In 1830, Stendhal completed the novel “Red and Black,” which marked the onset of the writer’s maturity.

The creative history of “Red and Black” has been studied in detail. It is known that the plot of the novel is based on real events related to the court case of a certain Antoine Berthe. Stendhal learned about them while looking through the chronicles of the Grenoble newspaper for December 1827. As it turned out, a young man sentenced to execution, the son of a peasant, who decided to make a career, became a tutor in the family of a local rich man, Mishu, but, caught in a love affair with the mother of his pupils, lost his job. Failures awaited him later. He was expelled from the theological seminary, and then from service in the Parisian aristocratic mansion of de Cardonet, where he was compromised by his relationship with the owner’s daughter and especially by a letter from Madame Mishou. In despair, Berthe returns to Grenoble and shoots Madame Misha, and then attempts to commit suicide.

In addition, the author obviously knew about another crime committed by a certain Lafargue in 1829. Some psychological turns are inspired by the writer’s personal memories: creating fictional narrative, Stendhal himself verified its accuracy with documents and his own experience.

But for a writer, private observation is just a starting point: individual events shed light on the era as a whole, and personal experiences helped to understand the soul of a contemporary. "Red and Black" cannot be reduced solely to the historical or autobiographical facts from which it grew.

Real sources only awakened the creative imagination of the artist, who, under their influence, decided to create a novel about the tragic fate of a talented plebeian in Restoration France. As M. Gorky rightly put it, Stendhal “raised a very ordinary criminal offense to the level of historical and philosophical research social order bourgeoisie at the beginning of the 19th century." Stendhal clearly reinterprets the stories that actually happened. So, instead of the petty ambitious man that Berthe was, a heroic and tragic figure Julien Sorel. Facts undergo no less metamorphosis in the plot of the novel, which recreates the typical features of an entire era in its main laws. historical development. Real events give Stendhal reason to think about such cases as a social phenomenon: young people of low origin often become criminals because their extraordinary abilities, energy, passions and education, received contrary to the traditions of their environment, inevitably lead them to conflict with society and at the same time At the same time they are doomed to the fate of victims.

In his desire to cover all spheres of modern social life, Stendhal is akin to his younger contemporary Balzac, but he realizes this task in his own way. The type of novel he created is distinguished by its chronicle-linear composition, uncharacteristic for Balzac, organized by the biography of the hero. In this, Stendhal gravitates towards the tradition of the 18th century novelists, in particular, Fielding, who was highly revered by him. However, unlike him, the author of “Red and Black” builds the plot not on an adventurous basis, but on the history of the hero’s spiritual life, the formation of his character, presented in a complex and dramatic interaction with the social environment. The plot is driven not by intrigue, but by action transferred into the soul and mind of Julien Sorel, who each time strictly analyzes the situation and himself in it before deciding to take an action that determines the further development of events. Hence the special significance of internal monologues, as if including the reader in the course of thoughts and feelings of the hero.

Logic and clarity, necessary for an artist who plans to capture with mathematical precision the most complex relationships between a person and an era, are the defining principles of Stendhal’s narrative. In the plot of the novel there are no mysteries that become clear only at the end, no side deviations, no references to the past or events that simultaneously took place in different places: it is non-stop, straightforward, dynamic - like a chronicle or memoir, and does not allow any shifts in chronology. Julien is always the focus of the writer's close observation. A continuous chain, composed of scene-episodes, giving meager, pencil-like sketches of morals or laconic portraits of others and extensive analyzes of the internal state, thoughts of the hero, forms a through line of the narrative, which does not linger for a moment, nor does it deviate one step to the side.

This apparent elementaryness of architectonics conceals enormous possibilities for artistic analysis. The author constructs his work in such a way that the reader, who never for a moment ceases to passionately share the torment, hopes, and bitterness of the protagonist, finds himself involved in the exciting process of discovering the most intimate depths of an extraordinary personality, whose life tragedy is the tragedy of the century. “An accurate and penetrating depiction of the human heart” defines the poetics of “Red and Black” as the brightest example of a socio-psychological novel in the 19th century.

Finished on the eve of the July Revolution, the novel, according to Stendhal, “is all trembling with political excitement.” These are no longer sketches of a secular salon, like Armans, but a “chronicle of the 19th century” with all the desire for a universal panorama of the era that follows from this subtitle. The subtitle of the novel, emphasizing the life-like authenticity of what is depicted, also testifies to the expansion of the writer’s object of study. If in "Armance" there were only "scenes from the life of the Parisian salon", then the theater of action in the new novel is France, presented in its main social forces: the court aristocracy (the mansion of de La Mole), the provincial nobility (the house of de Renal), the highest and the middle strata of the clergy (Bishop of Agde, the reverend fathers of the Besançon Theological Seminary, Abbot Chelan), the bourgeoisie (Valno), small entrepreneurs (a friend of the hero Fouquet) and peasants (the Sorel family).

By studying the interaction of these forces, Stendhal creates a picture of the social life of France during the Restoration that is striking in its historical accuracy. With the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire, power was once again in the hands of the aristocracy and clergy. However, the most insightful of them understand the precariousness of their positions and the possibility of new revolutionary events. To prevent them, the Marquis de La Mole and other aristocrats are preparing for defense in advance, hoping to call on the troops of foreign powers for help, as in 1815. De Renal, the mayor of Verrieres, is also in constant fear of the outbreak of revolutionary events, ready to go to any expense in order to ensure that his servants “do not kill him if the terror of 1793 is repeated.” Only the bourgeoisie in “Red and Black” does not know fears and fears. Understanding the ever-increasing power of money, she enriches herself in every possible way. Valno, de Renel’s main rival in Verrieres, acts this way. Greedy and dexterous, not shy about the means of achieving his goal, even to the point of robbing the poor people “under his jurisdiction” from the house of contempt, the ignorant and rude Valno stops at nothing to advance to power.

The world of self-interest and profit is opposed by a talented man from the people, Julien Sorel. A provincial town, a seminary, Parisian society - three stages of the hero's biography, emphasized by the composition of the novel, and at the same time an image of the three main social strata of French society - the bourgeoisie, the clergy, the aristocracy. By bringing Julien Sorel, a plebeian, the son of a peasant, into conflict with these three pillars that support the edifice of the Restoration, Stendhal created a book whose drama is not just the drama of one human fate, but the drama of history itself.

The inhabitants of the provincial town of Verrieres, where Sorel comes from, worship one almighty idol - income. This magic word has unlimited power over minds: a Verrierian despises beauty that does not bring profit; he respects a person exactly as much as he is richer than himself. Everyone is in a hurry to make money – sometimes in righteous ways, more often in unrighteous ways: from the jailer begging for “tip”, to the priest fleecing parishioners, from judges and lawyers acting insolently for the sake of an order or a warm place for relatives, to prefectural employees speculating on built-up plots. Having cast aside aristocratic arrogance, provincial nobles extract income from sources that were previously the “privilege” of the bourgeoisie. The mayor of Verrieres, Mr. de Renal, although on occasion he is not averse to boasting about his ancient family, owns a nail factory, personally deals with the peasants, like a real businessman, buys up lands and houses. Having learned about his wife’s betrayal, he is not so much concerned about family honor as about the money that she brought him as a dowry. However, this settled aristocrat is already being replaced by a bourgeois of a new formation - the arrogant upstart Valno, resourceful, completely devoid of pride, completely shameless in choosing ways to enrich himself - be it robbing the poor from a charity home or clever blackmail. The kingdom of greedy grabbers who sold their souls to the Jesuits, groveling before the royal power as long as it feeds them with handouts - such is the bourgeois province in the eyes of Stendhal.

The Seminary in Besançon is a school where spiritual mentors of this society are trained. Here espionage is considered valor, hypocrisy is considered wisdom, humility is the highest virtue. For the refusal of independent thinking and servile admiration for the authorities of future curates, a reward awaits - a rich parish with a good tithe, with donations of broken birds and pots of butter, with which a well-meaning flock will shower their confessor. Promising heavenly salvation and heavenly bliss on earth, the Jesuits prepare ministers of the church, blind in their obedience, who are called to become the support of the throne and altar.

After training in seminar classes, Sorel, by chance, penetrates into high Parisian society. In aristocratic salons, it is not customary to count revenue in public and talk about a hearty dinner, but even here the spirit of slavish obedience reigns, strict observance of long-established, but lost its meaning, customs. In the eyes of the regulars of the de La Mole mansion, freethinking is dangerous, strength of character is dangerous, disregard for secular decency is dangerous, critical judgment about the church and the king is dangerous; Everything that encroaches on the existing order, traditions illuminated by the authority of prescription is dangerous.

