

The Red and the Black is the story of Julien Sorel, son of a carpenter in provincial France, who, through perseverance, duplicity and love manages to climb the social heights to the capital and beyond, only to be dragged back down by scandal. The Catholic church acts symmetrically as Julien's door into the higher classes and ultimately as his downfall, as the vehicle of the scandal that eventually engulfs him as he at long last reaches one of his primary goals in life, which is to be accepted into an elite military corps. So why did he begin as a priest-trainee? Napoleon's army, Julien's ideal, has been disbanded for decades, and now the priesthood is the ticket out of the provinces. Julien carefully hides his allegiance to the now politically unpopular Napoleon behind a facade of false piety which, as the story eventually shows, cannot fail to betray him.

External link

• Le Rouge et Le Noir at Project Gutenberg
• The Red and the Black English translation