That said, one of the scenes at the start of the novel clearly shows the young man's psychology, when Julien grabs Mme de Rênal's hand at night. His affair with her leads him to success, though Stendhal never delves into what exactly his feelings for Mme de Rênal are, whereas her affections are quite clear. Julien refuses the servant girl's advances and instead focuses on the conquest of the soft and fragile Mme de Rênal. Though the red refers to another aspiration: that of love and seduction, also similar to the young Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his tryst with the older Mme de Warens. He dreams of integrating high society by the Red of the military uniform or the Black of the clergy. He was a servant, like Jean-Jacques Rousseau from the Confessions, and an aspiring clerk. He plans his social ascension through two different means. The local bishop, Bishop Chélan, taught him Latin, allowing him to become a preceptor for the children of the mayor of Verrières, M de Rênal. He was a passionate admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte. The son of a carpenter, he was despised by his father and his brothers for his weakness ('his puny physique, ill adapted as it was to manual labour') and his bookish nature. Originally, the novel was meant to be eponymous.Īn intelligent, handsome, and ambitious young man, he was born in Verrières, a small imaginary town in Doubs, though not based on any real geographical location. Julien Sorel is the protagonist of The Red and the Black by Stendhal, published in 1830. Monsieur le Chevalier Julien Sorel de la Vernaye

Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendhal