THE IMAGE OF JULIEN SOREL IN STENDHAL'S NOVEL “RED AND BLACK”

Frederic Stendhal (pseudonym of Henri Marie Bayle) substantiated the main principles and program for the formation of realism and brilliantly embodied them in his works. Largely based on the experience of the romantics, who were deeply interested in history, realist writers saw their task in depicting the social relations of our time, life and customs of the Restoration and the July Monarchy. In 1830, Stendhal completed the novel “Red and Black”, in which he analyzes with the finest shades

Thoughts and actions of a man of a turning point, his contradictory life views and aspirations. “Red and Black” is the brightest example of a socio-psychological novel of world realistic literature of the 19th century.

The plot of the novel is based on real events. A young man was sentenced to execution, the son of a peasant, who decided to make a career and became a tutor in the family of a local rich man, but, caught in an affair with the owner’s wife, the mother of his pupils, lost his job. Then the young man was expelled from the theological seminary, then from service in a Parisian aristocratic mansion, where he was compromised

Relationship with the owner's daughter, and soon tried to commit suicide.

Julien Sorel is the son of a carpenter from the French province. Stendhal's young hero, a witness to the defeat of the French army at Waterloo, was destined to learn the harsh truth of the war and part with his illusions. Julien Sorel entered into independent life after the fall of Napoleon, during the period of the Bourbon restoration.

Under Napoleon, a gifted young man from the people would have perhaps made a military career, but now the only opportunity to reach the top of society was to graduate from a theological seminary and become a priest.

At the beginning of the novel, the teacher of the children of the mayor of the city of Verrieres, Mr. de Renal, Julien, was obsessed with ambitious plans, deliberately imitating Moliere's hypocritical Tartuffe. Julien wants to “come out into the public eye,” to establish himself in society, to take one of the first places in it, but on the condition that this society recognizes him as a full-fledged personality, an extraordinary, talented, gifted, intelligent, strong person. He does not want to give up these qualities, give them up. But an agreement between Sorel and society is possible only on the condition that Julien completely submits to the mores and laws of this society.

Julien is doubly a stranger in the world of Renales and La Moley: both as a person from the lower social classes, and as a highly gifted person who does not want to remain in the world of mediocrity.

Having gone through a series of trials, he realized that careerism could not be combined with the sublime human impulses that lived in his soul. Thrown into prison for the attempt on the life of Madame de Renal, Julien realizes that he is being tried not so much for the crime he actually committed, but for the fact that he dared to cross the line separating him from high society, tried to enter the world to which he belongs has no birthright. For this attempt, the jury should sentence him to death. “You see before you a commoner who has rebelled against his low lot...

This is my crime, gentlemen,” he declares to his judges. “Gentlemen! - he says. - I do not have the honor of belonging to your class. In my face you see a peasant who rebelled against the baseness of his lot... But even if I were less guilty, it would be all the same.

I see before me people who are not inclined to heed the feeling of compassion... and who want to punish me and once and for all frighten a whole class of young people who, having been born in the lower classes... had the good fortune to receive a good education and dared to join what the rich proudly call society.”

In the image of Julien Sorel, Stendhal captured the most essential character traits of a young man of the early 19th century, who absorbed the most important traits of his people, awakened to life by the Great French Revolution: unbridled courage and energy, honesty and fortitude, steadfastness in moving towards the goal. But the hero always and everywhere remains a man of his class, a representative of the lower class, infringed on its rights, therefore Julien is a revolutionary, and his class enemies - the aristocrats - agree with this. The young man is close in views with the brave Italian carbonari Altamira and his friend, the Spanish revolutionary Diego Bustos.

There is a constant intense struggle in his soul; the desire for a career and revolutionary ideas, cold calculation and bright romantic feelings come into conflict.

Julien, standing on the top of a cliff and watching the flight of a hawk, envies the bird's soaring, wants to be like her, rising above the world around him. Napoleon, whose example, according to Stendhal, “gave rise in France to insane and, of course, ill-fated ambition,” is Julien’s ideal. But insane ambition - the most important feature of Julien - carries him into the camp opposite to the camp of the revolutionaries. He passionately desires fame and dreams of freedom for everyone, but the former overpowers him.

Julien makes bold plans to achieve fame, relying and not doubting his own will, energy and talent.

But Julien Sorel lives during the years of the Restoration, and at this time such people are dangerous, their energy is destructive, because it conceals the possibility of new social upheavals and storms, and therefore Julien cannot make a decent career in a direct and honest way.

