The Red and the Black

Mathilde feels, for the first time, “what it [is] to love” (446). Though she is submissive to Julien, she is more assertive and haughtier than ever to everyone else. Her love causes her to act recklessly, though Julien maintains his aloof disposition. Mathilde breaks through his distant demeanor by announcing that she is pregnant. This, she suggests, is the guarantee of her devotion that Julien sought, and now she is his “wife for ever” (447). Julien cannot maintain his false demeanor. He is tender to Mathilde, yet he pities her father for what will happen. He worries that this pregnancy might end his relationship with Mathilde. She writes to her father, though she agrees to delay the delivery. In the letter, Mathilde takes full responsibility. She claims that she seduced Julien and she asks her father to accept their relationship, perhaps by giving them a small stipend to move away. Whatever his reaction, she says, she is prepared to elope with Julien, as she believes that he will make something of himself wherever he goes.

The marquis summons Julien in “a fury” (451). He barely disguises his anger and hurt, feeling betrayed by the man he hired and brought into his home. Julien is humble. He offers up his own life to the marquis, signing a suicide note so that the marquis may kill him if he pleases. Julien then visits M. Pirard to seek advice. Mathilde speaks to her father and warns that in the event of Julien’s death, she is prepared to die. She will die as Julien’s widow, she warns her father. Julien returns, and Mathilde convinces him that he should leave Paris, giving her time to soften her father’s anger. The marquis veers wildly between fury, violence, and tacit acceptance, deliberating over many possible responses but settling on none. Mathilde stands firm: She wants to marry Julien. The marquis, in a moment of pity, gives them a large sum of money. Julien stays with Pirard, who speaks to the marquis on the young couple’s behalf, cautioning against a scandal.

A month passes. The marquis suggests that he provide money and lands to the couple while also disowning them. Mathilde pleads for him to approve of their marriage, but he is upset that his grand plans for her to achieve a “fine title” (459) have been dashed. The marquis offers Julien a title and a place in the army, sending him to the military to take up a commission so as to improve his social standing. Julien will be a lieutenant in Strasburg, and he leaves immediately as Mathilde continues to negotiate with her father. The marquis is not pleased by her petitions. Julien, however, is delighted to join the military, just as he always wanted.

As he hands over the marquis’s money, M. Pirard explains to Julien the pretext that this is a gift from Julien’s true father, the nobleman who fathered him illegitimately. More money will be paid to the nobleman to agree to this deception and for the Church to officially sanction it, thus elevating Julien’s social standing with a title and a “noble birth” (465). Julien begins to see himself as an actual aristocrat, the illegitimate son of a nobleman who was sent into exile by Napoleon. Julien enters into the military and impresses people, but Mathilde summons him due to an emergency. The marquis has called off any marriage. Mme. de Rênal has written to him, since Julien suggested her as a possible character reference. Rather than support Julien, she has written a scathing letter which explains how he enters wealthy households with plans for “the seduction of a weak and unhappy woman” (467). Julien sets off right away to confront Mme. de Rênal. He purchases two pistols and then shoots her in a church. She is struck by the second shot.

After shooting Mme. de Rênal, Julien is taken to prison. His attempted murder was not successful; the second bullet “rebounded off her shoulder” (469) and she is expected to make a full recovery. She was already in pain because she was pining for Julien. Having confessed her sins to a young priest, he made her write the letter to the marquis. She would have preferred for Julien to kill her, rather than only wound her. Julien does not know that she is not dead. He confesses to premeditated murder and prepares himself to be executed, claiming to be ready for death. He believes this execution is justified and hopes that Mathilde will move on, marrying the Marquis de Croisenois as was previously agreed. When he learns that Mme. de Rênal has survived, he weeps with happiness. He hopes that she may forgive him and even love him once more, though he remains adamant that he “must be killed” (474).

Abbé Chélan and Fouqué both visit Julien. Chélan, who has aged considerably, does not hesitate to criticize Julien’s actions. The “kind, unpretentious” (478) Fouqué offers to sell everything he has to help Julien escape; Julien is touched that his friend would do this for him. The magistrate continues to interrogate Julien, who continues to confess his crime. Fouqué visits M. Frilair, but the latter plans to use Julien’s situation to improve his own standing with Mme. de Rênal. When Julien says that he has no desire to see his father, Fouqué is shocked but now realizes why “so many people [feel] a passionate hatred” (480) for Julien.

Mathilde travels under an assumed name and bribes her way into the prison. She has already set in motion plans to have Julien released, though she does not inform him of her plots. Julien is thrilled by the visit of his beloved and hopes that his execution will restore her to her vaunted social position. Mathilde views Julien as an even more heroic reincarnation of her ancestor, Boniface de la Mole. Mathilde meets Frilair and asks him to manipulate the jury at Julien’s trial. Frilair realizes that she does not know about Mme. de Rênal. As they haggle, he uses her jealousy of Mme. de Rênal to spitefully taunt her while assuring her that he can “obtain an acquittal” (485).