Young aristocrats, drilled by this tyranny of current opinions, are witty, polite, elegant, but highest degree empty, worn out like copper coins, incapable of strong feelings and decisive actions. True, when it comes to preserving the privileges of caste, among the aristocratic mediocrities there are people whose anger and fear of the “plebeians” can be dangerous for the entire nation. At a meeting of ultra-royalist conspirators, which Sorel witnesses, plans are developed for a foreign invasion of France, financed by foreign banks and supported from within by the nobility and the church. The purpose of this invasion is to completely silence the opposition press, eradicate the remnants of “Jacobinism” in the minds of the French, and make all of France well-meaning and submissive. In the episode of the conspiracy, Stendhal, having previously taken the reader through the provinces, the seminary, and high society, finally exposes the most hidden springs driving the political mechanisms of the Restoration. Selfish groveling before the Jesuits and unbridled money-grubbing in the provinces, the education of an army of priests in the spirit of militant obscurantism as a guarantee of the strength of the regime, invasion from outside as the most convincing means of reprisal against dissenters - this is the picture of modernity that emerges in “Red and Black”.

And as if shading the black figures in this picture even more prominently, Stendhal casts on it the red reflections of memories that continually emerge in the thoughts and conversations of the heroes about past, heroic times in the history of France - about the eras of the Revolution and the Empire. For Stendhal, as for his hero, the past is a poetic myth in which the entire nation, hunted by the white terror of noble gangs and denunciations of the Jesuits, sees proof of its own greatness and future revival. This is how the scale of Stendhal’s historical and philosophical plan is indicated: almost half a century of the fate of France, captured in the multi-volume “ Human Comedy“Balzac as a developing process is obtained in the contrasting comparison of eras passing through “Red and Black”, an extremely compressed expression, sometimes reaching the sharpness of an artistic pamphlet.

The son of a carpenter, Julien Sorel belongs to the same breed as the titans of action and thought who brought about the revolution of the late 18th century. The talented plebeian absorbed the most important features of his people, awakened to life by the Great French Revolution: unbridled courage and energy, honesty and firmness: spirit, steadfastness in moving towards the goal." He is always and everywhere (be it the de Renal mansion or the Valnod house, the Parisian palace de La Mole or the courtroom of the Verrieres court) remains a man of his class, a representative of the lower, disadvantaged in legal rights estates. Hence the potential revolutionary nature of Stendhal’s hero, created, according to the author, from the same material as the titans of ’93. It is no coincidence that the son of the Marquis de La Mole remarks: “Beware of this energetic young man! If there is a revolution again, he will send us all to the guillotine.” This is how those whom he considers his class enemies—the aristocrats—think about the hero. It is no coincidence that his closeness with the brave Italian carbonari Altamira and his friend the Spanish revolutionary Diego Bustos. It is characteristic that Julien himself feels like a spiritual son of the Revolution and in a conversation with Altamira admits that it is the revolution that is his real element. “Isn’t this the new Danton?” - Mathilde de La Mole thinks about Julien, trying to determine what role her lover can play in the coming revolution.

In the society in which Julien lives, he does not find a place for himself. He is also alien to the environment in which he was born (his father and brothers despise him for his inability to do physical labor and his love of books), he can hardly endure life among the “narrow-minded bigots” in the seminary, in the highest circles he is a “plebeian.” Julien himself is convinced that he must take a place in society determined not by birth, but by “talents”: abilities, intelligence, education, strength of aspirations. “Make way for talents! - Napoleon once proclaimed, whom Julien worships and whose portrait he secretly keeps.

But Julien – “a man of 93” – was too late to be born. The time has passed when success was won through personal courage, assertiveness, and intelligence. The color of time has changed: today, to. To win in the game of life, you need to bet not on “red”, but on “black”. The Restoration offers Sorel to fight for happiness only those weapons that are in use in an era of timelessness: hypocrisy, religious hypocrisy, calculating piety. And the young man, obsessed with the dream of glory, brought up on heroic memories of the revolution and Napoleonic campaigns, tries to adapt to his age, putting on the “uniform of the times” - the cassock of a priest. He adapts to the world of provincial philistines, in the seminary he hides his thoughts behind a feigned mask of humble obedience , pleases his aristocratic patrons in Paris. He turns away from his friends and serves people he despises; an atheist, he pretends to be a saintly admirer of Danton - trying to penetrate the circle of aristocrats; being endowed with a sharp mind, he agrees with fools; plots to turn love into an instrument for ambitious plans. Realizing that “everyone is for himself in this desert of selfishness called life,” he rushed into battle in the hope of winning with the weapons forced upon him.

The social discord between the indignant plebeian and society is not limited to the area of ​​social relations; it finds its continuation in Sorel’s soul, becoming a psychological duality of reason and feeling, cold calculation and impulse of passion. Logical conclusions drawn from observations of the era convince Julien that happiness is wealth and power, and they are achievable only through hypocrisy. A small experience of love overturns all these skillful intricacies of logic. The hero first builds his relationship with Madame de Renal on the model of the book's Don Juan and achieves success only when he involuntarily acts contrary to the learned folly. Becoming the lover of the mayor's high-ranking wife is, first of all, a “matter of honor” for him, but the first night date brings him only the awareness of the difficulty overcome and no joyful rapture. And only later, having forgotten about vanity thoughts, casting aside the role of a seducer and completely surrendering to the flow of feelings cleared of ambitious scum, Julien recognizes true happiness. A similar discovery awaits the hero in connection with Matilda.

This is how the double movement of the image in Stendhal appears: man walking through life in search of happiness; his penetrating mind explores the world, tearing away the veils of lies everywhere; his inner gaze is turned to the depths of his own soul, where the continuous struggle of natural purity, the noble inclinations of a commoner, against the mirages inspired by the imagination of an ambitious man, is in full swing.

The contradictory combination in Julien’s nature of the plebeian, revolutionary, independent and noble principles with ambitious aspirations leading to the path of hypocrisy, revenge and crime forms the basis of the complex character of the hero. The confrontation between these antagonistic principles determines the inner drama of Julien, “forced to rape his noble nature in order to play the vile role that he imposed on himself” (Roger Vaillant).

The path upward, which takes place in the novel by Julien Sorel, is the path of his loss of his best human qualities. But this is also the way to comprehend the true essence of the world of those in power. Beginning in Verrieres with the discovery of moral uncleanliness, insignificance, greed and cruelty of the provincial pillars of society, it ends in the courtly spheres of Paris, where Julien discovers essentially the same vices, only skillfully covered up and ennobled by luxury, titles, and high-society gloss. By the time the hero has already achieved his goal, becoming Viscount de La Verneuil and the son-in-law of the powerful Marquis, it becomes quite obvious that the game was not worth the candle. The prospect of such happiness cannot satisfy Stendhal's hero. The reason for this is the living soul, preserved in Julien despite all the violence done to her.

Naturally, the plebeian side of Julien Sorel’s nature cannot peacefully coexist with his intention to make a career as a hypocritical saint. For him, seminary exercises in ascetic piety become a monstrous torture. He has to strain all his spiritual strength so as not to betray mocking contempt for the aristocratic mannequins in the salon of the Marquis de La Mole. “A storm raged in this strange creature almost every day,” notes Stendhal, and the whole story of his hero is the incessant leaps of a hurricane of passions, which breaks up against the inexorable “must” dictated by Sorel’s ambition. It is this constant rebellion of plebeian nature against the dictates of the time that does not allow Sorel to become an ordinary careerist, to find inner peace on the paths of bourgeois business by abandoning the best that is inherent in him.

However, in order for the hero to fully understand this, it took a very strong shock that could knock him out of the rut that had already become familiar. Julien was destined to survive this shock at the moment of the fatal shot at Louise de Renal. In complete confusion of feelings caused by her letter to the Marquis de La Mole, compromising Julien, he, almost without remembering himself, shot at the woman whom he selflessly loved - the only one of all who generously and recklessly gave him real happiness, and now who deceived the holy faith in her, who betrayed her, who dared to interfere with his career.

The fatal shot at Madame de Renal - this spontaneous impulse of a man who suddenly discovered that the only pure being he worshiped had tainted himself with slander - abruptly ends the slow, hidden path of knowledge, the hero of the world and himself. A sharp turn of fate forces Julien, in the face of death, to reconsider all moral values, discard lies,... which I previously accepted as truth, to give free rein to feelings that I had hitherto suppressed. “Because I am now wise, because before I was mad,” this epigraph of one of the final chapters seems to emphasize that Julien has entered a period of philosophical insight that completes all his life’s quests.

“Red and Black” is not so much the story of a careerist, but a story about the impossibility of crippling one’s nature in such a way as to become one among hoarders and salon nonentities. There is a whole gulf between Sorel and Balzac's ambitious people. Having taken the path of opportunism, Julien did not become an opportunist; he chose the means of “pursuit of happiness” that prevail in society; he did not accept the morality of this society. Julien's hypocrisy itself is a proud challenge to society, accompanied by a refusal to recognize the right of this society to respect, and even more so its claims to dictate moral principles of behavior to a person. In Sorel’s consciousness, his own code of honor is formed, independent of the prevailing morality, and only to him does he strictly obey. This code forbids building one’s happiness on the grief of one’s neighbor, like the scoundrel Valno, it requires clear thought, incompatible with blindness by false religious prejudices and admiration for ranks, but most importantly, it prescribes courage, energy in achieving goals, hatred of all cowardice and moral flabbiness. both in others and in oneself.