The basis of the complex character of the hero is the contradictory combination of a revolutionary, independent and noble principle with ambitious aspirations that lead to the path of hypocrisy, revenge and crime. According to Roger Vaillant, Julien is “forced to rape his noble nature in order to play the vile role that he imposed on himself.”

The path to the top of Julien Sorel is the path of his loss of the best human qualities and the path of comprehending the real essence of those in power. When the hero had already achieved his goal and became Viscount de Verneuil, it became clear that the game was not worth the candle. Such happiness could not satisfy the hero, because a living soul, despite the violence against it, was still preserved in Julien.

The experience morally enlightens and elevates the hero, cleanses him of the vices instilled by society. Julien sees the illusory nature of his ambitious aspirations for a career, with which he recently associated ideas of happiness, and therefore, awaiting execution, he refuses the help of the powers that be, who can rescue him from prison and return him to his former life. The clash with society ends with the moral victory of the hero.

Love plays a significant and decisive role in the fate of Julien Sorel. With Louise de Renal, the hero took off the mask with which he usually appeared in society and allowed himself to be himself. The image of Matilda is Julien’s ambitious ideal; in her name he is ready to make a deal with his conscience.

Before Matilda, Julien appeared as an extraordinary, proud, energetic person, capable of great, daring and cruel deeds.

At the trial before his death, Julien gives the last, decisive open battle to his class enemy. Tearing off the masks of hypocritical philanthropy and decency from his judges, he throws the terrible truth in their faces: his guilt is not that he shot Madame de Renal, but that he dared to be outraged by social injustice and rebel against his pitiful fate.

Overcoming ambition and the victory of true feeling in Julien’s soul leads him to death. This ending is indicative: Stendhal could not decide what awaits the hero who realized the inconsistency of his theory, how he should rebuild his life, overcoming errors, but remaining in bourgeois society, and therefore

Julien gives up trying to save himself. Life seems unnecessary to him, aimless, he no longer values ​​it and prefers death on the guillotine.

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THE IMAGE OF JULIEN SOREL IN STENDHAL'S NOVEL “RED AND BLACK”

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution

higher professional education

"Nizhny Novgorod State Linguistic University

them. N.A. Dobrolyubova"

Department of Foreign Literature and Theory of Intercultural Communication

ABSTRACT

in discipline " Foreign literature »

THE IMAGE OF JULIEN SOREL IN STENDHAL'S NOVEL THE RED AND THE BLACK

Nizhny Novgorod

2011

Introduction………………………………………………………………3

Main part……………………………………………………..………………… …..5

Conclusion…………………………………………………………….15

List of references………….…………………………….16

Introduction.

Henri Bayle (1783-1842) came to literary creativity through the desire to know himself: in his youth he became interested in the philosophy of the so-called “ideologists” - French philosophers who sought to clarify the concepts and laws of human thinking.

The basis of Stendhal's artistic anthropology is the opposition of two human types - “French” and “Italian”. The French type, burdened with the vices of bourgeois civilization, is distinguished by insincerity and hypocrisy (often forced); The Italian type attracts with its “barbaric” impulsiveness, frankness of desires, and romantic lawlessness. Stendhal's main works of art depict the conflict of the protagonist of the “Italian” type with the “French” way of society that constrains him; criticizing this society from the point of view of romantic ideals, the writer at the same time insightfully shows the spiritual contradictions of his heroes, their compromises with the external environment; Subsequently, this feature of Stendhal’s work forced him to be recognized as a classic of 19th-century realism.

In 1828, Stendhal came across a purely modern plot. The source was not literary, but real, which corresponded to the interests of Stendhal not only in its social meaning, but also in the extreme drama of the events. Here was what he had been looking for for a long time: energy and passion. The historical novel was no longer needed. Now we need something else: a truthful depiction of modernity, and not so much political and social events, but the psychology and mental state of modern people who, regardless of their own desires, are preparing and creating the future.

“Young people like Antoine Berthe (one of the prototypes of the protagonist of the novel “The Red and the Black”),” Stendhal wrote, “if they manage to get a good upbringing, they are forced to work and struggle with real need, which is why they retain the ability to have strong feelings and terrifying energy. At the same time, their pride is easily vulnerable.” And since ambition is often born from a combination of energy and pride. Napoleon once combined the same characteristics: a good upbringing, a fervent imagination and extreme poverty.

Main part.

The psychology of Julien Sorel (the main character of the novel "The Red and the Black") and his behavior are explained by the class to which he belongs. This is the psychology created by the French Revolution. He works, reads, develops his mental abilities, carries a gun to defend his honor. Julien Sorel shows daring courage at every step, not expecting danger, but preventing it.

