Image by Julien Sorel “Red and Black. The image of Julien Sorel (detailed description of the hero of the novel “Red and Black”) Red and black in the life of Sorel

Stendhal's novel "Red and Black" is the pinnacle French realism. There is amazing detail here, and the political, social and psychological realities of the time are described in detail. However, the hero of the novel, Julien Sorel, belongs to romantic heroes, therefore, his existence in circumstances typical of the era turns into a tragedy.

“Red and Black” is a book whose title has been making readers think and analyze what is behind it for many years. When reading the work, the answer to this question does not become obvious and assumes multiple options, which everyone resolves for themselves. Direct associations appear primarily with internal state Julien Sorel, who combined the desire to find himself, accomplish a feat, become educated person, but at the same time there is self-interest, vanity, the goal of achieving success by any means. The title also indicates the general theme of the work. These two colors: red and black, in their combination symbolize a certain anxiety, a struggle that occurs within people and around them. Red is blood, love, desire, black is base motives, betrayal. In their mixture, these colors give rise to the drama that occurs in the lives of the heroes.

Red and black are the colors of roulette, a symbol of excitement that has become vitality main character. He alternately bet on the red (on the help of his mistresses, on his charm, etc.) and on the black (on deceit, meanness, etc.). This idea is prompted by the fatal hobby of the author himself: he was a passionate gambler.

Another interpretation: red is a military uniform, black is a priest’s cassock. The hero rushed between dreams and reality, and this conflict between the desired and the actual destroyed him.

Also, the combination of these colors forms the tragic ending of the ambitious hero: blood on the ground, red and black. The unfortunate young man could do so much, but he could only stain the ground with the blood of his mistress.

In addition, many researchers suggest that the contrasting combination of colors signifies the main conflict of the novel - the choice between honor and death: either shed blood or allow oneself to be denigrated.

What is the book about?

Stendhal tells readers about the life of a young man, Julien Sorel, who gets a job as a tutor in the house of Mr. de Renal and his wife. Throughout the book, the reader observes the internal struggle of this purposeful person, his emotions, actions, mistakes, managing to be indignant and empathize at the same time. The most important line of the novel is the theme of love and jealousy, complex relationships and feelings of people of different ages and different statuses.

The young man’s career took him to the very top, promising many joys, among which he was looking for only one - respect. Ambition pushed him forward, but it also drove him into a dead end, because the opinion of society turned out to be more valuable to him than life.

The image of the main character

Julien Sorel is the son of a carpenter, fluent in Latin, a smart, purposeful and handsome young man. This is a young man who knows what he wants and who is ready to make any sacrifice to achieve his goals. The young man is ambitious and smart, he craves fame and success, dreaming first of a military career and then of a career as a priest. Many of Julien’s actions are dictated by base motives, a thirst for revenge, a thirst for recognition and worship, but he is not a negative character, but rather a contradictory and complex character placed in difficult life conditions. The image of Sorel contains the character traits of a revolutionary, a gifted commoner who is not ready to put up with his position in society.

The plebeian complex makes the hero ashamed of his origin and look for a way to another social reality. It is this painful conceit that explains his assertiveness: he is sure that he deserves more. It is no coincidence that Napoleon, a native of the people who managed to subjugate dignitaries and nobles, becomes his idol. Sorel firmly believes in his star, and that’s all, and therefore loses faith in God, in love, in people. His unscrupulousness leads to tragedy: trampling on the foundations of society, he, like his idol, finds himself rejected and expelled by it.

Topics and problems

The novel raises many issues. This is a choice life path, and the formation of character, and the conflict of a person with society. To consider any of them, it is important to understand the historical context: the Great French Revolution, Napoleon, the mindset of a whole generation of youth, the Restoration. Stendhal thought in these categories; he was one of those people who personally saw the breakdown of society and were impressed by this spectacle. Besides global problems who wear social character and are associated with the events of the era, the work also describes the complexities of relationships between people, love, jealousy, betrayal - that is, what exists outside of time and is always perceived by readers close to the heart.

The main problem in the novel “Red and Black” is, of course, social injustice. A talented commoner cannot make his way into the ranks, even though he is smarter than the nobility and more capable. This person also does not find himself in his own environment: he is hated even in his family. Inequality is felt by everyone, so a gifted young man is envied and in every possible way prevented from realizing his skills. Such hopelessness pushes him to desperate steps, and the ostentatious virtue of priests and dignitaries only confirms the hero’s intention to go against the moral principles of society. This idea is confirmed by the history of the creation of the novel “Red and Black”: the author found a note in the newspaper about the execution young man. It was this brief account of someone else’s grief that inspired him to fill in the missing details and create a realistic novel dedicated to the problem of social inequality. He suggests that the conflict between personality and environment should not be assessed so unambiguously: people do not have the right to take Sorel’s life, because it was they who made him this way.

