The Red and the Black Summary – Stendhal

Stendhal’s The Red and the Black, first published in 1830, is a novel about Julien Sorel, a young man whose ambition, love, and struggle against social barriers shape his tragic rise through French society.

The Red and the Black Main Characters analysis

• Julien Sorel — A talented, ambitious young man from a poor family who dreams of rising in society. Intelligent and highly educated in Latin and theology, he struggles between his ambitions, pride, love, and resentment toward the social class into which he was born.
• Madame de Renal — The wife of the mayor of Verrières and the mother of three boys. She initially sees Julien as a gentle and vulnerable young man and eventually falls deeply in love with him.
• Mister de Renal — The wealthy and self-satisfied mayor of Verrières. He hires Julien as a tutor for his children and becomes increasingly suspicious of his wife’s relationship with the young man.
• Mathilde de La Mole — The intelligent and proud nineteen-year-old daughter of the Marquis de La Mole. Fascinated by Julien’s intelligence and lowly origins, she falls in love with him and eventually decides that she wants to marry him.
• Marquis de La Mole — A powerful aristocrat and politician with considerable influence at court. He employs Julien as his secretary and later attempts to give him an elevated position in society.
• Abbot Pirard — The strict but fair rector of the seminary in Besançon. He recognizes Julien’s exceptional abilities and becomes genuinely attached to him, eventually helping him obtain a position with the Marquis de La Mole.
• Abbot Chelan — Julien’s mentor and the old priest who recognizes his unusual intelligence. He recommends Julien to Mister de Renal and later advises him to leave Verrières.
• Valenod — A wealthy local man who constantly competes with Mister de Renal. He represents the vulgar social ambition and rivalry of the provincial elite.
• Elisa — Madame de Renal’s maid, who falls in love with Julien and later reveals his relationship with her mistress.
• Prince Korazov — Julien’s Russian acquaintance in Paris, who advises him to make Mathilde jealous by courting another woman.

The Red and the Black Summary

Mister de Renal, the mayor of the French town of Verrières in the Franche-Comté region, is a self-satisfied and vain man. He tells his wife that he has decided to hire a tutor for their children. There is no particular need for one. The real reason is that the local wealthy man, Mister Valenod, that vulgar and boastful rival who is constantly competing with the mayor, is too proud of his new pair of Norman horses. Well, Mister Valenod may now have his horses, but Mister de Renal will have a tutor. He has already made an arrangement with old Sorel, whose youngest son is to come and work for him.

The old priest, Abbot Chelan, recommended the carpenter’s son as a young man of exceptional ability. Julien has already spent three years studying theology and has an excellent knowledge of Latin. His name is Julien Sorel, and he is eighteen years old. He is a short, delicately built young man whose face bears an unusually distinctive expression. His features are irregular but refined, and he has large black eyes that shine with fire and intelligence, along with thick dark-brown hair. Young women look at him with curiosity. Julien has never attended school. A regimental surgeon, a veteran of Napoleon’s campaigns, taught him Latin and history. When the doctor died, he left Julien his love of Napoleon, the Cross of the Legion of Honor, and several dozen books.

From childhood, Julien has dreamed of becoming a soldier. In Napoleon’s time, this was the surest way for a commoner to make a career and rise in the world. But times have changed. Julien understands that the only path open to him is to become a priest. He is ambitious and proud, but he is prepared to endure anything to make his way in the world.

Madame de Renal does not like her husband’s idea. She adores her three boys, and the thought of having a stranger come between her and her children fills her with distress. In her imagination, she already pictures a disgusting, rough, disheveled young man who will be allowed to shout at her children and even beat them.

How surprised she is when she sees before her a pale, frightened young man who seems extraordinarily handsome and very unhappy. Yet less than a month passes before everyone in the household, even Mister de Renal, begins to treat him with respect. Julien carries himself with great dignity, and his knowledge of Latin inspires admiration. He can recite any page of the New Testament from memory.

Madame de Renal’s maid, Elisa, falls in love with the young tutor. During confession, she tells Abbot Chelan that she has inherited some money and now wishes to marry Julien. The priest is genuinely pleased for his protégé, but Julien firmly rejects the advantageous proposal. He is ambitious and dreams of glory; he wants to conquer Paris. However, he is careful to hide these ambitions.

