Book Description
Handsome and ambitious, Julien Sorel is determined to rise above his humble peasant origins and make something of his life-by adopting the code of hypocrisy by which his society operates. Julien ultimately commits a crime-out of passion, principle, or insanity-that will bring about his downfall. The Red and the Black is a lively, satirical picture of French Restoration society after Waterloo, riddled with corruption, greed, and ennui. The complex, sympathetic portrayal of Julien, the cold exploiter whose Machiavellian campaign is undercut by his own emotions, makes him Stendhal's most brilliant and human creation-and one of the greatest characters in European literature.

Translated with an introduction by Roger Gard.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French


The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Stendhal, published in French in 1830 as Le Rouge et le noir. Set in France during the Second Restoration (1815-30), the novel is a powerful character study of Julien Sorel, an ambitious young man who uses seduction as a tool for advancement. The Red and the Black is generally considered the author's major work and one of the greatest 19th-century novels. Sorel is a sensitive and intelligent youth who, seeing no road to advancement in the military after Napoleon's fall, endeavors to make his mark in the church. Viewing himself as an unsentimental opportunist, he sets out to win the affections of Mme de Renal, whose children he is employed to tutor. After spending time in a seminary, he goes to Paris, where he seduces the aristocratic Mathilde, the daughter of his second employer. The book ends with Sorel's execution for the attempted murder of Mme de Renal after she had jeopardized his projected marriage to Mathilde. The title apparently refers to both the tensions in Sorel's character and to the conflicting choice he is faced with in his quest for success: the army (symbolized by the color red) or the church (symbolized by the color black). Incisively and with subtlety, the novel examines careerism, political opportunism, the climate of fear and denunciation in Restoration France, and bourgeois materialistic values.


From the Publisher
Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards.


About the Author
"Stendhal" was the pen name of Henri Marie Beyle, born in Grenoble on January 23, 1783. He came from a solidly middle-class family; his father was a barrister and his mother the daughter of a physician. His mother died when he was seven, and he grew to adore her memory and hate what his father represented to him-bourgeois manners and the pursuit of money. Feeling trapped in his home, the boy developed a vivid imagination and a taste for daydreaming. At the age of seventeen, Stendhal went to Paris and soon joined Napoleon's army in Italy. Here, and in Paris after he resigned from the army in 1801, he enjoyed a number of romantic liaisons. He joined Napoleon's Ministry of War and later followed the emperor on campaigns in Germany and Russia. After Napoleon's defeat, Stendhal left for Italy and settled in Milan. He began to write books about art and music, and first used the pseudonym "Stendhal"-taken from a town in Prussia where an art critic he admired had been born-in 1817. He returned to Paris in 1821 and frequented its salons and theaters. He wrote a number of books in the next several years, including his first novel, Armance (1827), and Le rouge et le noir (1830). He was appointed Consul to Trieste after the 1830 revolution, and was soon sent to the town of Civitavecchia, outside Rome. Though he did not publish new works during this time, he wrote Souvenirs d' égotisme and began two books he did not complete-Lucien Leuwen, a novel, and Vie de Henri Brulard, an autobiography. All three were published posthumously. In 1836, he returned to Paris due to ill health and there, in 1838, dictated La Chartreuse de Parme (1839), one of the two novels for which he is best known, in just fifty-two days. Stendhal's health began to deteriorate sharply in early 1841, when he suffered an attack of apoplexy. He died of a stroke on March 23, 1842. During his lifetime, his fiction was little appreciated. Just before Stendhal's death, Honoré de Balzac published an article in praise of La Chartreuse de Parme, but it was many years before critics recognized Stendhal's works as worthy enough to set beside those of Balzac and Gustave Flaubert.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Handsome and ambitious, Julien Sorel is determined to rise above his humble peasant origins and make something of his life. To do this, he realizes he must adopt the code of hypocrisy by which society operates, achieving advancement through deceit and self-interest. His triumphant career takes him from the provinces to glamorous Paris society, along the way conquering the beautiful, gentle Madame de Renal, unhappy wife of his employer, and then the haughty, aristocratic Mathilde, engaged to another man. But he brings about his own downfall when he commits an unexpected, devastating crime.

The Red and the Black is a lively, satirical picture of French Restoration society after Waterloo, riddled with corruption, greed and ennui. The complex, sympathetic portrayal of Julien, the cold exploiter whose Machiavellian campaign is undercut by his own emotions, makes him Stendhal's most brilliant and human creation, and one of the greatest characters in European literature.

SYNOPSIS