In the story of his hero, the novelist sees, first of all, the plebeian’s breaking of the social and moral shackles that doom him to vegetation. Sorel himself, summing up the results of his life in a speech at the trial, rightfully regards the verdict as class revenge of the ruling elite, who, in his person, punish all rebellious young people from the people.

And therefore, “Red and Black” is, first of all, a tragedy of the incompatibility in a time of timelessness of the dream of personal happiness with serving the noble ideals of citizenship, a tragedy of a heroic character that did not take place due to the fault of the era.

At the same time, the last pages of the novel capture the result of the philosophical thoughts of Stendhal himself. The desire for happiness is inherent in human nature; Guided by logic, this desire creates the prerequisites for a harmonious social order - taught Stendhal’s spiritual mentors, the ideologists of the bourgeois revolution. Stendhal tested this belief with the historical practice of post-revolutionary society, which turned into an evil caricature of the generous promises of the Enlightenment. And through the mouth of his hero he declared that the happiness of an individual is incompatible with the morals of the bourgeois world, in which unjust laws reign, and there is nothing more distant from each other than humanism and the everyday practice of the bourgeois.

In the light of the spiritual renewal that the hero experiences in prison, Julien’s relationship with both women who love him is completely clarified. Matilda is a strong, proud, rational person. She is incredibly bored in the circle of colorless secular “husbands,” who are immensely far from their ancestors, the knights of the feudal freemen of the 16th century. And Matilda’s love for Julien grows out of a vain desire to do something out of the ordinary, to experience a passion that would elevate her to the level of aristocrats of the era of religious wars, poeticized by girlish imagination. In this feeling, what is most dear to her is the heroic pose, the intoxicating consciousness of her difference from others, the proud admiration of her own exclusivity. That is why the story of Julien and Matilda bears the imprint of love-enmity between two ambitious people, based not so much on sincere passion as on a purely rational desire to rise in their own eyes and in the eyes of others. The liberation of Sorel from the ambitious dope quite naturally means the end of this “head”, as Stendhal put it, love.

And then the old feeling awakens again in Julien, which never faded, but barely glimmered somewhere in the depths of his heart, under a pile of superficial, draining mind and soul aspirations to win the unnecessary admiration of fools and nonentities. For the love of the touching in its simplicity, charming, deeply suffering in a vulgar environment, trusting and soft Madame de Renal is a true passion, accessible only to disinterested, pure natures. And in this love “rising from the ashes,” the tormented Julien finally finds the happiness that he has been looking for so painfully and for a long time.

Julien's last days in prison are a time of quiet, peaceful joy, when he, tired of life's battles, listens intensely to the stillness, almost unknown to him, that descended on his wounded soul, and trustingly surrenders to the peaceful flow of time, every day, every moment of which brings the delightful pleasure of peace.

However, the happiness that was so difficult for Julien is just his illusion, obtained at too high a price of renunciation from society, from life in general. Having poured out all his rebellious contempt for the bourgeoisie in a speech at the trial, Sorel then renounced rebellion and withdrew himself. The freedom he gained in prison is the freedom to die, essentially a dead end. Only in this way could he decide the fatal question: to live, committing meanness, or to leave the world, maintaining his purity. He had no other solution, because he found himself trapped in timelessness. Stendhal is too sensitive and insightful a mind not to notice how the shadow of the guillotine, which cast a dark stain over the entire dying idyll of his hero, denies the possibility of achieving happiness on the paths along which he leads Julien.

The writer’s thought beats anxiously in a vicious circle and, unable to break it, freezes in a silent, skeptical reproach to his age, despairing of discovering the truth that would become a truer guide for the individual than the wisdom of the vanquished, which proclaims happiness in “kindness and simplicity.” .

Two volumes of The Red and the Black appeared on the shelves of Parisian booksellers in November 1830. Stendhal's hopes for success were not justified: the publication was selling poorly, there was a sense of restraint and some confusion in the statements of critics and even friends, rare friendly reviews indicated that the book was clearly not understood. To the reading public of that time, brought up on the poetry and prose of the romantics, it seemed too “difficult” and unusual. It did not have the generous picturesqueness of historical, ethnographic and archaeological paintings “in the spirit of Walter Scott”, nor the atmosphere of mystery and vague outpourings common in the lyrical confessions of the romantics, nor the melodramatic effects and dizzying turns of intrigue that were stunning in the works of the “Gothic genre”. At the same time, it was precisely this “unconventionality” of the work that testified to the innovation of Stendhal the novelist, who paved new paths for the development of literature. The image of the analyzing intellect, which knows no barriers in its desire to master the truth, to understand society through a close and detailed comprehension of the spiritual life of the individual, marks a break with romantic uncertainty and approximation in the depiction of the “secrets of the heart” and constitutes Stendhal’s most valuable contribution to the treasury realistic literature. “Red and Black” stands at the origins of the newest socio-psychological novel, just as Balzac’s first realistic stories open the history of social, everyday and morally descriptive prose of the 19th century in France

The story described in Stendhal's novel The Red and the Black could be described as a story of extreme ambition at its most extreme. Taking real story about the young cabinetmaker Laffargue, read from a newspaper, Stendhal transformed and supplemented it, creating a truthful image of French 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. The author analyzes the thoughts and actions of a man of a turning point - the period of the Bourbon restoration - his contradictory life views and aspirations.

Leaving the resemblance to the real character (a cabinetmaker and a carpenter's son, both from peasant families, both having a love affair with the wives of the fathers of their students, etc.), he introduced and guided the main character through all three social circles that formed the basis of the Restoration regime : the circle of the bourgeoisie (the house of Mr. de Renal), the Catholic Church (Besançon seminary) and the circle of the family nobility (the Parisian mansion of the Marquis de La Mole).

Always remembering his plebeian origin, which everyone around him also constantly reminds him of, he did not want to come to terms with his position in society, feeling that under other conditions (for example, in Napoleon’s army) he could have won his worthy place in the sun. Moreover, Sorel could not be accused of self-praise or excessive pretense about his own abilities. He really had enough intelligence (which those around him could not help but appreciate), and ingenuity, and hard work, and responsibility for the assigned work (which de La Mole was convinced of when he sent Julien to the Duke), and energy to accomplish great feats. But he did not have the most important thing that “frees the hands” of any ambition - he did not have an aristocratic origin and the prefix “de” to his surname. Therefore, all his behavior and claims were perceived by the society around him only as impudence and impudence.

Julien has nothing to think about making a decent career in a direct and honest way. The contradictory combination in Julien’s nature of the plebeian, revolutionary, independent and noble principles with ambitious aspirations leading to the path of hypocrisy, revenge and crime forms the basis of the complex character of the hero. The confrontation of these antagonistic principles determines the inner drama of Julien, “forced to rape his noble nature in order to play the vile role that he imposed on himself,” wrote Roger Vaillant E.G. Petrova, E.A. Petrash. History of foreign literature of the 19th century century. .

Julien Sorel's psychology and 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. Julien makes daring plans to achieve fame, relying on his own will, energy and talents, the omnipotence of which the hero does not doubt. Ibid. . By nature, honest, generous, sensitive, but also ambitious, Julien is forced 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. The path to the top that the hero takes in the novel is the path of his loss of his best human qualities. But this is also the way to comprehend the true essence of the world of those in power. Having begun in Verrieres with the discovery of moral uncleanliness, insignificance, greed and cruelty of the provincial pillars of society, it ends in the courtly spheres of Paris, where Julien discovers essentially the same vices, only skillfully covered up and ennobled by luxury, titles, and the high-society gloss of E.G. Petrova, E.A. Petrash. History of foreign literature of the 19th century. .

Sorel does not change his behavior in relationships with women. There were two of them in his life, and both played fatal role in his destiny. But they were opposite to each other in essence. One - Louise de Renal - a subtle, integral nature - embodies the moral ideal of Stendhal. Her feeling for Julien is natural and pure. Behind the mask of an embittered ambitious man and a daring seducer, who once entered her house, the bright appearance of a young man was revealed to her - sensitive, kind, grateful, learning selflessness and strength for the first time true love. Only with Louise de Renal did the hero allow himself to be himself, taking off the mask in which he usually appeared in society. The other, Mathilde de La Mole, was distinguished by a sharp mind, rare beauty and remarkable energy, independence of judgment and action, and a desire for a bright life full of meaning and passion.