In the summer, the family moves to Vergy, the village where the Renal estate and château are located. Here Madame de Renal spends entire days with her children and the tutor. Julien seems to her more intelligent, kinder, and nobler than all the other men she knows. She begins to understand that she loves Julien. But does he love her? After all, she is ten years older than he is. Julien likes Madame de Renal. He finds her charming and has never seen a woman like her. But Julien is not yet in love with her. He wants to conquer Madame de Renal as a way of proving himself and taking revenge on the self-satisfied Mister de Renal, who allows himself to speak to Julien condescendingly and even rudely.

When Julien warns Madame de Renal that he will come to her bedroom at night, she responds with genuine outrage. Later that night, as he leaves his room, he is terrified, his knees almost giving way. But when he sees Madame de Renal, she seems so beautiful to him that all his proud and foolish thoughts disappear from his mind. Julien’s tears and despair win her over.

A few days pass, and Julien falls passionately and completely in love with her with all the intensity of youth. The lovers are happy, but suddenly Madame de Renal’s youngest son becomes seriously ill. The unhappy woman begins to believe that her love for Julien is killing her child. She realizes what a sin she is committing against God and is tormented by remorse. She pushes Julien away, and he is deeply moved by the depth of her grief and despair. Fortunately, the child recovers.

Mister de Renal suspects nothing, but the servants know a great deal. Madame de Renal’s maid Elisa meets Mister Valenod in the street and tells him that her mistress is having an affair with the young tutor. That same evening, Mister de Renal receives an anonymous letter informing him of what is happening in his household. Madame de Renal manages to convince her husband of her innocence, but the entire town becomes obsessed with the story of her love affair.

Julien’s mentor, Abbot Chelan, believes that he should leave the town for at least a year and either go to his friend Fouqué, a timber merchant, or enter the seminary in Besançon. Julien leaves Verrières, but three days later he returns to say goodbye to Madame de Renal. He makes his way into her room, but their meeting is overshadowed by the feeling that they are parting forever.

Julien arrives in Besançon and goes to see the rector of the seminary, Abbot Pirard. He is extremely nervous, and Pirard’s face is so ugly that it frightens him. The rector examines Julien for three hours and is so impressed by his knowledge of Latin and theology that he admits him to the seminary on a small scholarship and even gives him a private cell. This is a great favor.

But the seminarians unanimously hate Julien. He is too talented and gives the impression of being an intelligent, thinking man, and such qualities are not forgiven there. Julien must choose a confessor, and he chooses Abbot Pirard, without realizing that this decision will prove decisive for his future. The priest is genuinely attached to his pupil, but Pirard’s own position at the seminary is very insecure. His enemies, the Jesuits, are doing everything they can to force him to resign. Fortunately, he has a friend and patron at court, an aristocrat from Franche-Comté named the Marquis de La Mole, whose affairs the priest faithfully handles.

When the Marquis de La Mole learns of the persecution Pirard is facing, he offers him a move to the capital and promises him one of the best parishes in the area around Paris. As Pirard says goodbye to Julien, he predicts that difficult times lie ahead for him. But Julien is unable to think of himself. Knowing that Pirard needs money, he offers him all his savings. Pirard will not forget this gesture.

The Marquis de La Mole, a powerful politician and nobleman, enjoys considerable influence at court. He receives Abbot Pirard at his Paris mansion. During their conversation, he mentions that for several years he has been looking for an intelligent young man who could handle his correspondence. Pirard recommends his pupil for the position—a man of humble origins, but energetic, intelligent, and possessed of a noble spirit. An unexpected opportunity now opens before Julien Sorel: he may be able to go to Paris.

After receiving the marquis’s invitation, Julien first goes to Verrières, hoping to see Madame de Renal. He has heard that she has recently become extremely devout. Despite numerous obstacles, he manages to enter his former lover’s room. She has never seemed so beautiful to him. However, her husband suspects something, and Julien is forced to flee.

After arriving in Paris, he first visits places associated with Napoleon’s name and only then goes to see Abbot Pirard. The priest introduces Julien to the marquis, and that evening Julien is already sitting at the family dinner table. Opposite him sits a fair-haired young woman, extraordinarily slender, with very beautiful but cold eyes. Mademoiselle Mathilde de La Mole clearly does not appeal to Julien.

The new secretary settles in quickly. After three months, the marquis considers Julien entirely suited to his needs. He works diligently, remains quiet, shows good judgment, and gradually begins handling the most complicated matters. He becomes a true dandy and masters the art of life in Paris.

