The Red and the Black
67 pages • 2-hour read
Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle)The Red and the Black
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Character Analysis
Julien Sorel
Julien Sorel is the protagonist of The Red and the Black. He is a young man with ambition, yet he feels limited by the station into which he is born. Julien has the misfortune of being born into a peasant family during the Bourbon Restoration; just a decade earlier, following the French Revolution, he might have been unbound by the limitations of social class. He makes Napoleon his hero due to his belief that—had he been born earlier—he might have distinguished himself in Napoleon’s army and thus achieved his grand ambitions. With Napoleon out of power and the monarchy restored, Julien must find other ways to satisfy his ambition. Whereas Julien blames the timing of his birth for the limitations placed on his life, his own character is often a limiting factor in his advancement. The same driving ambition that propels him forward through life, encouraging him to learn Latin and study hard, serves to alienate him from others. His own brothers do not like him, while the other students at the seminary quickly take a similar dislike to him. Julien’s belief in himself is an isolating force, leaving him with very few friends. He obsesses over his own ambition and potential, yet fails to register the extent to which he depends on others for his advancement. He depends on the benevolence of his many mentor figures, yet disregards any attempt to cultivate allies or friends among those around him. This is the irony of Julien’s character: He believes that he and he alone can achieve his ambitions, yet he requires other people to take pity on him and sacrifice themselves for him in order for him to be happy.
Despite his self-importance, Julien is not without merit. He shows himself worthy of being a tutor through his ability to recite the entire Bible in Latin. His discussions of literature and philosophy often impress fellow dinner guests, though he loves to talk so much that he can often compromise himself by over-indulging his own intellectualism, such as when an examiner chastises him for discussing secular writers during a seminary exam. Julien’s lack of etiquette is a point of embarrassment, yet it is also what endears him to many people. Mme. de Rênal falls in love with his ability to discuss subjects which her husband would never see fit to mention to her, while Mathilde falls in love with Julien precisely because he lacks the sophistication and pretense of her fellow aristocrats. To them, Julien’s frank honesty is to be admired rather than suppressed. Yet this conflict causes problems for Julien in his relationships. He covets the love of such women, only to fall out of love with them as soon as they return his affection. He drifts in and out of love with both Mme. de Rênal and Mathilde depending on his personal circumstances. In truth, Julien only loves the way in which their love reflects back on him, whether it elevates or vindicates his existence. Julien is intelligent and frank in every respect, except for his ability to be honest with himself.
Julien is a cynic. He wants to be a priest not because he believes in God but because the position entails social advancement. He is an individual, first and foremost, marking him out as a notably 20th-century protagonist, trapped in a 19th-century world. He pits himself against (what he perceives to be) the cynical, hollow institutions of society, believing his own idealism justifies his cynical manipulation of those around him. When the society threatens to execute him for his crime, he embraces his own execution as a mark of his importance. He believes that his death will vindicate him as a man of substance, a man who stoically embraces his punishment with integrity and honor. Julien’s refusal to compromise in any way becomes his undoing. He damns himself in court with his speeches, and he refuses to entertain the idea of an appeal until it is too late. This makes his death a tragedy, as he proves himself beholden to the same social forces which he sought to elevate himself above. Julien was a man of ambition who is conquered by his own character.
Mathilde de la Mole
Though they come from very different families, Mathilde is in many ways the female version of Julien. As Julien is trapped by the strict social class system, Mathilde is trapped by the patriarchal, conservative society that marginalizes her viewpoint because she is a woman. She is smarter than her brother, but her father can only see her future through the lens of whatever man she marries. The ambitious Julien seeks to challenge society by rising through the social order, while Mathilde seeks to challenge society by rejecting the misogynistic expectations imposed on her by the Bourbon Restoration. Yet her driving ambition to defy the world around her is motivated differently. Whereas Julien sees himself as a modern reincarnation of Napoleon, someone who defies a conservative social order, Mathilde can only look to her past and to fiction to entertain herself. She craves whatever is new or novel, rather than what is good or progressive. Her ambition is much more constrained than Julien’s; whereas he wants to defy society, Mathilde simply wants to be entertained. Hers is a more passive ambition, though she is similarly stifled by society’s expectations of what she can do.
Mathilde asserts herself in the plot by defying social expectation. She falls in love with Julien precisely because he is unlike the wealthy, refined men around her. His frankness and his candor make him remarkable in her eyes; he inspires her to defy social expectations by declaring her love for him, rather than waiting for him to show affection toward her. Her love for Julien elevates her out of passivity, showing her what she can do if she takes a more active role in challenging society. Yet her moment of triumph—when Julien accepts the invitation to her room—becomes a grand failure. In accepting her invitation, Julien haphazardly asserts authority over her. This fleeting moment of active defiance has imbued Mathilde with a newfound attitude. She does not want to go back to her passive existence. She does not want anyone—especially a man—to be her master. Her immediate coldness toward Julien is motivated in part by class prejudice, in that she is shocked that the mere son of a peasant could try to assert himself over her. When Julien matches her coldness, however, she feels drawn to him once again. When he acts disinterested, she loves him. When he declares his love for her, she loses interest. In this manner, Mathilde’s attitude toward Julien mirrors his attitude toward Mme. de Rênal. She becomes Julien’s true counterpart in that her affections are reflective; her love for others is conditioned on what that love says about her. She does not want a master or a devotee; she only wants the satisfaction of earning love as a commentary on herself.
