The Red and the Black: A Novel of Post-Napoleonic France - Stendhal (1830)

 

The Red and the Black

Stendhal’s (with the civilian name Henti Marie Beyle) book, “The Red and the Black” is a satirical portrait of France in the late 1820’ies, during the restoration after Napoleon and immediately before the revolution of 1830. Stendhal’s France is divided into the haves and the haves-not, the conservatives (ultras) and the liberals and the capital versus the province. Despite the revolution, it is still a playground for the rich and ripe with nepotism and corruption. To navigate this France is more about knowing the right people than merit.

Here we find our protagonist, Julien Sorel, a poor son of a carpenter from a small town in the province of Franche-Comté. Julien is ambitious and dreams of greatness. His big hero is Napoleon whom he tries to emulate in everything he does. As a possible way out of his current straits and towards greatness, he is being trained by the local priest. This training amounts to learning Latin and entire passages of the bible by heart and less so the actual religious doctrines. Form rather than content. This skill however lands him a job as a tutor for the children of the local Mayor, M De Renal and, more importantly Mme de Renal.

Julien is at heart a good person, his instincts are right, but he is convinced that he must emulate his hero and be Machiavellian and manipulative in his actions to get anywhere in life. Because of this doctrine he must seduce Mme de Renal. To do that will be a great victory, but exactly what to do with that victory, he has not really considered. As it happens, Mme de Renal is taken by this young man and despite himself Julien falls in love with her, something that is difficult for him to admit to himself. My guess is that Julien falls in love with her because Mme de Renal is the only honest character in the entire book.

Eventually this affair becomes public, and Julien is forced to leave. He takes a degree in theology in Besancon and when the head of the seminary leaves for Paris he brings along Julien. Julien becomes the secretary of Marquise de la Mole and through this becomes a witness to high society life in Paris. Torn between his innate integrity and his Machiavellian doctrine, he manages to become indispensable to the Marquise and seduce his daughter.

Stendahl uses Julien Sorel both as a witness to the France he is presenting and as a personification of the dilemmas and absurdity of getting along in various circles of this country. The motivation of honour and greatness sometimes works for Julien, but at other times leads him into trouble, more often than not of a ridiculous sort. There is a very high level of hypocrisy everywhere, and many of the characters act more according to how they think their actions are perceived, than what is genuinely in their own best interest. Julien is trained as a priest, but I cannot recall him ever having a pious thought. Mathilde de la Mole is more in love with romantic passion than any of her suitors and M De Renal arranges his entire life to impress those around him, oblivious that he is becoming a public cuckold.

Stendahl’s writing is incredibly witty, and his observations are knife-sharp, but his satire never becomes unrealistic, and he is never mean to his characters. It is the realism that keeps everything grounded and, which I love, functions as a window into life in France at this time. It is also because of this realism the comedy works here. Stendhal’s characters stop short of being clowns or caricatures but are character types we would recognize. We are not quite laughing at them but smile with amusement.

This makes “The Red and the Black” a very amusing read and I love the way Stendhal writes. He could have produced an unlikable protagonist with that doctrine of his, but there is a sympathy, a sense that underneath Julien has good instincts, that allows us to identify with him and we do not reject him. At least not entirely.  Julien is France in 1830. Misled, confused, a hypocrite, but at heart good.

“The Red and the Black” is in my top-5 of the books I have read so far on the List. Highly recommended.