The Marquis de La Mole gives Julien an order. This satisfies Julien’s pride. He now behaves more confidently and no longer feels insulted as often. But with Mademoiselle de La Mole, he remains deliberately cold. The nineteen-year-old girl is highly intelligent, and she is bored by the company of her aristocratic friends—the Count de Caylus, the Viscount de Luz, and the Marquis de Croisenois, who hopes to marry her.

Once a year, Mathilde wears mourning clothes. Julien is told that she does so in honor of an ancestor of the family, Boniface de La Mole, the lover of Queen Marguerite of Navarre, who was beheaded on April 30, 1574, in the Place de Grève in Paris. According to legend, the queen demanded the head of her lover from the executioner and buried it herself in a chapel.

Julien sees that Mathilde is genuinely fascinated by this romantic story. Gradually, he stops avoiding conversations with Mademoiselle de La Mole. Their discussions are so interesting that he even forgets his role as an outraged plebeian. “It would be interesting,” he thinks, “if she were to fall in love with me.”

Mathilde has understood for some time that she loves Julien. To her, this love seems wonderfully heroic—a girl of her social position has fallen in love with the son of a carpenter. From the moment she realizes that she loves Julien, she stops being bored.

Julien himself is more likely to excite his imagination than to be carried away by love. But when he receives a letter from Mathilde confessing her love, he cannot conceal his triumph. A poor commoner like him is loved by a noblewoman; she has chosen him instead of an aristocrat, the Marquis de Croisenois. Mathilde waits for him in her room at one in the morning. Julien suspects a trap and thinks that Mathilde’s friends intend either to kill him or make him a laughingstock. Armed with pistols and a dagger, he enters Mademoiselle de La Mole’s room.

Mathilde is submissive and tender, but the following day she is horrified by the thought that she has become Julien’s lover. When she speaks to him, she can barely restrain her anger and irritation. Julien’s pride is wounded, and they decide that everything between them is over. But Julien realizes that he has fallen madly in love with this capricious young woman and cannot live without her. Mathilde occupies his thoughts and imagination constantly.

Julien’s acquaintance, the Russian Prince Korazov, advises him to make his beloved jealous and begin courting some fashionable beauty. The “Russian plan,” to Julien’s surprise, works perfectly. Mathilde becomes jealous and falls in love with him again, but her terrible pride prevents her from taking the first step toward reconciliation. One day, without thinking about the danger, Julien places a ladder against Mathilde’s window. When she sees him, she falls into his arms.

Soon Mademoiselle de La Mole tells Julien that she is pregnant and wants to marry him. When the marquis learns everything, he is furious. But Mathilde insists, and her father eventually gives in. To avoid disgrace, the marquis decides to create a brilliant social position for Julien. He obtains for him a commission as a Hussar lieutenant under the name Julien Sorel de La Vernaye. Julien leaves for his regiment. His joy is boundless. He dreams of a military career and of his future.

Unexpectedly, he receives news from Paris: Mathilde asks him to return immediately. When they meet, she hands him a letter from Madame de Renal. It turns out that her father has asked Madame de Renal to provide any information she can about her former tutor. Her letter is devastating. She describes Julien as a hypocrite and careerist capable of any act of dishonesty if it will help him rise in the world. It is now clear that Mister de La Mole will never agree to his marriage with Mathilde.

Without saying a word, Julien leaves Mathilde, gets into a stagecoach, and races to Verrières. There, in a gunsmith’s shop, he buys a pistol. He enters the church in Verrières, where Sunday services are being held, and fires twice at Madame de Renal.

Already in prison, he learns that Madame de Renal has not been killed but only wounded. He is happy and feels that he can now die peacefully. Mathilde follows Julien to Verrières. She uses all her connections, offers money, and makes promises in the hope of softening his sentence.

On the day of the trial, the entire province comes to Besançon. Julien is surprised to discover that all these people genuinely pity him. He intends to refuse to make a final statement, but something compels him to rise. Julien does not ask the court for mercy because he understands that his principal crime is that, as a commoner, he rebelled against his miserable social position.

His fate is decided. The court sentences Julien to death. Madame de Renal comes to visit him in prison. She tells him that her confessor composed the disastrous letter. Julien has never been happier. He understands that Madame de Renal is the only woman he is capable of loving.

On the day of his execution, he feels strong and courageous. Mathilde de La Mole buries the head of her lover with her own hands. Three days after Julien’s death, Madame de Renal dies.