At first, remembering that Louise de Renal is a representative of the rich class, i.e. society hostile to him, he behaved with her like an invader with an unfriendly fortress: “... he watched her as if he were an enemy with whom he had to fight... His soul was drowned in bliss - not because he was in love with Ms. de Renal, but because this monstrous torture was finally over... Julien felt danger: “If Madame de Renal goes into the living room now, I will again find myself in the same unbearable position in which I spent the whole day today. I have held her hand in mine for so little time that this cannot be considered a right won by me, which will be recognized for me once and for all." Stendhal. Red and black. . At first he felt neither passion nor love for her: he wanted to take her hand in his and kissed only to laugh at her husband. First of all, he thought only about how he would not look like a laughing stock in the eyes of the de Renals. While Louise completely surrendered to her feelings, the home teacher. all the time he thought about his social position. He could not even think that she could love him truly, sincerely. Vanity left him only in her bedroom: “And then all his vain nonsense flew out of Julien’s head, and he became simple. by yourself. To be rejected by such a lovely woman seemed to him the greatest misfortune. In response to her reproaches, he threw himself at her feet and grabbed her knees. And since she continued to scold him. he suddenly burst into tears. the love that he inspired in himself, and the unexpected impression that her charms made on him, gave him a victory that he would never have achieved. with his clumsy tricks" Ibid. . Here he reveals all the charm of a relationship with a loving and beloved woman. Here he can be himself, without fear of being insulted or ridiculed in his feelings. But this did not last long: thanks to Valno and other “well-wishers” Julien was forced to leave Madame de Renal and go to Besançon.

A year and a half of his life in the seminary has passed, and he ends up in the Parisian house of de La Moley. Here he is met by Matilda, an exorbitant and capricious prideful woman. And this is a completely different relationship - it is love-competition, love-rivalry, love-hate. She gives herself to him only because duty obliges her to do so: “And yet I must force myself to talk to him,” she finally told herself, “after all, it’s customary to talk to a lover”... in the end, she decided so: if he will have the courage to come to her, climbing the garden stairs, as she wrote to him, she will become his beloved. But it is unlikely that such loving speeches have ever been pronounced in such a cold and courteous tone... After long hesitation, which to an outside observer might have seemed the result of the most undoubted hatred - with such difficulty even Matilda’s strong will overcame natural feminine feelings, modesty, pride - she finally forced herself to become his mistress. Passionate love was for her rather a kind of model that should be imitated, and not something that arises by itself. Mademoiselle de La Mole believed that she was fulfilling a duty towards herself and her lover... She would gladly agree to condemn herself to eternal torment, just to avoid this terrible necessity that she imposed on herself." Stendhal. Red and Black . And on Julien’s part there were similar feelings: “Julien felt extremely confused; he didn’t know how he should behave, and didn’t feel any love... “And this is a woman in love!” thought Julien. “And she still dares to say that she loves! In essence, what does it matter! I’m not in love with her ! I triumph over the Marquis in the sense that, of course, it must be unpleasant for him that he was replaced by someone else, and even more unpleasant that this other is me”... A few moments later, this “you”, devoid of all tenderness, no longer gave Julien any pleasure; he himself was surprised that he did not experience any happiness, and in order to evoke this feeling in himself, he turned to reason... True, this was not at all the spiritual bliss that he sometimes experienced near Madame de Renal. There was absolutely nothing tender in his feelings now. It was simply a stormy delight of ambition, and Julien was, first of all, ambitious." Ibid. The struggle of two vain prides ended with the breaking of one of them: "My romance, in the end, ended, and I owe it only to myself. “I managed to make this monstrous proud woman fall in love with me,” he thought, looking at Matilda, “her father cannot live without her, and she cannot live without me.” Ibid. But having won, Julien did not become happier. By the time the hero had already reached goal, having become Viscount de Verneuil and the son-in-law of the powerful Marquis, it becomes quite obvious that the game was not worth the candle. The prospect of such happiness cannot satisfy the hero. The reason for this is the living soul that was preserved in Julien despite all the violence done to her by E.G. , E.A. Petrash. History of foreign literature of the 19th century.

But pride still lives in Sorel until the ill-fated letter written by Madame de Renal at the instigation of her confessor. Once in prison, Julien looked differently at his whole life and at his goals, towards which he had been so consistently moving for so many years. And only in prison conditions did he realize the futility of his hard-won victories. The experience, like the catharsis of an ancient Greek tragedy, morally enlightened and raised the hero, cleansing him of the vices instilled by society. Finally, Julien discovered the illusory nature of his ambitious career aspirations, with which he had recently associated the idea of ​​happiness. Therefore, while awaiting execution, he so resolutely refuses the help of the powers that be, who are still capable of freeing him from prison, returning him to his former life. Ibid. .

Julien's moral revival is also reflected in the change in his attitude towards Mathilde de La Mole, who now becomes for him the embodiment of his ambitious aspirations, for the sake of which he was ready to make a deal with his conscience. So the hero’s natural beginning takes over; he dies, but emerges victorious in the fight against society.

With all the paramount importance that it acquires critical analysis In fact, one of the most important problems for the great masters of realism remains the problem of the positive hero. Aware of the complexity of its solution, Balzac notes: “vice is more effective; it catches the eye. Virtue, on the contrary, reveals only unusually thin lines to the artist’s brushes... vice is diverse, multi-colored, uneven, bizarre” E.G. Petrova, E.A. Petrash. History of foreign literature of the 19th century. . In essence, Balzac's images are “flowers of evil.” The main effect of "The Human Comedy" is surprise at the contrasts of Parisian life, at the moral monsters that stir at the bottom of the big city M. Livshits. Balzac's artistic method. .

The “multiple and multi-colored” negative characters of Balzac’s “Human Comedy” are always opposed by positive heroes, who at first glance are not very, perhaps “winning and catchy.” It is in them that the artist embodies his unshakable faith in man, the inexhaustible treasures of his soul, the limitless possibilities of his mind, perseverance and courage, willpower and energy. It is this “positive charge” of the “Human Comedy” that gives special moral force to Balzac’s creation, which absorbed the specific features of the realistic method at its peak. classic version E.G. Petrova, E.A. Petrash. History of foreign literature of the 19th century. .

In general, the career novel - both in Balzac and in Stendhal - not only reflected new phenomena of social reality. Here a way of interaction between the hero and the world, characteristic of the later realistic novel, was developed: the more actively the hero works on the practical implementation of his ideal, the more he moves away from it; The more persistently he strives to overcome the circumstances surrounding him, the more dependent he becomes on them. This can be clearly seen in the lives of the heroes of both authors. G.K. Kosikov writes: “Subjectively, while continuing to remain a bearer of the ideal, objectively the hero turns into a bearer of degradation. In order for the hero, in the bright light of moral values, to be able to see the path he has taken and the result to which he has arrived, most often an event is required due to which the “ideal” and “life” logic would come face to face so that the hero would not be able to evade the awareness of the insurmountable discord between them (as was the case with Julien Sorel in the last chapters of the novel). Therefore, the final “rebirth” of such a hero, a return to the point of view of the ideal, leads). him to understand the futility of not only the entire previous search, but also any search in general" I.V. Kabanova. Foreign literature. "Lost Illusions" by O. de Balzac.

Everyone finds in front of him an enchanted world, completely unsuitable for him, with which he must fight, since this world opposes him and, in its unyielding strength, is not inferior to the passions of the hero... But this struggle and these battles in the modern world are nothing more than apprenticeships years, the education of the individual in the existing reality, and in this they acquire their true meaning. For the end of these student years is that the subject breaks off his horns; he is imbued with his desires and opinions by existing relationships and their rationality, enters into the cohesion of circumstances in the world and wins for himself a corresponding position in it M. Livshits. Balzac's artistic method. .

Composition

Julien is the son of a carpenter. His idol is Napoleon and he regrets that he was born too late, already during the Restoration. Julien Sorel is gifted with intelligence, a thirst for knowledge, and various abilities. In a small town, he suffers from the fact that he cannot realize himself. His father and brothers look at him as a slacker. The priest recommends Julien as a tutor to the local rich man de Renal, for whom it is important to prove his superiority over others.

The author rates Madame de Renal very highly. And at the same time she is very unhappy, deprived of life. She is beautiful and not stupid. She got married early, without knowing the life of the heart. She is a sincere believer and also a caring mother. The appearance of Julien turns out to be a sharp turn in her life. She is present in class. For Julien, the meeting with Madame de Renal is a success, regarded by his pride as confirmation of his merits. He allows her to love him.

The maid informs the confessor about the connection between de Renal and Julien. Julien leaves the town and goes to the Bezons Seminary. This is the second stage. There they put him in his place. Julien masters the science of hypocrisy. His path to the top, which is going well, is progressing. A significant revolution was the end of the seminary. The head of the Seminary recommends him to the Marquis de Lamo (legitimist, i.e. for the king). The house is secular. The son serves in the regiment. Daughter Matilda is wayward, headstrong. Julien meets the Russian prince and receives notes from him. Julien becomes famous in a short time. Matilda decides to conquer Julien. Invites him on a date to her room. Julien becomes Mathilde's fiancé.

