1/30/24, 9:53 PM The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of the 19th Century (Stendhal)

The Red and the Black:

A Chronicle of the 19th Century
Stendhal
translated from the French by E.P. Robins
Konemann 2000
A book review by Danny Yee © 2009 https://dannyreviews.com/

Inspired by stories of Napoleon told by a retired army surgeon and taught

Latin by a local curate, sawyer's son Julien Sorel enjoys a meteoric rise
and an even more rapid fall. His career provides a base from which
Stendhal satirises French society, from small town bourgeoisie to clerics
and feckless aristocrats, and probes the psychology of love and honour.

Julien first becomes tutor to the mayor's children in a small town in the
Alps. He has to negotiate the social and political rivalries of the status-
obsessed mayor, his grasping commercial rivals, and various other
dignitaries — while engaging in a love affair with the mayor's wife,
Madame de Renal. Escaping from there, he attends a provincial seminary
where most of the students are peasants hankering after a better life and
their teachers have their own problems.

Moving to Paris, Julien becomes confidential secretary to a nobleman and

has to learn yet another set of social conventions as he integrates himself
into the household and its circle of aristocratic hangers-on. He enters into
an affair with his patron's daughter, Mathilde, which he expedites by
pretending to love another woman. There is a hint at a political intrigue
when Julien becomes the courier for a group of conspirators, but that is a
plot strand that goes nowhere. Finally an improbable plot device
condemns Julien to prison and execution, bringing his two lovers together.

It is the two love affairs which are central to The Red and the Black. These
have some drama — there is much climbing of ladders to reach windows
— but the real appeal is in the psychology of the lovers and the dramatic
ironies in their often vastly different interpretations of events. Madame de
Renal and Mathilde are full players in the game of love, not just objects of
Julien's attraction, and Stendhal probes their thoughts and feelings
accordingly. The minor female characters — Madame de Renal's
maidservant and friend, the waitress in a cafe, and even Mathilde's mother
— are also presented in a largely positive fashion, and Stendhal's
enlightened attitude to women is one aspect of the The Red and the Black
which helps make it accessible to modern readers.

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1/30/24, 9:53 PM The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of the 19th Century (Stendhal)

Although determined to make a name for himself and obsessed by honour,

Julien himself is also an appealing character. And there are some splendid
portraits among the minor characters. Its plotting has many
awkwardnesses and its structure is far from satisfying formally, but The
Red and the Black offers easy reading and good entertainment, with a
lively story and memorable characters.

The Red and the Black is littered with references that assume knowledge
of the historical context. Mostly these are not essential to the progress of
the novel, however, so the approach of this edition, with endnotes
discreetly marked in the text by small symbols in the margin, works well.
There's also a six page afterword with a brief analysis of the novel. An
attractive hardcover, of a size most comfortable for reading, this is also an
ergonomically and aesthetically pleasing volume.

Note: The Red and the Black was originally published as Le Rouge et le Noir in 1830.

April 2009

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