Whereas Mme. de Rênal had never experienced any kind of romance before Julien, Mathilde’s idea of romance is informed by the past. Much like her father occupies a reactionary, vestigially conservative station in the society of post-Revolution France, she looks to her own family’s past to understand her present. She understands romance as inherently tragic, like the story of her ancestor Boniface, who died for love. She expects Julien, as her lover, to fill a similarly heroic and grandiose role. Julien may not be from a grand background, she reasons, but he can at least act grandly. This adds a tragic element to the end of the story. She falls fully in love with Julien only when he pretends to draw away from her. Even when she knows that he is acting, when she knows that his words to Mme. de Fervaques are not sincere, she cannot help but love him. She respects his ability to manipulate her, so she devotes herself to him. The pregnancy and the promise of marriage become the guarantees of her affection that she could not previously offer, and through these developments, she draws Julien into a high-stakes game of grandiose bargaining with her father. Just as she seems to have triumphed over the patriarchal order and secured a future for herself and Julien, everything crumbles away. He shoots a former lover and, as he is put on trial, falls in love with her again. When Julien is executed, he is no longer in love with Mathilde. Yet she retains the pretense of romanticism. She buries him as her ancestor buried the executed Boniface, performing her tragedy as farce.
Madame de Rênal
Mme. de Rênal is the first great love of Julien’s life. His love for her is not necessarily predicated on romantic interest. She is the first member of the upper classes who treats him as anything other than a peasant; her benevolence—fueled by her naïve and cloistered mentality—feels more earnest and affectionate to Julien than actual love. He loves her because she represents an acceptance by the aristocratic classes, while also representing—through her relatively lowly status—Julien’s limited comprehension of the grandness and scale of the aristocracy in France. An affair with the wife of a provincial mayor, to Julien, seems like entry into the upper order of society, so he loves her for what she represents.
In the context of the novel, Mme. de Rênal functions as an important counterpart to Mathilde. Whereas Mathilde is younger and unattached, Mme. de Rênal is older than Julien and married to a prominent political figure. Yet Mme. de Rênal’s age does not necessarily make her more mature. Mathilde’s cynicism and aggression are juxtaposed against the quiet, naïve, and sensitive character of Mme. de Rênal. Indeed, Mme. de Rênal is first drawn to Julien because she has never actually experienced love and romance. When he repeats phrases from novels to her, this facsimile of affection is the closest that Mme. de Rênal has ever come to real romance. The affair with Julien is the most daring and unconventional event in Mme. de Rênal’s life. He changes her, gifting her with a secret to hide for the first time in her life. This excitement relieves the boredom of her life, deepening her affection for Julien.
While the cynical Julien does not believe that anyone has any actual faith in the God as preached by the Church, Mme. de Rênal is a true believer. The affair becomes untenable for her because of the burden of her guilt. When her child falls ill, she blames her sin of adultery for the sickness and threatens to end the affair. Julien, however, ignores the sincerity of her belief and happily urges her to continue their romance. In reality, she never rejects God or religion. Instead, she comes to accept that she is a sinner because she would rather be damned and love Julien than accept a life without him. This interplay between guilt and love makes her a tragic figure. Far from the cynicism of a man like Julien Sorel, it is the sincerity of her emotions and her beliefs that compels her to act. She is trapped in a terrible prison of love and shame, feeling an intensity of emotion which her supposed lover does not (and does not try) to comprehend. When she dies three days after Julien, her death is tragic. She dies of a broken heart, mourning the death of a man who never acknowledged the intensity and sincerity of her struggle.
The Marquis de la Mole
In The Red and the Black, the Marquis de La Mole plays a pivotal role in both the plot and thematic architecture of the novel. As a powerful nobleman in Restoration-era Paris, he embodies the aristocratic class of the era. At first, the marquis appears to be a tolerant and enlightened aristocrat. He recognizes Julien’s intelligence, hires him as a secretary, and grants him access to elite Parisian society in a manner that seems to transcend the strict social boundaries of Restoration-era France. This mentorship provides Julien with the opportunity to rise socially, an essential step in his pursuit of status and recognition. The relationship is also marked by a sense of genuine affection. Unlike many other aristocrats who dismiss merit in favor of birthright, the marquis appreciates talent and utility, which aligns with the lingering Napoleonic ideal of advancement by merit. In this regard, the marquis appears modern and pragmatic.
The marquis is not simply a benevolent patron, however, as his generosity is tightly bound to hierarchy and social calculation. He values Julien not as an equal but as a useful subordinate. When Julien becomes romantically involved with Mathilde, the marquis’s daughter, the limits of his tolerance are exposed. Though he initially agrees to legitimize the relationship—under pressure and for the sake of appearances—he never fully accepts Julien as a true social equal, as expected of an Ultra-royalist member of the aristocratic class. His reaction to the scandal illustrates the entrenched social barriers that the Revolution and Napoleon had only temporarily disrupted; his apparent acceptance is, like so much Julien observes, insincere. For all his outward sophistication, the marquis remains bound to the assumptions and prejudices of his class. The marquis’s ultimate decision to rescind his approval of the marriage and to disown Julien illustrates the limitations and insincerity of progressive ideals in Restoration France. In this manner, the marquis becomes another one-time father figure who cannot aid Julien’s ambitious ascent.
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