Rumors reach his city. Madame de Renal writes a letter about his past. Julien reads the letter and flies to the town. He shoots Madame de Renal in the church. He is immediately arrested. Julien becomes a victim public relations. The ending is very condensed. The execution is not described. Sincere de Renal and selfish Mathilde. Mathilde arrives at the prison to kidnap Julien. She fails to do this. Then, like Margot, she ransoms the head of her beloved and buries it with her own hands. The author reports that all the difficulties that arose in the fate of Matilda were resolved. She gave birth far away. De Renal also came to the prison. She asked Julien for forgiveness. Julien understands that she is the only one who is dear to him and worthy of his love. For her, everything ceases to exist. In love she finds inner freedom. Julien asks her to give up thoughts of suicide. She keeps her word.

Name. The name is interpreted in different ways:

1) red – revolution, transformation, black – political reaction.

2) red – life and love, black – death.

3) red and black are the colors of the roulette, and the roulette is the symbol of chance: win/loss.

Other works on this work

Julien Sorel - characteristics of a literary hero The image of Julien Sorel in the novel “The Red and the Black” 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 Stendhal. Red and black. The character and fate of Julien Sorel in Stendhal's novel “The Red and the Black” About love in Stendhal's novel “Red and Black” The image of Julien Sorel in Stendhal's novel “The Red and the Black” Essay based on Stendhal's novel “The Red and the Black” The polysemy of the symbolic title of Stendhal's novel "Red and Black" Portrayal of other characters through the prism of Julien Sorel’s perception (based on Stendhal’s novel “The Red and the Black”) (1) Contemporary France to Stendhal in the novel “Red and Black” School essay based on the novel “The Red and the Black” by Frederico Stendhal I look at the novel as if in a mirror, and I see your fate in it and think about it" (Based on Stendhal's novel "Red and Black")

Introduction

The topic of this course work is “Stendhal’s novel “Red and Black” - a chronicle of the 19th century.”

Relevance The work is that Stendhal’s work is very multifaceted, but has not been sufficiently studied.

When characterizing the degree of scientific development of the problem, it should be taken into account that this topic has already been analyzed by different authors in various publications: textbooks, monographs, periodicals and on the Internet. However, we tried to make our small contribution to the study of this problems.

Scientific significance determined by the fact that the work contains an analysis of the work.

Practical significance The work consists in the possibility of using research data in a course on the history of foreign literature of the 19th century, in special courses on this subject.

On the one hand, the research topic is gaining interest in scientific circles, on the other hand, as has been shown, there is insufficient development and unresolved issues. This means that this work will have theoretical, educational, and practical significance. The certain significance and insufficient scientific development of the problem determine scientific novelty of this work.

Target work is to study in more detail Stendhal's novel "The Red and the Black"

Achieving the goal requires solving specific tasks :

Explore the life, work and worldview of Stendhal.

Research the writer’s theoretical works on this issue.

Analyze the novel “Red and Black” from the point of view of this topic.

Object research is Stendhal's novel "The Red and the Black", and subject - genre of chronicle in this novel. It is this work that is the material of literary critical and literary research conducted on the basis of literary works of both French, domestic and foreign Russian-speaking authors.

The interpretation of the work of this extraordinary French romantic has been carried out since the very different points view, but in Russian literary scholarship, special works devoted to the author’s features of Stendhal’s novel “Red and Black,” which largely explain many of the contradictory aspects of his work, have not been found. Addressing this problem reveals theoretical value this work .

Practical value This study lies in the possibility of using this material when introducing French critical realism for both students and teachers of higher educational institutions in the discipline “Foreign Literature”.

In this work, various methods : the typological method made it possible to trace the internal connections between the fundamental works of Stendhal and the works of his contemporaries, to discover in them common principles and development trends literary process; cultural-historical and comparative methods made it possible to explore the connections between cultures, mentality and ways of thinking reflected in domestic and foreign literature, to discover not only the reasons for the influence of the work of the French romantic on the works of subsequent generations, but also to trace the peculiarities of the influence of the main literary and philosophical theories on his work XX century; the sociological approach allowed us to interpret works of art Stendhal from certain social and philosophical positions; psychological and psychoanalytic approaches made it possible to analyze the works of the French writer as a kind of derivative of the author’s complexes or experiences.

Work structure. This work consists of an introduction, two sections, a conclusion and a list of references. The introduction substantiates the relevance of the chosen topic, its novelty, formulates the purpose and objectives of the work, the object and subject of the study, the methods used in the work, and describes the structure. The first section examines the life and creative path of Stendhal. The second is dedicated Stendhal's novel "Red and Black" - a chronicle of the 19th century . Each section ends with brief conclusions. The conclusion shows the results of the work as a whole. The work is completed by a list of references.

SECTION 1. Stendhal - the founder of the French realistic novel X I 10th century

1. The life and creative path of Stendhal.

Stendhal's work opens a new period in the development of not only French, but also Western European literature. It was he who took the lead in substantiating the main principles and program for the formation of modern art, theoretically stated in the first half of the 1820s, when classicism still dominated, and soon brilliantly embodied in artistic masterpieces outstanding novelist XIX V.

"Human XVIII century, lost in the heroic era of Napoleon,” Stendhal uniquely connected the two eras; like many intellectuals of his time, he saw in Napoleon a bearer of revolutionary ideals and an emperor who staked the fate of the peoples of Europe on his own ambition. It is no coincidence that the Napoleonism of Stendhal’s heroes reveals the inner essence of their nature, helps to evaluate the relationship between the individual and society, and manifests itself in the metaphorical nature artistic image- symbol of a hawk or eagle.

STENDAHAL (Stendhal; pseudonym, real name – Henri Marie Beyle, Beyle) (1783–1842) - French writer, one of the founders of the French realistic novel of the 19th century. Born on January 23, 1783 in Grenoble into a middle-class family. Stendhal's father, Chérubin Bayle, a lawyer at the local parliament, and his grandfather, Henri Gagnon, a doctor and public figure, like most of the French intelligentsia of the 18th century, were passionate about the ideas of the Enlightenment. My father had in his library " large encyclopedia Sciences and Arts" compiled by Diderot and D'Alembert, and was fond of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. My grandfather was an admirer of Voltaire and a convinced Voltairian. But with the beginning of the French Revolution (1789), their views changed greatly. The family was wealthy. Stendhal's father even had to go into hiding, and he ended up on the side of the old regime.

After the death of Stendhal's mother (she died when her son was only 7 years old), the family went into mourning for a long time. The father and grandfather fell into piety, and the boy's upbringing was entrusted to the priest. This priest, Abbot Ralyan, whom Stendhal recalled with indignation in his memoirs, tried in vain to instill religious views in his pupil.

In 1796, Stendhal entered the Central School that opened in Grenoble. The task of these schools, established in some provincial cities, was to introduce public and secular education in the republic to replace the former - private and religious.

They were supposed to equip the younger generation with useful knowledge and ideology consistent with the interests of the emerging bourgeois state. At the Central School, Stendhal became interested in mathematics. The writer will later decide to enrich the art of depiction with its accuracy and logical clarity. human soul, noting in the drafts: “Apply the techniques of mathematics to the human heart. Put this idea into the basis of a creative method and a language of passion. This is all art."

In 1799, having successfully passed his final exams, Stendhal went to Paris to the Ecole Polytechnique, but life made adjustments to his original plans. An influential relative appoints a young man to military service. He arrived in Paris a few days after the coup of the 18th Brumaire, when the young General Bonaparte seized power and declared himself first consul. Preparations immediately began for a campaign in Italy, where reaction again triumphed and Austrian rule was established. Stendhal was enlisted as a sub-lieutenant in a dragoon regiment and went to his duty station in Italy. He served in the army for more than two years, however, he did not have to participate in a single battle. He then resigned. Dreaming of “the glory of the greatest poet” equal to Moliere, he rushes to Paris. In 1802 he returned to Paris with the secret intention of becoming a writer.

Stendhal lived in Paris for almost three years, persistently studying philosophy, literature and English. In fact, only here he receives his first real education. He becomes acquainted with modern French sensualistic and materialistic philosophy and becomes a convinced enemy of the church and all mysticism in general. While Bonaparte was preparing the imperial throne for himself, Stendhal hated the monarchy for the rest of his life. In 1799, during the coup of the 18th Brumaire, he was pleased that General Bonaparte had "become King of France"; in 1804, the coronation of Napoleon, for which the Pope came to Paris, seems to Stendhal an obvious “union of all deceivers.”

In 1822, Stendhal, having gone through scientific studies, wrote: “Art always depends on science, it uses methods discovered by science.”

What he obtained in science early years seeks to apply to art, and many of his conclusions and observations will find refraction in the mature aesthetic theory and practice of the writer.