Julien is taken aback when he realizes that he is “getting bored” (488) in Mathilde’s constant presence. He is horrified that the woman who has ruined her life to be with him could seem so uninteresting. His emotional distance only makes Mathilde love him even more; she hopes that she can show the world just how much she loves Julien. Her heroics only make Julien wearier. His ambition fades, and he finds himself “desperately in love” (490) with Mme. de Rênal. He suggests to Mathilde that, following the birth of their child, she give the baby up for adoption to Mme. de Rênal. He believes that Mathilde will eventually be able to forget him as “an excusable moment of folly” (492), but she is perturbed by his suggestion.

Julien does not want to think about his imminent death until the day of his execution. In his cell, he feels that he has reached a new position of mental clarity; with his end “rapidly approaching” (494), he is finally enjoying life. Mathilde has enlisted Frilair to manipulate the trial in Julien’s favor, reaching out to Mme. de Fervaques, who may be able to elevate Frilair to the status of bishop. He believes that he has power over the jury, which includes M. Valenod. Mme. de Rênal, though forbidden from testifying, writes to the potential jurors in Julien’s defense. She urges them not to sentence him to death, explaining that he is prone to “fits of melancholy” (496).

The trial is held in Besançon, and everyone in the town is invested in the outcome. Frilair assures Mathilde that the jury will acquit Julien; they will vote in line with M. Valenod, who Frilair believes is under his influence. Julien is “determined not to make a speech” (498). The women in the courtroom sympathize with Julien, and the trial drags on throughout the day into the night. Eventually, Julien decides to speak. He praises Mme. de Rênal, claiming that she was like his mother, and insists that his attempt on her life was premeditated. He accuses the jury of trying to punish him because of his “lowly” (501) peasant origins. The bourgeois jury, he says, is trying to discipline him for defying his social class. There are no peasants on the jury, he notes. The jury retires and then returns with a verdict: Valenod announces that Julien has been found guilty. His crime carries the death penalty. Julien, reflecting on his death in three days’ time, notes how pleased M. de Valenod must be to triumph over his old rival for the love of Mme. de Rênal. However, he feels “justly condemned” (503).

Julien is moved into a much less comfortable cell as he awaits his execution. He thinks lovingly of Mme. de Rênal and wishes that he could see her. Mathilde comes to him, disturbing his quiet reflection as she begs him to appeal his sentence. Julien does not want to appeal as he feels the strength “to die without letting people laugh too much at [his] expense” (507). He ignores Mathilde’s pleas. He reiterates this desire to his lawyer, to whom he feels “more warmly disposed” (509) than he does to Mathilde.

Mme. de Rênal visits Julien. In a passionate outburst, he declares his love for her and only for her. Mme. de Rênal says that her confessor “forced” (511) her to write the letter to the marquis and that in fact she toned down the accusations. Mme. de Rênal and Julien cry together as they declare their mutual love. Julien feels an incomparable joy. He kisses Mme. de Rênal, and they agree that she cannot take her own life, as Julien will appeal his sentence.

Mathilde knows that Mme. de Rênal has been visiting Julien. She feels an intense jealousy toward the other woman, but Julien is dismissive. He wants Mathilde to leave him alone; he sends her away to pray for him, as he does a bothersome priest. His father pays a visit. Julien promises to give money to his father and his brothers. On hearing this, his father tries to negotiate for more money. He wants Julien to pay him back for the food and board he used while he was a child. Julien is bemused by what he sarcastically calls a show of fatherly affection. When his father leaves, the jailor brings Julien a “bottle of good champagne” (518) which he shares with two other prisoners. He pays to hear the life story of one prisoner, which leaves him in a gloomy mood.

Mme. de Rênal is living nearby so that she can visit Julien every day. He is annoyed by the daily visits of Mathilde, and he learns that the Marquis de Croisenois has been killed in a duel after defending Mathilde’s honor against “some disagreeable remarks” (524). Julien refuses a priest’s suggestion that he undergo a spectacular conversion. Mme. de Rênal wants to beg the king to pardon Julien, and he begs her not to do so. Julien is executed, and Fouqué stands watch over his dead body. Mathilde enters, taking Julien’s severed head away to be buried by her own hands. She buries him, as Boniface was buried by his lover. Three days later, Mme. de Rênal dies. Mathilde organizes for Julien’s remains to be placed in a lavish tomb decorated with “marbles sculpted at great expense in Italy” (529).