What is the meaning of the novel?

The story itself contained in the novel is not fiction, but real events that greatly impressed Standhal. That is why the author chose Danton’s phrase “Truth. Bitter truth". It so happened that one day, while reading a newspaper, the writer read about the court case of Antoine Berthe, from whom the image of Sorel was copied. In this regard, the social problems of the work become even more obvious, which characterizes a difficult era and makes us think about it. Then a person was faced with a very acute question of choice: to preserve his spiritual purity in poverty or to go straight ahead and head over heels to success. Although Julien chooses the second, he is also deprived of the opportunity to achieve something, because immorality will never become the basis of happiness. A hypocritical society will willingly close its eyes to her, but only for a certain time, and when it opens, it will immediately isolate itself from the criminal taken by surprise. This means that Sorel’s tragedy is a verdict on unprincipledness and ambition. The real victory of the individual is self-respect, and not the endless search for this respect from the outside. Julien lost because he could not accept himself for who he is.

Psychologism of Stendhal

Psychologism is characteristic feature Stendhal's creativity. It manifests itself in the fact that, along with the story about the actions and deeds of the character and the general picture of the events described, the author, at a higher level of analysis, describes the reasons and motives for the hero’s actions. Thus, the writer balances on the brink between boiling passions and the mind analyzing them, creating the feeling that at the same time when the hero commits an act, he is being continuously monitored. For example, this all-seeing eye shows the reader how Julien carefully hides his sentence from view: little Napoleon, whose veneration has already left its mark on the actions of the hero from the very beginning of his journey. This expressive detail points us to the soul of Sorel - a trembling moth striving for fire. He repeated the fate of Napoleon, winning the desired world, but failing to keep it.

Genre originality of the novel

The novel combines the features of romanticism and realism. This is evidenced by life basis stories filled with deep and varied feelings and ideas. This is a feature of realism. But the hero is romantic, endowed with specific features. He is in conflict with society, but at the same time he is outstanding, educated and handsome. His loneliness is a proud desire to rise above the crowd; he despises his environment. His intelligence and abilities tragically remain unnecessary and unfulfilled. Nature follows in his footsteps, framing the feelings and events in his life with its colors.

The work is often characterized as psychological and social, and it is difficult to disagree with this, since it unusually mixes the events of reality and a detailed assessment of the internal motives of the characters. Throughout the novel, the reader can observe a constant correlation outside world in general and inner world man, and it remains unclear which of these worlds is the most complex and contradictory.

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"Who is to blame for the tragedy of Julien Sorel?",
essay on Stendhal's "Red and Black"

Each of us tends to experience ups and downs. But not every one of us is able to look for our mistakes in our own falls. It is always much easier to blame others: loved ones, society, government, turbulent times. A person has such a view of life when he sees himself as a victim, while those around him are aggressors towards him. He considers himself cunning, smart, talented, but, unfortunately, such that he was born at the wrong time when these qualities would be appreciated. But at one point he realizes that there are smarter and more cunning people, and all his problems are his own fault with his excessive pride. A striking example of such a person is main character Stendhal's novel "The Red and the Black", Julien Sorel. His tragic fate was written off from real life, that’s why it’s so clear to us. Who is to blame for Julien’s tragedy: he or the society of the rich, which he tried so hard to get into?
The son of a carpenter, an ordinary plebeian, Julien, of course, wanted to climb up the social ladder. To do this, he became the tutor of Mr. de Renal's children. He managed to introduce himself to the servants and made his employer treat him with respect. This is where his mistakes began. The mistress of the house, Madame de Renal, fell in love with him, and he decided to strengthen these feelings, believing that by doing this he would take revenge on Mr. de Renal, and in his person, the entire petty nobility. The actions he hoped to take to do this seemed perfect to him, but were rather pointless.
Moving forward, entering the seminary, Julien continued to make mistakes. Considering himself an unsurpassed hypocrite, he stood out among other seminarians for his knowledge, which the latter did not like at all. They considered him an upstart, arrogant and vain, and tried in every possible way to harm him.
Then he repeatedly did careless things, relying too much on his own strength. And when he was already one step away from the goal, past errors “threw” him down. A letter from Madame de Renal to the Marquis de La Mole ruined all the guy’s plans. In desperation, he nearly shot his former lover.
Sitting in prison, Julien rethought all his actions, realized that he was too self-confidently walking through a world ruled by money and titles. But in his opinion, the arrogant society of the rich was to blame for all his troubles.
Who is to blame for Sorel's tragedy? Him or society? In my opinion, it is he. Of course, not everyone manages to get from the bottom to the cream of society, but there are still those who succeed. To do this, they need to soberly assess their own strengths. It was this sobriety of view that Julien lacked, and, as for me, this was precisely what became the cause of his tragedy.