The true discovery for young Stendhal was the theory substantiated by Helvetius, for whom the “pursuit of happiness” is the main incentive for all actions. Having nothing to do with the apology of egoism and egocentrism, the philosopher’s teaching asserted that a person, living in a society of his own kind, not only cannot ignore them, but must, for the sake of his own happiness, do good for them. The “hunt for happiness” was dialectically connected with civic virtue, thereby guaranteeing the well-being of the entire society. This teaching had a strong impact not only on the social views and ethics of Stendhal, who would derive his own formula for happiness: “A noble soul acts for the sake of its own happiness, but its greatest happiness lies in bringing happiness to others.” “The hunt for happiness” as the main driver of all human actions will become a constant subject of depiction by Stendhal the artist. At the same time, the writer, being, like his teacher-philosophers, a materialist, will attach the most important importance to the social environment, upbringing and characteristics of the era in the formation of the personality of the very “way” of its “hunt for happiness”

The writer faces a very prosaic problem. He is already 22 years old, and he does not have a specific profession that provides a constant income. Many of the comedies Stendhal began remained unfinished, and he decided to make a living through commerce. After serving for about a year in some trading enterprise in Marseilles and feeling forever disgusted with trade, he decided to return to military service. In 1805, continuous wars with the European coalition began again, and Stendhal was enlisted in the commissariat. From that time on, he continuously traveled around Europe following Napoleon's army. In 1806, he entered Berlin with French troops, and in 1809 - Vienna.

In 1811, he spent a vacation in Italy, where he conceived his book “The History of Painting in Italy.” In 1812, Stendhal, of his own free will, went to join the army that had already invaded Russia, entered Moscow, saw the fire of the ancient Russian capital and fled with the remnants of the army to France, retaining for a long time the memories of the heroic resistance of the Russian troops and the valor of the Russian people.

Stendhal emphasized in one of his letters: “What I saw and experienced, a stay-at-home writer would not have guessed in a thousand years.”

Napoleon's abdication in 1814 and the Bourbon restoration brought an end to Stendhal's military service.

Refusing the place offered to him by the new government, the writer left for Italy, which was then under Austrian yoke.

He settles in Milan, in the city that he fell in love with back in 1800, and lives here almost continuously for about seven years. As a retired Napoleonic officer, he receives a half pension, which allows him to somehow survive in Milan, but it is not enough to live in Paris.

In Italy, Stendhal published his first work - three biographies: “The Lives of Haydn, Mozart and Metastasio” (1814).

In 1814, Stendhal first became acquainted with the romantic movement in Germany, mainly through the book “Course of Dramatic Literature” by A. W. Schlegel, which had just been translated into French. Accepting Schlegel's idea of ​​the need for decisive literary reform and the fight against classicism for the sake of a freer and more modern art, he, however, does not sympathize with the religious-mystical tendencies of German romanticism and cannot agree with Schlegel in his criticism of all French literature and enlightenment.

Since 1816, Stendhal has been interested in Byron's poems, in which he sees an expression of modern public interests and social protest. Italian romanticism, which emerged around the same time and was closely associated with the Italian national liberation movement, aroused his ardent sympathies. All this was reflected in Stendhal’s next book, “The History of Painting in Italy” (1817) , in which he most fully outlined his aesthetic views.

At the same time, Stendhal published the book “Rome, Naples and Florence » (1817) , which attempts to characterize Italy, its political situation, morals, culture and the Italian national character. To make this picture of an entire country vivid and convincing, he sketches vivid scenes of modern life and retells historical episodes, revealing the brilliant talent of the narrator.

In 1820, the persecution of the Italian Carbonari began. Some of Stendhal's Italian acquaintances were arrested and imprisoned in Austrian prisons. Terror reigned in Milan. Stendhal decided to return to Paris.

In June 1821, he arrived in his homeland and immediately plunged into the atmosphere of stormy political and literary struggle. His homeland greets him unfriendly. His choice of new friends is also alarming, including the progressive publicist P.-L. Courier, soon killed by police mercenaries, and twice tried for his political songs by Bérenger. France is a lot like Italy.

Here, too, reaction is rampant and the opposition camp is opposing it in the same way. Stendhal returned to Paris at a time when the trial of participants in the republican conspiracy against the Bourbons was underway. Among them are friends of the writer’s youth. The situation in French literature, split into two warring camps - the romantics and the classicists, also makes us remember Italy. Stendhal, of course, is on the side of the former, although he does not accept everything in their orientation. From literary societies At that time, the salon of E. Delecluze was closest to him, where he most often visited when meeting with opposition figures. Here he meets his future colleague and friend - young P. Merimee.

In Paris, life was more expensive than in Milan, and Stendhal had to engage in genuine literature to earn money: write small articles for French and English magazines. He barely found time to write a novel.

During the restoration in France there was a dispute between the classics and the romantics. Stendhal took part in these debates, publishing two pamphlets, Racine and Shakespeare (1823 and 1825). The brochures attracted the attention of literary circles and played a role in the struggle between two literary movements.

In 1826, Stendhal wrote his first novel, “Armans” (1827), where he depicts modern France, its “high society,” an idle aristocracy, limited in interests, thinking only about its own benefits. However, this work of the writer, despite its artistic merits, did not attract the attention of readers.

It was one of the most difficult periods in Stendhal's life. The political state of the country plunged him into despondency, his financial situation was very difficult: work in English magazines ceased, and books provided almost no income. Personal affairs brought him to despair. At this time he was asked to compile a guide to Rome.

Stendhal happily agreed and in a short time wrote the book “Walking in Rome” (1829) - in the form of a story about the journey to Italy of a small group of French tourists. Impressions from modern Rome formed the basis of Stendhal’s story “Vanina Vanini, or some details regarding the last Venta” Carbonari, revealed in the Papal States." The story was published in 1829.

In the same year, Stendhal began writing his novel “The Red and the Black,” which made his name immortal. The novel was published in November 1830 with the date “1831”. At this time, Stendhal was no longer in France.

Among the wealthy bourgeoisie, self-interest and the desire to imitate dominate upper classes- original customs can only be found among the people. Passions can be noticed only when they break out in some act punishable by law. That is why, in the eyes of Stendhal, the "Court Gazette" is important document for the study of modern society. He found the problem he was interested in in this newspaper. This is how one of Stendhal’s best works arose - “Red and Black”. The subtitle of the novel is “Chronicle of the 19th Century.” By this “century” we should understand the period of the Restoration, since the novel was begun and mainly written before the July Revolution. The term "Chronicle" here refers to a true account of Restoration society.

M. Gorky characterized this novel remarkably: “Stendhal was the first writer who, almost the day after the victory of the bourgeoisie, began to insightfully and vividly depict the signs of the inevitability of the internal social decay of the bourgeoisie and its dull myopia.”

On July 28, 1830, on the day of the July Revolution, Stendhal was delighted to see the tricolor banner on the streets of Paris. A new era has begun in the history of France: the big financial bourgeoisie has come to power.

Stendhal quickly recognized the deceiver and strangler of freedom in the new king Louis-Philippe, and considered the former liberals who joined the July Monarchy to be renegades. Nevertheless, he began to bother about public service and soon became the French consul in Italy, first in Trieste, and then in Civita Vecchia , a seaport near Rome. Stendhal remained in this position until his death. He spent most of the year in Rome and often went to Paris.

In 1832, he began his memoirs about his stay in Paris from 1821 to 1830 - “Memoirs of an Egoist”, in 1835 - 1836 - an extensive autobiography, brought only up to 1800 - “The Life of Henri Brulard”. In 1834, Stendhal wrote several chapters of the novel Lucien Leuven, which also remained unfinished. At the same time, he became interested in old Italian chronicles he accidentally found, which he decided to process into short stories. But this plan was realized only a few years later: the first chronicle “Vittoria Accoramboni” appeared in 1837. During a long vacation in Paris, Stendhal published “Notes of a Tourist,” a book about his travels in France, and a year later the novel “The Monastery of Parma” was published, which reflected his excellent knowledge of Italy (1839). This was the last work he published. The novel on which he worked in the last years of his life, Lamiel, remained unfinished and was published many years after his death. Stendhal died in Paris on March 22, 1842.

1.2. Stendhal's worldview.

Stendhal's worldview, in general terms, was already formed in 1802-1805, when he read with great enthusiasm the French philosophers of the 18th century - Helvetius, Holbach, Montesquieu, as well as their more or less consistent successors - the philosopher Destutt de Tracy, the creator of the science of the origin of concepts , and Cabanis, a doctor who argued that mental processes depend on physiological processes.

Stendhal does not believe in the existence of God, in religious prohibitions and in the afterlife, and rejects ascetic morality and the morality of submission. He strives to verify every concept he encounters in life and in books with data from experience and personal analysis. He builds his ethics on the basis of sensualistic philosophy, or rather, he borrows it from Galvencia . If there is only one source of knowledge - our sensations, then we should reject any morality that is not connected with sensation, that does not grow out of it. The desire for fame, the well-deserved approval of others, according to Stendhal, is one of the most powerful incentives for human behavior.