So, in France, where reaction dominates, there is no scope for talented people from the people. They suffocate and die, as if in prison. Those who are deprived of privilege and wealth must, for self-defense and, especially, to achieve success, adapt. Julien Sorel's behavior is determined by the political situation. It links into a single and inextricable whole the picture of morals, the drama of experience, and the fate of the hero of the novel.

Julien Sorel is one of the most complex characters of Stendhal, who pondered him for a long time. The son of a provincial carpenter became the key to understanding the driving forces of modern society and the prospects for its further development.

Julien Sorel is a young man of the people. In fact, the son of a peasant who owns a sawmill must work at it, just like his father and brothers. By his social status, Julien is a worker (but not hired); he is a stranger in the world of the rich, well-mannered, educated. But even in his family, this talented plebeian with a “strikingly unique face” is like an ugly duckling: his father and brothers hate the “frail”, useless, dreamy, impetuous, incomprehensible young man. At nineteen he looks like a scared boy. And enormous energy lurks and bubbles within him - the power of a clear mind, proud character, unbending will, “fierce sensitivity.” His soul and imagination are fiery, and there is flame in his eyes. In Julien Sorel, imagination is subordinated to frantic ambition. Ambition in itself is not a negative quality. The French word "ambition" means both "ambition" and "thirst for glory", "thirst for honor" and "aspiration", "aspiration"; Ambition, as La Rochefoucauld said, does not happen with spiritual lethargy; in it there is “liveliness and ardor of the soul.” Ambition forces a person to develop his abilities and overcome difficulties. Julien Sorel is like a ship equipped for a long voyage, and the fire of ambition in other social conditions, providing scope for the creative energy of the masses, would help him overcome the most difficult voyage. But now the conditions are not favorable for Julien, and ambition forces him to adapt to other people's rules of the game: he sees that to achieve success, rigid selfish behavior, pretense and hypocrisy, bellicose distrust of people and gaining superiority over them are necessary.

But natural honesty, generosity, sensitivity, which elevate Julien above his environment, conflict with what ambition dictates to him under existing conditions. Julien's image is "truthful and modern." The author of the novel boldly, unusually clearly and vividly expressed the historical meaning of the topic, making his hero not a negative character, not a sneaky careerist, but a gifted and rebellious plebeian, whom the social system deprived of all rights and thus forced to fight for them, regardless of anything .

But many were confused by the fact that Stendhal consciously and consistently contrasted Julien’s outstanding talents and natural nobility with his “ill-fated” ambition. It is clear what objective circumstances determined the crystallization of the militant individualism of the talented plebeian. We are also convinced of how destructive the path turned out to be for Julien’s personality, to which he was driven by ambition.

The hero of Pushkin’s “Queen of Spades,” Herman, a young ambitious “with the profile of Napoleon and the soul of Mephistopheles,” he, like Julien, “had strong passions and a fiery imagination.” But internal struggle is alien to him. He is calculating, cruel and with all his being is directed towards his goal - the conquest of wealth. He really does not take anything into account and is like a naked blade.

Perhaps Julien would have become the same if he himself had not constantly appeared as an obstacle in front of him - his noble, ardent, proud character, his honesty, the need to surrender to immediate feeling, passion, forgetting about the need to be calculating and hypocritical. Julien's life is the story of his unsuccessful attempts to fully adapt to social conditions in which base interests triumph. The “spring” of drama in Stendhal’s works, whose heroes are young ambitious people, lies entirely in the fact that these heroes “are forced to rape their rich nature in order to play the vile role that they have imposed on themselves.” These words accurately characterize the drama of the internal action of “The Red and the Black,” which is based on the spiritual struggle of Julien Sorel. The pathos of the novel lies in the vicissitudes of Julien’s tragic combat with himself, in the contradiction between the sublime (Julien’s nature) and the base (his tactics dictated by social relations).

Julien was poorly oriented in his new society. Everything there was unexpected and incomprehensible, and therefore, considering himself an impeccable hypocrite, he constantly made mistakes. “You are extremely careless and reckless, although this is not immediately noticeable,” Abbot Pirard told him. “And yet, to this day, your heart is kind and even generous, and your mind is great.”

“All the first steps of our hero,” Stendhal writes on his own behalf, “quite confident that he was acting as carefully as possible, turned out, like the choice of a confessor, to be extremely reckless. Misled by the arrogance that characterizes imaginative people, he mistook his intentions for accomplished facts and considered himself a consummate hypocrite. "Alas! This is my only weapon! - he thought. “If this were a different time, I would earn my bread by doing things that would speak for themselves in the face of the enemy.”

Education was difficult for him because it required constant self-abasement. This was the case in Renal’s house, in the seminary, and in Parisian social circles. This affected his attitude towards the women he loved. His contacts and breaks with Madame de Renal and Mathilde de La Mole indicate that he almost always acted as the impulse of the moment told him, the need to show his personality and rebel against any real or perceived insult. And he understood every personal insult as a social injustice.

Julien's behavior is determined by the idea of ​​nature, which he wanted to imitate, but in the restored monarchy, even with the Charter, this is impossible, so he has to “howl with the wolves” and act as others act. His “war” with society occurs hidden, and to make a career, from his point of view, means to undermine this artificial society for the sake of another, future and natural one.

Julien Sorel is a synthesis of two, seemingly directly opposite, directions - philosophical and political of the 19th century. On the one hand, rationalism combined with sensationalism and utilitarianism is a necessary unity, without which neither one nor the other could exist according to the laws of logic. On the other hand, there is the cult of feeling and naturalism of Rousseau.

He lives as if in two worlds - in the world of pure morality and in the world of rational practicality. These two worlds - nature and civilization - do not interfere with each other, because both together solve one problem, to build a new reality and find the right ways for this.

Julien Sorel strove for happiness. His goal was the respect and recognition of secular society, which he penetrated thanks to his zeal and talents. Climbing the ladder of ambition and vanity, he seemed to be approaching his cherished dream, but he experienced happiness only in those hours when, loving Madame de Renal, he was himself.

It was a happy meeting, full of mutual sympathy and sympathy, without rationalistic and class obstacles and partitions, a meeting of two people of nature - the kind that should exist in a society created according to the laws of nature.

Julien's double worldview manifested itself in relation to the mistress of the Renal house. Madame de Renal remains for him a representative of the rich class and therefore an enemy, and all his behavior with her was caused by class enmity and a complete misunderstanding of her nature: Madame de Renal completely surrendered to her feelings, but the home teacher acted differently - he was always thinking about your social position.

“Now for Julien’s proud heart to fall in love with Madame de Renal has become something completely unthinkable.” At night in the garden, it occurs to him to seize her hand - only to laugh at her husband in the dark. He dared to put his hand next to hers. And then he was overcome with trepidation; not realizing what he was doing, he showered the hand extended to him with passionate kisses.

Julien himself now did not understand what he felt, and apparently forgot about the reason that forced him to risk these kisses. The social meaning of his relationship with the woman in love disappears, and love that began long ago comes into its own.

What is civilization? This is what interferes with the natural life of the soul. Julien’s thoughts about how he should act, how others treat him, what they think about him are all far-fetched, caused by the class structure of society, something that contradicts human nature and the natural perception of reality. The activity of the mind here is a complete mistake, because the mind works in emptiness, without a solid foundation, without relying on anything. The basis of rational knowledge is a direct feeling, not prepared by any traditions, coming from the depths of the soul. The mind must examine sensations in their entirety, draw correct conclusions from them, and draw conclusions in general terms.

The story of the relationship between the plebeian conqueror and the aristocrat Matilda, who despises the spineless secular youth, is unparalleled in the originality, accuracy and subtlety of the drawing, in the naturalness with which the feelings and actions of the heroes are depicted in the most unusual situations.

Julien was madly in love with Matilda, but never for a minute forgot that she was in the hated camp of his class enemies. Matilda is aware of her superiority over the environment and is ready to do “madness” to rise above it.

The novel "Red and Black" is a true story about the society of the Restoration era in France. This is a socio-psychological novel based on the conflict between the individual and society. The path of the main character Julien Sorel leads to the idea that in the era of Napoleon he could become a hero, and in the era of the Restoration he is forced to either adapt or die.

Julien Sorel is a representative of the generation of the early 20s of the 19th century. He has the features of a romantic hero: independence, self-esteem, the desire to change fate, the desire to fight and achieve goals. He is a bright personality, everything about him is above the norm: strength of mind, will, dreaminess, determination.

Our hero is the son of a carpenter. He lives in the small provincial town of Verrieres with his brothers and father and dreams of breaking out into the big world. No one in Verrieres understands him. “Everyone at home despised him, and he hated his brothers and father...” From early childhood, the young man raved about military service, his idol was Napoleon. After much thought, he decides: the only way to achieve something in life and escape from Verrieres is to become a priest. “To break through for Julien first of all meant breaking out of Verrieres; he hated his homeland. Everything he saw here chilled his imagination.”

And here is the first victory, the first “public appearance”. Julien is invited to his house by the mayor of Verrieres, Mr. de Renal, as a children's teacher. A month later, the children adored the young teacher, the father of the family began to respect him, and Madame de Renal felt something more than simple respect for him. However, Julien felt like a stranger here: “he felt only hatred and disgust for this high society, where he was allowed only to the edge of the table...”

Life in the house of Mr. de Renal was filled with hypocrisy, the desire for profit, the struggle for power, intrigue and gossip. “Julien’s conscience began to whisper to him: “This is dirty wealth, which you too can achieve and enjoy, but only in this company.” O Napoleon! How wonderful your time was!..” Julien felt alone in this world. Thanks to the patronage of priest Shelan, Sorel entered the Besançon Theological Seminary. “If Julien is only a wavering reed, let him perish, and if he is a courageous man, let him fight his way through himself,” Abbot Pirard said about him. And Julien began to make his way.

He studied diligently, but kept aloof from seminarians. Very soon I saw that “knowledge is not worth a penny here,” because “success in the sciences seems suspicious.” Julien understood what was encouraged: hypocrisy, “ascetic piety.” No matter how hard the young man tried to pretend to be a fool and a nonentity, he could not please either the seminarians or the leadership of the seminary - he was too different from the others.

And finally, his first promotion: he was appointed tutor on the New and Old Testaments. Julien felt the support of Abbot Pirard and was grateful to him for this. And suddenly - an unexpected meeting with the bishop, which decided his fate. Julien moves to Paris, to the house of the Marquis de La Mole and becomes his personal secretary. Another victory. Life begins in the marquis's mansion. What does he see? “In this mansion no flattering comments were allowed about Beranger, about opposition newspapers, about Voltaire, about Rousseau, or about anything that even slightly smacked of freethinking and politics. The slightest living thought seemed rude.” Material from the site

A new light was opening up before him. But this new light was the same as the light in Verrieres and Besançon. Everything was based on hypocrisy and profit. Julien accepts all the rules of the game and tries to make a career. A brilliant victory awaited him. But an affair with the marquis’s daughter Matilda upset all of Julien’s plans. Mathilde, this jaded social beauty, was attracted to Julien by his intelligence, originality and boundless ambition. But this love was not at all similar to the bright and bright feeling that connected Julien with Madame de Renal. The love of Matilda and Julien was more like a duel between two ambitious people. But it could well have ended in marriage if not for Madame de Renal’s letter, written under the influence of the Jesuit brothers. “So many magnificent plans - and then in an instant... it all crumbles into dust,” thinks Sorel.

Madame de Renal's letter destroyed all of Julien's plans and put an end to his career. Seeking revenge, he commits a reckless act - he shoots Madame de Renal in the Verieres church.

So, everything that Julien had been striving for so long and purposefully, to prove that he was a Personality, was destroyed. After this there will be prison, trial, sentence. Thinking for a long time before the trial, Julien understands that he has nothing to repent of: it was the very society where he was so eager to get into that wanted to break him, in his person it decided to punish those young people of low class who dared to penetrate into “good society.” Julien finds the courage to face death with dignity. This is how an intelligent and extraordinary person dies, who decided to make a career without disdaining any means.

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Stendhal gave brilliant confirmation of the correctness of his aesthetic program in the novel “Red and Black,” which he worked on in 1829-1830. The novel appeared in November 1830 and bore the subtitle “Chronicle of the 19th Century.” This subtitle alone indicates that Stendhal attached the broadest, epoch-making meaning to the fate of his hero.

Meanwhile, this fate - due to its unusualness, extraordinaryness - at a superficial glance may seem private, isolated. This understanding seems to be facilitated by the fact that Stendhal borrowed the plot of the novel from a court chronicle. In 1827, in his hometown of Grenoble, public opinion was agitated by the trial of a certain Antoine Berthe, a young man who was a home teacher in the family of a nobleman. He fell in love with the mother of his pupils and, in a fit of jealousy, tried to shoot her. At the beginning of 1828, Berthe was executed. This story largely formed the basis of Stendhal’s novel.

So, it’s like an exceptional case, a newspaper sensation, almost material for a detective or pulp novel. However, Stendhal's very appeal to that source was far from accidental. It turns out that he had long been interested in the “court newspaper”, because it seemed to him one of the most important documents of his era. In private tragedies like Bertha's, Stendhal saw a significant trend for society.

Stendhal was one of the first to grope for one of the most painful nerves of his century, its social system, based on the suppression of personality and therefore naturally giving rise to crime. It turns out that the point is not that the person crossed the line, but what line he crossed, what law he violated. From this point of view, the novel “Red and Black” demonstrates in the sharpest form the opposition between the natural rights of the individual and the framework that the law provides for the implementation of these rights.

Stendhal sharpens this problem to the extreme by taking as his hero an extraordinary personality of plebeian origin. His Julien Sorel is the son of a carpenter, but at the same time a man obsessed with ambitious aspirations. His ambition, if not alien to vanity, is completely alien to greed. He first of all wants to take his rightful place in the social system. He is well aware that he is not only no worse than others who are successful, but also smarter and more serious than them. Julien Sorel is ready to use his energy, his strength for the benefit of society, and not just for his personal benefit. But at the same time, he knows well that his plebeian origin hangs like a heavy burden on his dreams.

It is very important to realize this socio-psychological basis of Julien’s behavior. If he tries for a very long time to adapt to official morality, then this is not just an elementary calculation of hypocrisy; yes, he quickly realized how he needed to behave, but in all his exploits of hypocrisy there is always bitterness because fate left him, a plebeian, no other way, and the belief that this is only a necessary temporary tactic, and also self-loving pride: here he is, a plebeian, so easily and quickly, no worse than others, he learned the laws of the world, the rules of the game. Success in hypocrisy hurts his soul, his sensitive, fundamentally sincere nature, but also pleases his plebeian pride! The main thing for him is not to get to the top, but to prove that he can get to the top if he wants. This is a very important nuance. Julien does not become a wolf among wolves: it is no coincidence that Stendhal nowhere puts his hero in such a situation that he “gnaws others” - as, for example, Balzac’s Lucien is ready to do about “Lost Illusions”. Julien Sorel, unlike him, nowhere acts as a traitor, nowhere does he follow the corpses, the destinies of other people. Where the tactics of hypocrisy come into particularly sharp conflict with natural feeling and morality, Julien always seems to fall into a trap: feeling in the critical moment always wins over his reason, his heart over the cold logic of opportunism.

It is no coincidence that Stendhal pays so much attention to Julien’s love adventures; they are like a litmus test of his true human worth. After all, at first he prudently makes both Madame de Renal and Matilda fall in love with him - seemingly according to the same logic to which Balzac’s heroes always remain faithful. The love of a secular woman for them is the surest path to success. For Julien, of course, the main thing here is the self-affirmation of a plebeian, but outwardly he is also inclined to consider love affairs as steps towards achieving his goals.

I would call the image of Julien Sorel a triumph of Stendhal's psychologism and democracy at the same time. Julien's entire psychology, as we have seen, is marked by the consciousness of plebeian pride, a constantly infringed sense of one's own human dignity. This restless soul, this proud man, perishes because he strives for happiness, and society offers him only means to achieve his goal that are deeply disgusting to him; disgusted because he is “not a wolf by blood.” And Stendhal clearly connects this inner honesty of his with his plebeianism. The idea that in the bourgeois age true passion and true greatness of soul are possible only among the common people is Stendhal’s favorite, cherished thought. It is here that Stendhal's theme of passion acquires a clearly expressed democratic character.

It is no coincidence, of course, that on the pages of the novel, in connection with the image of Julien, a variety of people more than once have associations with figures of the French Revolution - Danton and Robespierre. The image of Julien Sorel is completely covered with this atmospheric breath of revolution, revolt - precisely plebeian revolt.

Outwardly, this conclusion when applied to Julien may seem like a stretch, because outwardly his path throughout the novel seems to be the path of a hypocritical ambitious and careerist (unfriendly critics even called Stendhal’s book a “textbook of hypocrisy”). Climbing from step to step on the social ladder of the Restoration era, from the modest position of a home teacher in a provincial provincial town to the position of secretary of the all-powerful Marquis de la Mole in Paris. Julien is a hypocrite throughout. True, we have already found out that such behavior is imposed on him by society itself. Already in Verrieres - at the first stage of his biography - Julien understands what is required of him. The slightest suspicion of liberalism, of freethinking, can instantly deprive a person of his social position: and please, Sorel declares La Fontaine’s fables immoral; worshiping Napoleon in his soul, he scolds him in public, because in the era of the Restoration this is the surest path. He is no less successful in his hypocrisy in Paris, in the house of the Marquis de la Mole. In the image of the intelligent demagogue de la Mole, critics see similarities with Talleyrand, one of the most cunning politicians in France at that time, a man who managed to remain in government positions under all the numerous French political regimes of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Talleyrand elevated hypocrisy to the rank of state policy and left France with brilliant, French-honed formulas for this hypocrisy.

So, in Julien’s story we must distinguish two layers, two dimensions. On the surface we have before us the story of an adaptable, hypocritical, careerist man, who makes his way to the top through not always perfect paths - one might say, the classic role of French realistic literature of the 19th century, and Balzac's novels in particular. At this level, in this dimension, Julien Sorel is a version of Eugene Rastignac, Lucien Chardon, later Maupassant's "dear friend." But in the depths of the plot in Julien’s story, other laws operate - there is a parallel line, there the adventures of a soul unfold, which is structured “in Italian”, that is, driven not by calculation, not by hypocrisy, but by passion and those same “first instincts”, which, according to Talleyrand, should be feared, because they are always noble. Against this initial nobility, I repeat, all of Julien’s seemingly impeccably constructed and calculated strategic dispositions are broken.

At first, these two lines are not even perceived by us, we do not even suspect their presence and their secret work, secret interaction. We perceive the image of Julien Sorel in strict accordance with the model: he suppresses all the best impulses in himself for the sake of his career. But there comes a moment in the development of the plot when we stop in confusion. The logic of the “model” breaks down abruptly. This is the scene when Julien shoots Madame de Renal for her “denunciation.” Until this moment, according to the plot, Sorel has risen to another very important step: he is already in Paris, he is the secretary of the influential Marquis de la Mole and he falls in love with his daughter ( or rather, he makes her fall in love with him). Madame de Renal, his former love, remained somewhere there, in Verrieres, she is already forgotten, she has already passed the stage, but Madame de Renal, having learned about Julien’s upcoming marriage to Matilda de. la Mole, writes a “denunciation” against him to Matilda’s father in order to warn his father against this “dangerous” man, of whom she herself became a victim. Having learned about this, Julien, without telling anyone, goes to Verrieres, arrives there on Sunday, enters. church and shoots Madame de Renal. He, of course, is immediately arrested as a murderer.

This entire external “detective” outline is described clearly, dynamically, without any emotion - Stendhal reports only “bare facts”, without explaining anything. He, so meticulous in motivating the actions of his hero, left a gaping hole precisely here, in the motivation of his crime. And this is exactly what amazes readers - and not only readers, but also critics. The scene of Julien's assassination attempt on Madame de Renal gave rise to a lot of interpretations - because it did not fit into the “model”, into logic.

What's going on here? From the most superficial, factual point of view, Julien Sorel takes revenge on the woman who ruined his career with her denunciation, i.e., it seems like the act of a careerist. But the question immediately arises: what kind of careerist is this, if it is clear to everyone that he is completely ruining himself here - not only his career, but his life in general! This means that even if we have a careerist in front of us, he is a very uncalculating and impulsive one. And to be even more precise, at this moment Julien actually makes a choice, preferring death, certain suicide, to a career and its further humiliations. This means that the element of those very internal impulses that Julien had previously suppressed in himself finally burst into the external picture of the role, into the role of the careerist. The inner dimension, the hidden, parallel line came to the surface here. And now, after this dimension has entered the plot, Stendhal can give an explanation and reveal the mystery of the Julien shot.

Sitting in prison, Sorel reflects: “I was insulted in the most cruel way.” And when he finds out that Madame de Renal is alive, he is overcome with wild joy and relief. Now all his thoughts are with Madame de Renal. So what happened? It turns out that in this obvious crisis of consciousness (in “half-madness”) Julien instinctively acted as if he was already aware of his first love for Madame de Renal as the only true value of his life - only value. “repressed” from consciousness, from the heart under the influence of the demands of external, “masked” life. Julien seemed to have thrown off all this external life from himself here, forgot about her, forgot everything that happened after his love for Madame de Renal, as if he had purified himself - and without the slightest embarrassment he considers himself insulted, he, who betrayed Madame de Renal, in his “masked” life, acts in these scenes as if he considers Madame de Renal a traitor; It was she who turned out to be a “traitor”, and he punishes her for it!

Here Julien finds his true self, returns to the purity and spontaneity of spiritual impulses, his first true feeling. The second dimension has won in him, his first and only love is still Madame de Renal, and he now rejects all Matilda’s attempts to free him. Matilda used all her connections - and she is, in general, almost omnipotent - and achieved success: only one thing is required of Julien - to make a repentant speech at the trial. It would seem that he should do this - lie just one more time and thereby save his life - after all, everyone has already been bribed! But now he doesn’t want to save his life at such a price, he doesn’t want to take on a new lie - after all, this would mean not only returning to the world of universal corruption and hypocrisy, but also taking upon himself, of course, a moral obligation to Matilda, whom he already doesn't like it. And so he pushes away Matilda’s help - and at the trial, instead of a repentant speech, he delivers an indictment speech against modern society. This is how the original moral principle, which was originally inherent in Julien’s nature, triumphs, and this is how his nonconformism is fully revealed.

