The Red and the Black: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Red and the Black" is a novel by Stendhal that delves into the complexities of ambition, love, and societal expectations in 19th-century France through its major characters. The protagonist, Julien Sorel, is portrayed as an ambitious and opportunistic young man whose intelligence and self-pride drive him to seek success in a rigidly hierarchical society. His relationships with key figures, such as Madame de Rênal, who serves as his first love and mistress, highlight the tension between passion and social obligation. Madame de Rênal's inner conflict between her feelings and her religious beliefs underscores the personal struggles faced by women of the time.
Other characters, like the proud aristocrat Mathilde de La Mole, illustrate the constraints of class and gender, as she navigates her desires outside her societal expectations. The marquis de La Mole, representing the aristocracy, becomes both a benefactor and a source of Julien's downfall, reflecting the intricacies of power dynamics within relationships. Supporting characters, such as the Abbé Chélan and M. Valenod, further contextualize the societal pressures and rivalries that ultimately shape the characters' fates. Through these interactions, the novel explores themes of ambition, love, and the pursuit of social standing, making it a rich study of human nature and society.
The Red and the Black: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Stendhal
First published: Le Rouge et le noir, 1830 (English translation, 1898)
Genre: Novel
Locale: France
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: Early nineteenth century
Julien Sorel (zhew-LYAHN soh-REHL), the son of a lawyer, an opportunist whose brilliant intellect, great ambition, and self-pride elevate him for a time, only to defeat him in the end. The youthful protégé of a local priest in the French town of Verières, Julien becomes the beloved tutor of the mayor's children and the lover of that aristocratic official's wife. Brazen, hypocritical, but shrewd, this contradictory hero espouses Napoleonic sentiments yet believes that his own salvation is through the church. Pushed by scandal into a seminary, he proudly stands aloof from its politics and manages to become a secretary to one of the first men in France. Though he is insensitive to all feelings, his intellect again raises him in esteem to the point where he seduces as well as is seduced by the nobleman's daughter, a lively, intellectual young woman. Playing both ends against the middle—the middle being a respected position and a respectable income—he brings about his own downfall through attempted murder of his first mistress after she has revealed his villainy to his noble benefactor.
Madame de Rênal (deh reh-NAHL), Julien Sorel's first mistress and greatest love, a beautiful, compassionate, though bigoted woman. Although she vacillates always between religiosity and passion, she truly loves the ascetic-looking younger man and dies shortly after he has been executed for his attempt to kill her. Her allegiance to the tutor is the more remarkable because of her clever deceptions, necessary to prevent an immediate tragedy brought about by her husband's vindictiveness. In the end, religiosity predominates; she is torn by anguish, remorse, and guilt and dies while embracing her children three days after the death of her lover.
M. de Rênal, the miserly mayor and village aristocrat, who desperately seeks status by hiring a tutor for his children. Vulgar and greedy to an extreme degree, this boorish landowner is elevated by the marquis de La Mole, who later becomes Julien's employer. He loses his wife to a commoner's love and his position to his republican enemy.
MathildedeLaMole (mah-TEELD deh lah mohl), a proud, intelligent aristocrat destined to become a duchess but fated to love out of her class. Desirous of the unexpected and bored with the conventionality of her life, she at first seeks distraction in lovemaking with Julien Sorel. When he pretends boredom, she pursues him shamelessly. Her pregnancy sets off a chain of tragic events that will leave her unborn child without name or father. After Julien's execution, her romantic nature causes her to imitate the deed of a famous ancestress; she buries her lover's head with her own hands and decorates his cave tomb with marble so that it resembles a shrine.
The Marquis de La Mole, a peer of France and the wealthiest landowner in the province. He is a subtle, learned aristocrat who through caprice gambles on a young man's genius, through kindness makes a gentleman of him, and through pride in family negotiates his downfall. Although he admires his brilliant secretary, the marquis can never rid himself of his social ambitions for his beautiful and intelligent daughter, and to bring about Julien Sorel's downfall, he conspires to gain incriminating evidence against the young man.
The Marquise de La Mole, aristocrat proud of her noble ancestors.
The Comte de La Mole, their son, a pleasant young man conditioned to fashionable Parisian life, in which ideas are neither encouraged nor discussed.
Fouqué (few-KAY), a bourgeois but devoted friend of Julien Sorel. Acting as ballast for his mercurial friend, he offers Julien a good position in his lumber business, financial support for his studies, and finally his whole fortune to free him after his arrest.
The Abbé Chélan (ah-BAY shay-LAN), the local parish priest, who teaches and advances the fortune of Julien Sorel. The first to discover the tragic duality of his protégé's nature, he nevertheless supports him in his ambitions and grieves over his misadventures.
The Abbé Pirard (pee-RAHR), the director of the seminary at Besançon, where Julien Sorel studies. He obtains for his brilliant pupil the post of secretary to the marquis de La Mole. An irascible Jansenist among Jesuits, this learned priest sees in Sorel genius and contradiction. In spite of these contradictions, Pirard helps to elevate the youth to the munificence of courtly Paris.
M. Valenod (vah-leh-NOH), a provincial official grown prosperous on graft. Jealous because M. de Rênal has hired a tutor for his children and because his own advances to Madame de Rênal have been unsuccessful, he writes an anonymous letter that reveals the love affair between Julien Sorel and his employer's wife.