Subsequently, Stendhal's views evolved: some indifference to social issues, characteristic of him in the era of the Empire, was replaced by an ardent interest in them. Influenced by political events and liberal theories during the Restoration, Stendhal began to think that constitutional monarchy was an inevitable stage on the path from the despotism of the Empire to the Republic, etc. But despite all that Political Views Stendhal remained unchanged.

Feature Modern French society, Stendhal believed, is hypocrisy. This is the government's fault. It is this that forces the French to hypocrisy. No one in France believes in the dogmas of Catholicism anymore, but everyone must assume the appearance of a believer. No one sympathizes with the reactionary policies of the Bourbons, but everyone should welcome them. From school, children are taught to be hypocrites and see this as the only means of subsistence and the only opportunity to calmly go about their business. Stendhal was a passionate hater of religion and especially the clergy. The power of the church over minds seemed to him the most terrible form of despotism. In his novel The Red and the Black, he portrayed the clergy as a social force fighting on the side of reaction. He showed how future priests are trained in the seminary, instilling in them crudely utilitarian and selfish ideas and by all means attracting them to the side of the government.

Brief conclusions on section 1.

The influence of Stendhal's work on the further development of literature was broad and imaginative. The reason for this world fame lies in the fact that Stendhal, with extraordinary insight, revealed the main, leading features of modernity, the contradictions tearing it apart, the forces struggling in it, the psychology of the complex and restless 19th century, all those features of the relationship between man and society that were characteristic of more than one only France.

With deep truthfulness, making him one of the greatest realists, he showed the movement of his era, freeing itself from the bonds of feudalism, from the domination of the capitalist elite, making its way to still vague, but inevitably attractive democratic ideals. With each novel, the scope of his images increased and social contradictions appeared in great complexity and irreconcilability.

Stendhal's favorite heroes cannot accept the forms of life that emerged in the 19th century as a result of the revolution that led to the rule of the bourgeoisie. They cannot come to terms with a society in which feudal traditions have uglyly reckoned with the triumphant “purity”. The preaching of independence of thought, energy that rejects absurd prohibitions and traditions, the heroic principle that tries to break through to action in an inert and rough environment, is hidden in this revolutionary in nature, excitingly truthful creativity.

That is why even now, so many years after Stendhal’s death, his works are read in all countries by millions of people, whom he helps to understand life, appreciate the truth and fight for a better future. That is why our readers recognize him as one of the greatest artists of the 19th century, who made an invaluable contribution to world literature.

Section 2. "Stendhal's novel "Red and Black" - a chronicle of the 19th century."

2.1. Stendhal's novel "Red and Black" - a reflection of the life of France 19

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.
“A man of the 18th century, lost in the heroic era of Napoleon,” these words of K. Stryensky, spoken about the great French writer Stendhal, can rightfully be attributed to his hero famous novel"Red and black."

Julien Sorel, subject, like many young people of that time, to the influence of the personality of the majestic emperor, experiences a difficult internal struggle, which determines the overall tragedy of his image.

The hero's story was largely copied by the author from the fate of a real person. Stendhal learned from the newspapers about the young man sentenced to execution, the son of a peasant who decided to make a career serving in the family of a local rich man. Antoine Berthe, who successfully began his career as a tutor, was caught having an affair with the mother of his pupils, and lost his job. Moreover, he was expelled from the theological seminary, and later from service in a Parisian aristocratic mansion, where he was compromised by his relationship with the owner’s daughter. The final point in the streak of failures was a letter from his former owner, Madame Mishu.

In desperation, the young man shoots Mrs. Misha and then tries to commit suicide. It was no coincidence that this court chronicle attracted the attention of Stendhal, who conceived a novel about the tragic fate of a talented plebeian in Restoration France.

However, the real source only awakened the creative imagination of the artist, who rethought the chronicle story. Stendhal took this plot as the basis for his novel, but significantly changed and deepened it.

2.2 The image of Julien Sorel in the novel "The Red and the Black".

Julien Sorel embodied everything characteristic features of its era, and in its history life path These are not simple ambitious desires, but complex mental anguish, doubts, the struggle with the injustice of society and one’s own delusions. It is on the history of the hero’s spiritual life, the development of his character, and clashes with the social environment that the plot of “Red and Black” is built.

Endowed with a sensitive soul, Julien constantly analyzes current events, evaluates himself and his role in them, doubts and ponders his every step before deciding to take any action. Therefore, the main thing that critics and researchers of the writer’s work highlighted in the novel was its subtle psychologism, “an accurate and heartfelt depiction of the human heart.”

Stendhal's hero, forced to live in the world of self-interest and profit, which was the high society of the 19th century, himself is sharply different from his environment. A talented young man, absolutely indifferent to money, Julien Sorel has unbridled courage and energy, honesty and fortitude, and perseverance in moving towards his goal. Being a representative of a lower class, infringed on its legal rights, the hero at the same time does not want to put up with his pitiful situation. He strives to change, if not the world, then at least his destiny.

Standing on the top of a cliff and watching the flight of a hawk, Julien dreams of being like this proud bird. “This was Napoleon’s fate,” he thinks. “Maybe the same thing awaits me...” For Stendhal’s hero, Napoleon is the highest example of how one person can rise above the world around him. And although Sorel is closer in spirit to revolutionaries, he considers revolution his real element, insane ambition carries him into the opposite camp.

Julien makes daring plans to achieve fame. Inspired by the example of Napoleon and firmly confident in his strength, will, energy and talents, he has no doubts about success. However, it was impossible to achieve recognition in a direct and honest way in that era. Hence the difficult mental struggle of the hero.

The contradictions caused by the combination in Sorel's soul of revolutionary, independent and noble aspirations and ambitious desires, leading to the path of hypocrisy and deception, determine the internal drama of this image. Julien, according to Roger Vaillant, “is forced to rape his noble nature in order to play the vile role that he imposed on himself.” Striving for recognition and glory, the hero comprehends the true essence of those in power. To enter this world means to become mired in moral uncleanliness, insignificance, greed and cruelty. Even without fully realizing everything, Sorel still strives into this world. And only after becoming Viscount de Verneuil and the son-in-law of the powerful Marquis, he understands the true meaninglessness of his aspirations.

Having achieved the desired happiness, Julien did not become truly happy, because his living human soul is looking for more - bright, pure, high, something that simply does not exist in the world of power and big money.

The hero understands the illusory nature of his ambitious aspirations for a career, awareness returns to him true values: love, friendship, kindness, humanity. He begins to be burdened by the secular mask that he is forced to wear - the mask of an embittered ambitious man and a daring seducer. After all, behind this mask lies a sensitive, noble, kind soul. And the hero’s love for Louise de Renal helps him revive this soul.

Unfortunately, the final rebirth of Julien's soul was destined to occur under the influence of tragic events. In the confusion caused by Louise's incriminating letter, he shoots the woman he loves. And at this moment the hero experiences a real storm of contradictory feelings: on the one hand, true all-consuming love for Louise, on the other, disappointment in the one who deceived his holy faith, betrayed him, and dared to interfere with his career. And yet the pure soul of Julien Sorel wins, he returns to his true essence, to his nature. Changing his attitude to his career, to the highest society itself, he changes his view of the people around him, in particular, of Matilda de La Mole, whose marriage he so counted on in a fit of ambitious aspirations.

Now the brilliant aristocrat appears before him in her true guise, so similar to the whole world of La Moley, de Renal, Valno and the like.

Now the true attitude of all these gentlemen towards him is revealed to him. Therefore, at the trial, he openly throws the terrible truth in the face of his judges: he is being tried not so much for shooting Louise de Renal, but because he, a plebeian, dared to rebel against his pitiful fate, dreaming of taking his worthy place in the world.

Unfortunately, overcoming ambition and the victory of true feeling in the soul of Julien Sorel lead him to the guillotine: he rejects Matilda’s offer and refuses salvation. The complex struggle taking place in the hero’s soul completely exhausted him. Life now seems aimless to Julien, he no longer values ​​it and prefers death.

Stendhal could not decide how the hero, who had overcome his delusions, should have rebuilt his life, and therefore death for him was the only and inevitable way out.

