The Red and the Black

‘For Julien, to make his fortune meant first of all to get out of Verrières … he would dream with delight that he would one day encounter the beautiful women of Paris …’

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 Rênal, unhappy wife of his employer, and then 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.

• with a new introduction, chronology, further reading and notes •