In Pursuit of Desire: a Study of The Stendhalian Protagonist Julien Sorel in Scarlet and Black

Scarlet and Black also titled as The Red and the Black (Le Rouge et le Noir) is a 19th Century French novel by Marie Henri Beyle popularly known as Stendhal, which explores the life of a young man whose ambitious and passionate nature leads to his tragic downfall. In this piece of fiction set during the Bourbon revolution, a period of socio-political importance in French history, Stendhal beautifully combines romanticism and realism to describe the journey of his hero. The psychologist in Stendhal also gives the readers an insight into Julien’s scheming aspirations and finally, repentance following the guilt of attempting to murder his true love in the pursuit of his ambitions. This psychological perspective is considered a result of the influence of medical books especially Pinel’s Traite which Stendhal read in 1805 and 1810 showing greater interest in one of its chapters, Art of Counterbalancing the Human Passions by Others of Equal or Superior Force, an Important Part of Medicine (Kete, 2005). Thus, this essay will examine how desire in the Stendhalian protagonist is unveiled in Scarlet and Black.

From the very beginning, Julien stands out in character due to his love for reading and knowledge and spirit. Even in the family, he is considered different from the family members which can be seen through the father’s attitude: "He might have forgiven Julien his small size, so little adapted to heavy labor, and unlike the build of his older brothers, but this mad craze for reading was hateful to him. He himself could not read" (Stendhal, 1831). It is this passion for reading that enables Julien to receive the post as a tutor in an aristocrat’s household as the first step towards realizing his dreams. Furthermore, he carefully chooses the clergy over a military profession because of the power yielded by the church especially in French politics during this period and the good living given to the clergy. He maintains close relations with Father Chelan from whom he gets training in theology with the prospect of entering the clergy. Nevertheless, Father Chelan who has “a troubled glimpse, deep down, of a dark ambition” within Julien, doubts his intentions of being a priest (Stendhal, 1831). Father Chelan whom Julien dearly adores is perhaps the only person who manages to catch a glimpse of Julien’s soul. The protagonist does always face an internal conflict when his moral codes are compromised in his journey to fulfil his goals and aims. However, since “ambition was still his central passion… [which] was indeed his pleasure in possessing”, he has to most of the time go against his conscience to gain material benefits (Stendhal, 1831). Furthermore, in Father Pirard’ seminary, he stands out from among the other students due to his liberal ideologies and spirit. Most importantly, he earns the respect and favour of the strict Father Pirard through whom greater connections in society are made particularly with the introduction to Monsieur de la Mole. In addition, like Stendhal himself, Julien is an ardent secret admirer of Napoleon and his heroic feats which continue to inspire him (Gleeson-White, 2012). Thus, Stendhal has made the protagonist stand out from the outset due to his attractive traits and too ambitious nature. Despite his dislike for the aristocrats or royalists, Julien Sorel uses them to climb the social ladder and pursue his inordinate aspirations.

Similar to Stendhal, Julien was a liberal who despised the ways of the bourgeois, their treatment of the lower classes, in particular. However, the difference between the two is that Stendhal who was raised in Grenoble, was originally of a Jesuit Royalist family background which he grew to criticize while his fictional hero is of a lower rank in society with a natural tendency to dislike the upper class (“Stendhal”, 2016). In the novel, Julien hides his genuine political inclinations and manages to impress the de Renal household, specially, the Mayor of the provincial Verrieres, Monsieur de Renal and even his rival Monsieur Valenod, through displays of memorized knowledge of the bible and other readings. However, Julien being a proud creature, initially, expresses his discontent at being offered a position as a tutor in Monsieur de Renal’s house mainly because of the fear of being reduced to the position of a servant in his household. “The horror of eating with the servants was not something natural to Julien; to make his fortune he would have done other things equally unpalatable” shows that he would do anything to make his way in life (Stendhal, 1831). Later on, in the novel, he even gains the favour of the powerful Monsieur de la Mole due to his clever dealings with politics and reputation as a good tutor. Although the fictional hero gains many advantages from these important people in order to fulfil his inordinate aspirations and even the opportunity to ride in the honour guard of the king’s parade, he continues to secretly criticize and disapprove of their life-styles and attitudes. Despite all this criticism, he furtively aspires to belong to their world by hiding behind a religious façade. Hence, he can be perceived as a hypocrite as “hypocrisy and an absence of all sympathy were the usual methods of protecting himself” (Stendhal, 1831). By putting up appearances and gaining a good reputation through his knowledge of books, the protagonist, thus, enters the upper class society which is one step towards realising his goals.