The novel ends with the physical death and spiritual enlightenment of the hero. This harmonious balance in the finale, this simultaneous recognition of the bitter truth of life and soaring above it gives Stendhal's tragic novel a surprisingly optimistic, major sound.

Julien Sorel- the main character of Stendhal's novel "The Red and the Black".
The tragedy of Julien Sorel— lies, first of all, in the inability to realize one’s ideals in the reality around him. Julien does not feel like he belongs among the aristocrats, nor among the bourgeoisie, nor among the clergy, nor, especially, among the peasants.

Image of Julien Sorel "Red and Black"

Julien Sorel is a representative of the generation of the early 20s of the 19th century. He has the features of a romantic hero: independence, self-esteem, the desire to change fate, the desire to fight and achieve goals. He is a bright personality, everything about him is above the norm: strength of mind, will, dreaminess, determination.
Our hero is the son of a carpenter. He lives in the small provincial town of Verrieres with his brothers and father and dreams of breaking out into the big world. No one in Verrieres understands him. “Everyone at home despised him, and he hated his brothers and father...” From early childhood, the young man raved about military service, his idol was Napoleon. After much thought, he decides: the only way to achieve something in life and escape from Verrieres is to become a priest. “To break through for Julien first of all meant breaking out of Verrieres; he hated his homeland. Everything he saw here chilled his imagination.”

And here is the first victory, the first “public appearance”. Julien is invited to his house by the mayor of Verrieres, Mr. de Renal, as a children's teacher. A month later, the children adored the young teacher, the father of the family began to respect him, and Madame de Renal felt something more than simple respect for him. However, Julien felt like a stranger here: “he felt only hatred and disgust for this high society, where he was allowed only to the edge of the table...”
Life in the house of Mr. de Renal was filled with hypocrisy, the desire for profit, the struggle for power, intrigue and gossip. “Julien’s conscience began to whisper to him: “Here it is - this is dirty wealth, which you too can achieve and enjoy, but only in this company. O Napoleon! How wonderful your time was!..” Julien felt alone in this world. Thanks to the patronage of priest Shelan, Sorel entered the Besançon Theological Seminary. “If Julien is just a wavering reed, let him perish, and if he is a courageous man, let him break through himself,” Abbot Pirard said about him. And Julien began to make his way.
He studied diligently, but kept aloof from seminarians. Very soon I saw that “knowledge is not worth a penny here,” because “success in the sciences seems suspicious.” Julien understood what was encouraged: hypocrisy, “ascetic piety.” No matter how hard the young man tried to pretend to be a fool and a nonentity, he could not please either the seminarians or the seminary authorities - he was too different from the others.

And finally, his first promotion: he was appointed tutor on the New and Old Testaments. Julien felt the support of Abbot Pirard and was grateful to him for this. And suddenly - an unexpected meeting with the bishop, which decided his fate. Julien moves to Paris, to the house of the Marquis de La Mole and becomes his personal secretary. Another victory. Life begins in the marquis's mansion. What does he see? “In this mansion no flattering comments were allowed about Beranger, about opposition newspapers, about Voltaire, about Rousseau, or about anything that even slightly smacked of freethinking and politics. The slightest living thought seemed rude.”
A new light was opening up before him. But this new light was the same as the light in Verrieres and Besançon. Everything was based on hypocrisy and profit. Julien accepts all the rules of the game and tries to make a career. A brilliant victory awaited him. But an affair with the marquis’s daughter Matilda upset all of Julien’s plans. Mathilde, this jaded social beauty, was attracted to Julien by his intelligence, originality and boundless ambition. But this love was not at all similar to the bright and bright feeling that connected Julien with Madame de Renal. The love of Matilda and Julien was more like a duel between two ambitious people. But it could well have ended in marriage if not for Madame de Renal’s letter, written under the influence of the Jesuit brothers. “So many magnificent plans - and then in an instant... it all crumbles into dust,” Sorel thinks.
Madame de Renal's letter destroyed all of Julien's plans and put an end to his career. Seeking revenge, he commits a reckless act - he shoots Madame de Renal in the Verrieres church.