The Red and the Black

Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) is a psychological novel in two volumes by Stendhal, published in 1830 under the full title Chronique du XIXe siecle. It follows Julien Sorel, a carpenter's son from the fictional village of Verrieres in Franche-Comte, who tries to rise beyond his modest origins through talent, hard work, deception and hypocrisy, and finally lets his passions betray him. His path runs from tutor in the household of the mayor Monsieur de Renal, through a seminary in Besancon, to secretary to the Marquis de la Mole in Paris. The book is at once a portrait of a romantic protagonist and a satire of French society under the Bourbon Restoration, accusing aristocracy and clergy of hypocrisy and materialism. The title is read as the tension between military and clerical careers, or as an allusion to the card game rouge et noir. The novel has been filmed and staged many times, including a 1954 French film.