The character and fate of Julien Sorel. The novel "Red and Black" was published in 1831. The original title of this work is “Julien Sorel”. This means that the main thing in the novel is to comprehend the essence of the main character, whose story expresses the characteristics of the era that gave birth to him.

The story of Julien Sorel was not invented by the writer. French newspapers wrote a lot about the case of a certain Antoine Berge, who at the age of nineteen was taken as a tutor to one of the rich families of Grenoble. During a church service, he shot first at the mother of his pupils, and then at himself, after which he was executed by court verdict.

Julien Sorel was born in a small provincial town. He is a plebeian by birth, the son of a carpenter. His father is a cruel, selfish, greedy man. In the family, Julien does not see love, participation, affection. Endowed with extraordinary mental abilities, the young man dreams of a career.

The idol of Julien Sorel is Napoleon, a man who forged his own destiny and reached the heights of power. Julien worships his hero, repeatedly re-reads materials about Bonaparte’s Italian campaign, and cherishes ambitious dreams of his own rise and glory. He implements it in his own way life principles Napoleon. Napoleon took the fortresses one after another. Julien is trying to conquer, like a fortress, the heart of the noblewoman Madame de Renal. He does it every day new step on the path of establishing his “I”, his equality with those who, by the will of fate, rise above him. Life convinces Julien that happiness is money and power, but his heart overturns all cold calculations and hypocritical plans. He finds genuine, albeit short-lived, happiness in the arms of Madame de Renal, who loves him passionately and selflessly.

Forced to leave the de Renal family, he goes to the Besançon seminary, and then to Paris. Here, on the recommendation of his mentor Abbe Pirard, he becomes the personal secretary of the brand t.i de La Mole. The Marquis brings Julien closer to him, and his daughter Matilda singles Julien out among the young people around her. 11o relations with Matilda, who is oppressed by routine, gray everyday life and who dreams of rising up, leaving society behind with her love for the carpenter’s son, are more reminiscent of both two ambitious people. There is no sincere feeling here, as with Madame de Renal.

Julien's shot is a gesture of despair towards the cruel fate that crushed all his hopes at the last minute. Julien is sentenced to death penalty. The accusation of baseness and dishonesty is unfair, because the hero tried to live according to the laws of duty and honor. He is doomed not so much by the crime as by the fact that he tried to prove to the aristocrats his right to be on an equal footing with them.

A romantic, a dreamer, an ardent nature, Julien was born too late. He should have lived in times of revolutionary storms, when the dominant color was red. But new times have come - the Restoration, the era of black, and Julien chooses a black cassock. The arena of the struggle between red and black becomes the soul of the hero. The tragedy of Julien Sorel is that his dreams of personal happiness and civic service did not come true. This is the tragedy of a heroic character forced to live in a non-heroic era, in an era of timelessness.

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, with the subtlest shades, he analyzes the 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 the world realistic literature of the 19th century 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 a love affair with the owner’s wife - the mother of his pupils, lost his position. Then the young man was expelled from the theological seminary, then from service in a Parisian aristocratic mansion, where he was compromised by his 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 among the people might have done 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 that world to which he does not have a birthright to belong. 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 called society."

In the image of Julien Sorel, Stendhal captured the most significant character traits of a young man early XIX century, which absorbed the most important features of its people, awakened to the life of 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 going on in his soul; the desire for a career and revolutionary ideas, cold calculation and bright romantic feelings.

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 an 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 living soul, despite the violence against her, 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 career aspirations, with which he recently associated ideas of happiness, and therefore, awaiting execution, refuses help powerful of the world this, who can free 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 fault is not that he shot Madame de Renal, but that he dared to be indignant social injustice and rebel against your miserable 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.

Composition

The emergence of realism as artistic method occurred at a time when the leading role in literary process Romantics played. And one of the first writers to take the path of classical realism were such masters of words as Merimee, Balzac, and Stendhal. Stendhal was the first to substantiate the main principles and programs of the new movement, and then with the great artistic skill embodied in his works. Rejecting the aesthetics of classicism, he advocated for the expansion of the subject of depiction in art, for the abolition of forbidden subjects and themes, for the presentation of life in all its completeness and contradictions. Therefore, his novels were a completely new stage in the development of literature. He posed questions that no writer had dared to touch upon before him; he gave the plots a development that no one could even imagine in those days. He put deep philosophical, moral meaning.

One of the writer’s most significant works was his novel “Red and Black,” which the author quite accurately called “a chronicle of the 19th century.” The plot of the novel is based on real story about the trial of a certain young man. Being the son of a simple peasant, he wanted to make a career in society and first became a tutor in the house of a local rich man. However, he lost his job because he was caught having an affair with the wife of the owner of the house. From that moment on, failures and losses accompanied the young man at every step.