Two important relationships that play an important role in Julien’s plans are his affair with Madame de Renal and Mlle. Mathilde. The spirit and fervour within Julien attract both women who had never been in love before. This can be seen in the instant attraction Madame de Renal feels for Julien in their first meeting, For her part, Madame de Rênal was utterly beguiled by his fine complexion, his great black eyes, and his lovely hair, which was curlier than most men’s—since, to freshen up, he’d just plunged his head into the waters of the public fountain (Stendhal, 1831). Julien uses this bewitching personality to seduce Mme. de Renal in order to get educated on many things about refined society and its politics through his discussions with her, which he finds useful for his schemes in the near future. However, his first relations with the delicate and charming Mme. De Renal, can be considered the point in which he understands true love or the “presence of being in love” (Haig, 1891). It can be perceived that his feelings for her were genuine as he realises his true passion for her when he is confined to the cell and repents his crime, as “in his heart, ambition had died, but from its ashes another passion had emerged: he called it remorse for having tried to kill Madame de Rênal” (Stendhal, 1831). In contrast, his affair with the proud and haughty Mlle. Mathilde can be considered more of an intellectual attraction as he is able to express his most personal, cynical views of class inequality and other politics to her which he concealed in the previous affair. This relegates Mlle. Mathilde to the position of a confidante. One instance of the blend of romanticism and realism in the novel can be seen through Julien’s choice of mistresses as the first one has an inclination towards romanticism while the second one, formed more on an intellectual and logical basis, reflects a tinge of realism. His second affair to him was more of an achievement to pursue his dreams than a romantic entanglement, And I'm going to seduce his daughter—me! Perhaps her marriage to de Croisenois will be impossible—a marriage that glows in Monsieur de La Mole's future (Stendhal, 1831). To him, she was more like a trophy to be won as through her, he could acquire many of his cherished desires. This proves to be true as Monsieur de la Mole has no choice but give his consent to the affair and arrange him a stable living with the title of Chevalier de La Vernaye which is the climax of Julien’s immoderate yearnings. The two relationships serve his purposes well in interestingly different ways.

However, his final act of crime committed though passion due to Mme. de Renal’s betrayal marks his downfall as “all the expectations and hopes of ambition had to be yanked out of his heart” due to his death penalty (Stendhal, 1831). Nevertheless, he gets the time to repent his actions and his final words of advice to Mlle. Mathilde regarding her marriage to Monsieur Croisenois and the care of their child depicts his logical thinking and affection for the women in his life even on the verge of death. Despite all the meticulous scheming, this man “maddened by ambition” reflects a story of “un ambitieux” which “presents itself in Le rouge et le noir as a nightmare of democracy, of aspirations grasped and lost” (Kete, 2009). Thus, this novel is a realistic account of the nature of ambition as it beautifully captures the inordinate aspiration of the Stendhalian protagonist.

References

Primary source

Stendhal., (1831). The Red and the Black. Raffel, B. (trans), New York: The Modern Library (this edition 2006).

Secondary sources

Gleeson-White, J. (2012). ‘Love is a madness most discreet’: The Red and the Black, A Chronicle of 1830 by Stendhal. [online] Overland literary journal. Available at: https://overland.org.au/2012/02/love-is-a-madness-most-discreet-the-red-and-the-black-a-chronicle-of-1830-by-stendhal/ [Accessed 18 Oct. 2016].

Haig, S. (1989). Stendhal: The Red and the Black. 1st ed. [ebook] Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://books.google.lk/books?id=KjC041e87qkC&dq=stendhal%27s+red+and+black+critics+on+affair+with+madame+de+renal&source=gbs_navlinks_s [Accessed 18 Oct. 2016].

Kete, K. (2005). Stendhal and the Trials of Ambition in Postrevolutionary France. Trinity College Digital Repository, [online] (Summer). Available at: http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1028&context=facpub [Accessed 17 Oct. 2016].

Encyclopedia.com. (2016). Stendhal. [online] Available at: http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/french-literature-biographies/stendhal [Accessed 15 Oct. 2016].