The Red and the Black, by Stendhal, was an amazing read which I enjoyed thoroughly. This was another gorgeous volume from Easton Press which I received as part of a collection. It tells a tale of a young cleric, Julien Sorel, who deeply admired Napoleon. He had even considered, initially, a military career but then opted to pursue priesthood instead. His admiration of Napoleon is rooted in Julien’s ambition. He wants more – he wants to be significant. Napoleon started from relatively humble beginnings and came to dominate Western Europe and to leave an indelible mark on history.
A couple of Julien’s strengths include his intellect and his memory. He initially wins over the de Renal family’s children by being able to recite from the Bible, in Latin, from any verses provided by them. He allowed himself to be tested by them and they were inspired by his competence. His weaknesses, though, reveal themselves more subtly throughout the story. They revolve around his passion and his impulsivity.
At Julien’s core, though, he struggles with not knowing what to strive for in his life. This is something that I believe many, if not all, people struggle with in their youthful years. I recall doing the same at the time and it took me a while to sort that out. For Julien’s part, he struggles to choose between mediocrity ending in assured comfort and the heroic dreams of his youth. He is an opportunist throughout the book, looking to advance himself when and where he reasonably can and weathering rough spots with admirable resolve and astuteness. Some of his rough spots, for what it is worth, are entirely self-inflicted but that isn’t a unique problem for Julien.
Early in the book, he falls in love with the mother of the children he is tutoring, Madame de Renal. Much to her surprise, she falls in love with him as well and slowly they become increasingly bold in their affection, displaying it with increasing openness and urgency. This is despite their age difference, Madame de Renal’s marriage, and their class difference. As the author mentions, though, “Love creates equalities, it does not seek them.”
Due to a variety of circumstances, including an anonymous letter addressed to Madame de Renal’s husband, the suspicion of their affair becomes oppressively tangible and Julien finds himself transferring to a seminary. There, he finds himself in a much different environment than he had had as a tutor. The seminary is extremely political, mixing asceticism with plotting. Julien finds himself wondering, once again, where he was going with his life. Was he to sell the faithful a place in heaven? Was that a disingenuous goal? In seminary, he was advised that if he did not succeed he would be persecuted. I think that is true of many places…
Julien becomes recognized by a bishop and later becomes employed as a secretary for an extremely wealthy family in Paris. On his way to Paris, despite being urged to make no stops, he visited his lover Madame de Renal with renewed albeit brief passion.
In this new household, Julien finds himself romantically entangled with yet another lady, Mademoiselle de La Mole, and they have a very brief but passionate affair. Over time, Julien finds himself falling in love with her as well. Her feelings about Julien are a bit more complicated. They have an even wider class difference than Julien had had with Madame de Renal. Mademoiselle de La Mole is much younger and is also sought after by a great number of suitors, at one point being adored as the most attractive and popular woman at a ball. She also briefly adopts an attitude of serving Julien as if he were her master. She demanded his authority and his devotion.
Later, due to conflicts and tensions between the two, Julien is encouraged by an old friend to do a number of things to restore her affection for him, including distancing himself from her. This distance, his friend had argued, will bring her to seek him out. He also obtains templates for several dozen love letters that he sends to one of Mademoiselle de La Mole’s acquaintances to inspire jealousy. “Everyone for himself in this desert of selfishness which is called life,” the author quipped. He found himself strategizing against his former lover as if she were an enemy…as if he were like Napoleon on a battlefield.
Once Mademoiselle de La Mole and Julien reconcile their relationship, he learns that she is actually pregnant with his child. He and she both resolve to become married and she implores her father’s support despite Julien’s class difference. Her father is upset but, after a while, extends some gracious benefits to the couple, including money and a title and land for Julien. He had made it. He had left the lower class and, although they would be living outside of Paris, he would have a name and a legacy.
A letter written by Madame de Renal at the urging of the priest to whom he confessed their relationship was delivered to Mademoiselle de La Mole’s father. This jeopardized the advancement that Julien was on the cusp of getting. Beside himself with rage, he travels to the church of Madame de Renal and shoots her twice. One shot missed and the second hits her shoulder, though, at the time, Julien believed he had killed her as he intended to.
He is taken into custody and faces the death penalty. The author remarks that “courage [is] not taught in school.” This is certainly true. His fiancé, who Julien loses affection for, pulls many strings in an attempt to secure an acquittal for him. Indeed, Julien even feels more affection for his lawyer than he does for Mademoiselle de La Mole. Madame de Renal visits him in prison. He is astounded and grateful that she is alive and even more so that she forgives Julien for his attempt to murder her. He confesses to her that she is the only one he had ever truly loved.
At his trial, Julien seemed positioned to perhaps be acquitted but decides to speak in his defense and uses that stage to argue he is going to be executed due to his lower class rather than due to his crime. He comments that the jury was solely comprised of bourgeois citizens, not one of which had advanced from poverty. In doing so, for right or for wrong, he effectively forced their hand to find him guilty. He had broken the rules.
In the several days leading up to his execution, he takes some solace in knowing that no one would be able to tell as he walks to the guillotine whether he was frightened or not. Julien similarly didn’t know whether he would be frightened or not. He didn’t want to be thought of as a coward. He further compares the futility of a person truly understanding death as comparable to how an ant wouldn’t understand a boot plunging into the ant mound. It would be too outside of context…too far from the realm of known experiences.
It’s interesting that his thoughts while in prison include a rejection of God despite his background of studying scripture and the amount of time he spent in Christian religious education. It’s not clear whether those seeds had been eaten, scorched, or choked by weeds. It does happen, though. We all know that.
Julien ends up facing death with strength and resolution. He sees into his own heart, perhaps more clearly than he ever did during his life. He was relieved of wondering about the future and found comfort in the present.
I had no idea what to expect going into this novel, this having been my first time reading it or, for that matter, anything by Stendhal. Even while I was reading it, it did not advance as I expected it to along the way. I think that adds to its resonance, though, since life is chaotic and unpredictable and, much like Julien, everyone is, to some extent, trying to find their path in the midst of cacophonic dissonance. I felt like it closed with an unwritten message encouraging the reader to seek, in life, the strength, resolution, certainty which Julien was unable to find until moments before his death. It’s much easier to say than to do, and I still find myself worrying too much about the intangible even though I know better than to do that. I have to follow my journey, though, and strive to rejoice as I do so.