They eventually led him down the path of suicide. It would seem a rather simple, prosaic plot. However, Stendhal expanded its scope so much and put a completely new meaning into it that the resulting work became a real masterpiece of world literature.

Instead of a petty ambitious person striving for a career and wealth, the writer placed at the center of his novel a heroic and tragic personality who dared to rebel against the injustice, cruelty and vulgarity of the world around him. Stendhal revealed to us all the complex and contradictory peace of mind hero, reflected the path of formation and changes in his character and worldview, presented the complex and dramatic interaction of him with environment. The hero of the novel “The Red and the Black,” Julien Sorel, before deciding to take an action or deed, subjects himself and the situation to strict analysis and enters into an argument with himself. Julien is surrounded by a world of self-interest, profit and spiritual emptiness. At the same time, he himself remains completely indifferent to wealth. The young man is endowed with exceptional honesty and fortitude, perseverance in achieving goals, enormous courage and energy. Sorel's main problem, which does not allow him to establish himself in the world around him, is his low origin.

During the time of Stendhal, people from provincial peasant strata were deprived of any rights; they were not recognized or accepted by society. They pass in front of us different people, different families, different cities. But everywhere we see the same thing: the same injustice, the same division between the poor and the rich, and therefore between those who have all the rights and privileges and those who are deprived of all rights. Outrage at such injustice leads the hero on a revolutionary path of indignation and attempts to change the existing order. Wealthy representatives of high society feel the power of Sorel and the threat emanating from him: “Beware of this energetic young man! - says the son of the Marquis de La Mole. “If there is a revolution again, he will send us all to the guillotine.” “Isn’t this the new Danton?” - Matilda thinks about her lover, trying to understand what role he can play in the revolution.

At first glance, it may seem that Julien, like his prototype, strives for fame and wealth. But, getting to know this man better, we understand that he is not interested in money at all, and fame is an unnecessary, useless and empty concept for him. The only thing that matters to the hero is his own human dignity. Sorel received a good upbringing and can do a lot in this life. He has many talents, intelligence and exceptional abilities. But society does not give him the opportunity to realize himself. The world fetters his aspirations, kills his impulses, and limits his freedom. And freedom and pride are something that Stendhal’s hero could never give up. That’s why he so dreamily watches the flight of a hawk, as if imagining himself in the place of this proud bird, freely soaring in the skies. Outraged by the injustice of the surrounding society and at the same time surrounded by proud people, confident in their strength and power over the world, Sorel himself partly becomes like them. But only with regard to the ability to manage people. Napoleon becomes his ideal in this.

Inspired by the example of the emperor and firmly confident in his own omnipotence, in the omnipotence of his will, energy, and talent, Stendhal’s hero makes daring plans to achieve his goal. However, in this world it is impossible to make a decent career and achieve fame in an honest way. And honor is a concept that Julien will never agree to part with, which Julien will never sacrifice, even in the name of achieving his own goal. Hence the main tragedy, the main contradiction of this image. Julien Sorel's independent and noble spirit collides with his ambitious aspirations. And this struggle turns out to be cruel and merciless for the hero himself.

The desire to take a worthy place in society leads to certain results - Julien becomes Viscount de Verneuil and the son-in-law of the powerful Marquis. But on the way to fame, Sorel gradually loses his best human qualities. Moreover, despite significant achievements and successes, he does not feel happy, he is not satisfied with the life he lives. After all, in spite of everything, a living soul still remained in him. Largely spoiled by the world and his own ambition, Julien Sorel does not yet fully understand the reasons for his dissatisfaction. And only the fatal shot at Louise de Renal reveals the whole truth to him. The shock experienced by the hero after crime committed, turns his whole life upside down, makes him rethink all his previous values. This tragedy morally cleanses and enlightens the hero, freeing his soul from the vices instilled by society. Now Sorel sees how illusory his ambitious desire for a career really is, how untenable and erroneous his ideas about happiness as an invariable consequence of fame are. Now his attitude towards Matilda, whose marriage was supposed to confirm his position in high society.

Matilda now becomes for him a clear embodiment of his ambitious aspirations, for the sake of which he was ready to make a deal with his conscience. Realizing his mistakes, feeling the insignificance of his previous aspirations and ideals, Julien refuses the help of the powers that be who are capable of freeing him. Thus, the best that was in the character of Julien Sorel wins. He dies, but emerges victorious in the fight against society.

Other works on this work

Julien Sorel - characteristics of a literary hero Female images in Stendhal's novel “Red and Black” The spiritual struggle of Julien Sorel in Stendhal's novel “The Red and the Black” Julien Sorel's inner struggle and his epiphany The character and fate of Julien Sorel