“Young people like Laffargue (one of the prototypes of the protagonist of the novel “The Red and the Black”),” wrote Stendhal, “if they manage to get a good upbringing, 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, they have an easily vulnerable pride." And since ambition is often born from a combination of energy and pride, Stendhal ended his characterization of the young man with the following remark: "Probably all great people will henceforth come from the class to which Mr. Laffargue belongs ( he was a cabinetmaker). Napoleon once combined the same characteristics: a good upbringing, a fervent imagination and extreme poverty.
Julien Sorel's psychology and 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 driving forces modern society and prospects for its further development. Julien Sorel is the future revolution.
Stendhal had long been confident that the revolution would be made by young people from disadvantaged sections of society who received an education and learned to think. He knew very well that the revolution of the 18th century was made by such young people - both its supporters and enemies spoke about this.
Julien Sorel is a young man of the people. K. Liprandi copied words from the novel that characterize Julien in socially: “son of a peasant”, “young peasant”, “son of a worker”, “young worker”, “son of a carpenter”, “poor carpenter”. 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, in his eyes there is flame.
This is not a portrait of a Byronic hero like the Corsair, Manfred. Stendhal needed the reader to feel and see what enormous and precious human energy, awakened in the “lower” classes by the era of the French revolutions, overwhelms this gifted young man from the people and, finding no way out, feeds the “sacred fire” of ambition that is increasingly flaring up in him . Stendhal's novel was written about the tragic uselessness of this popular energy in a reactionary era. Julien stands at the foot of the social ladder. He feels that he is capable of great deeds that would elevate him. But circumstances are hostile to him.
In 1838, Stendhal noted that Julien's unbridled imagination was one of the most important features of his character: “Ten years earlier, the author, wanting to paint a sensitive and honest young man, made him, creating Julien Sorel not only ambitious, but also with a head overflowing with imagination and illusion.

In this combination (heightened sensitivity and honesty, the power of imagination, ambition and faith in illusion) is all the unique and individual originality of Julien’s character, the crystallization of his feelings, his through action.
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 exist with spiritual lethargy; it contains “the liveliness and ardor of the soul.” Ambition forces a person to develop his abilities and overcome difficulties.
Whatever Julien undertakes, the liveliness and ardor of his soul perform miracles. Its psychophysiological organization is an apparatus remarkable in sensitivity, speed and impeccability of action; Stendhal the physiologist took care of this. 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, rigidly 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.
The through-and-through action of the ambitious Julien Sorel was typical of the era. Claude Liprandi notes that many pamphleteers, historians, journalists, and political publicists wrote with indignation during the Restoration years about careerism, the brutal struggle for a place in the sun, as “the abomination of the century.”

The hero of “Red and Black,” reminds K. Liprandi, “is characteristic of his time,” “deeply truthful.” And the writers of Stendhal's era saw that the image of Julien was “truthful and modern.” But many were confused by the fact that 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.

Stendhal consciously and consistently contrasts Julien's outstanding talents and natural nobility with his “ill-fated” ambition. We are convinced of how disastrous for Julien’s personality was the path to which ambition pushed him.
The hero of Pushkin's "Queen of Spades", Hermann, is a young ambitious man "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 the works of Stendhal, the heroes of which are young ambitious people, says the French writer Roger Vaillant in his book “The Experience of Drama,” “lies entirely in the fact that these heroes “are forced to rape their rich nature in order to play the vile role that they 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 his confessor, to be extremely reckless. Misled by the arrogance that distinguishes people with imagination, he took 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.”
All these mistakes were, in essence, a cruel criticism of modern society in all its levels and at the same time a characteristic of the naive and “natural” Julien.
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.
Madame de Renal saw Robespierre in him, but Julien did not want to be Robespierre. Napoleon always remained his model, whom he wanted to imitate in everything. The desire to become Napoleon or Robespierre was a feature of the youth from poor families who created this era. Book publishers were only interested in works that depicted ardent passions that aroused the wild delight of readers and theater audiences. "These feelings were necessary for young people who wanted to follow the path of Bonaparte and Robespierre."
The character of Julien Sorel was outlined back in 1818, when Stendhal wrote the first version of "The Life of Napoleon", a decisive, gloomy character, not distracted by any childish fun, at first aroused the hatred of all the little Frenchmen, his schoolmates, who understood his firm determination as hostile attitude towards their vanity. Poor Napoleon short, moreover, confident that his homeland was being oppressed by the French, avoided all society.

Ten years later, Napoleon's character, his love of solitude and attitude towards others were expressed in Julien Sorel.
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.

2.3. The theme of love in the novel "Red and Black".

Julien Sorel is a synthesis of two, seemingly directly opposite, philosophical and political trends 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 the 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 barriers and partitions, a meeting of two people of nature - the kind that should exist in a society created according to the laws of nature.
Madame de Renal completely surrendered to her feelings, but the home teacher acted differently - he was always thinking about his social position.

Julien's double worldview manifested itself in relation to the hostess of the Renal house - he insulted her when she offered him several louis d'or to buy linen and asked him not to tell her husband about it.

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:
“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 passionate kisses on the hand extended to him - “but maybe,” adds Stendhal, “they seemed passionate only to Madame de Renal?”
This "maybe" has a double meaning. 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.
Already succumbing to this feeling, he began to think, maybe it would be better to look after his mistress’s friend? After all, the hostess herself chose him as her lover because it was convenient for her to meet him here.
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 check sensations in all their mass, draw correct conclusions from them and build conclusions in general concepts.
Julien enters Madame de Renal's bedroom. There is some confusion. “And then all his vain nonsense flew out of Julien’s head, and he became simply himself. To be rejected by such a lovely woman seemed to him the greatest misfortune. In response to her reproaches, he threw himself at her feet and hugged his knees. And since she continued to scold him... he suddenly burst into tears... the love that he inspired in himself, and the unexpected impression that her charms made on him, gave him a victory that he would never have achieved... with his clumsy cunning." This is how Julien Sorel turns from a man of civilization into a man of nature, with natural and, therefore, truly social feelings, on which the laws of society should arise.

And he, who had never known love before and was not loved by anyone, experienced the bliss of being himself.
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. But her romance is purely in the head.

She decided that she would become on par with her ancestor, whose life was full of love and devotion, dangers and risks.

Julien can take over the heart of a rational and wayward girl for a long time only by breaking her pride. To do this, you need to hide your tenderness, freeze passion, and prudently use the tactics of the experienced dandy Korazov. Julien forces himself: again he must not be himself. Finally, Matilda's arrogant pride is broken. She decides to challenge society and become the wife of a plebeian, confident that only he is worthy of her love. But Julien, no longer believing in Matilda’s constancy, is now forced to play a role. But pretending and being happy is impossible.
Just as in his relationship with Madame Renal, Julien was afraid of deception and contempt on the part of the woman in love with him, and Mathilde sometimes felt that he was playing a false game with her. Doubts arose often, “civilization” interfered with the natural development of feelings, and Julien feared that Matilda, along with her brother and admirers, would laugh at him as a rebellious plebeian. Matilda understood perfectly well that he did not believe her. “I just need to catch the moment when his eyes light up,” she thought. “Then he will help me lie.”
The beginnings of love, growing over the course of a month, walks in the garden, Matilda’s sparkling eyes and frank conversations, obviously lasted too long, and love turned into hatred. Left alone with himself, Julien dreamed of revenge. “Yes, she is beautiful,” said Julien, his eyes sparkling like a tiger, “I will take possession of her, and then I will leave. And woe to anyone who tries to detain me!” So false ideas instilled social traditions and sick pride, caused painful thoughts, hatred of the beloved being and killed sound thought.

“I admire her beauty, but I fear her intelligence,” says the epigraph signed with Merimee’s name to the chapter entitled “The Power of a Young Girl.”
Matilda's love began because Julien became an argument in her struggle against modern society, against false civilization. He was for her a salvation from boredom, from a mechanical salon existence, news of a psychological and philosophical level. Then he became an example of a new culture, built on a different principle - natural, personal and free, as if even a leader in the search for a new life and thinking. His hypocrisy was immediately understood as hypocrisy, as a necessity in order to hide a genuine, morally more perfect, but unacceptable worldview for modern society.

Matilda understood him as something related, and this spiritual unity aroused admiration, real, natural, natural love that captured her entirely. This love was free. “Julien and I,” Matilda thought, as always, alone with herself, “no contracts, no notaries preceding the bourgeois ceremony. Everything will be heroic, everything will be left to chance.” And chance here is understood as freedom, the opportunity to act as thought demands, the need of the soul, the voice of nature and truth, without violence invented by society.

She is secretly proud of her love, because she sees heroism in it: to love the carpenter’s son, to find something in him worthy of love and disregard the opinion of the world - who could do such a thing? And she contrasted Julien with her high-society fans and tormented them with offensive comparisons.
But this is a "fight against society." Just like the well-bred people around her, she wants to win attention, make an impression and, oddly enough, appeal to the opinion of the high society crowd. The originality that she seeks openly and secretly, her actions, thoughts and passions that flare up in the conquest of “an exceptional being who despises all others” - all this is caused by resistance to society, the desire to take risks in order to distinguish itself from others and rise to heights that no one else can achieve. achieve. And this, of course, is the dictate of society, and not the requirement of nature.
This love for oneself is connected with love for him - at first unconscious and not very clear. Then, after a long, painful analysis of the psychology of this incomprehensible and attractive personality, doubts arise - maybe this is just a pretense in order to marry a rich marquise? And finally, as if without great reason, the certainty triumphs that it is impossible to live without him, that happiness is not in oneself, but in him. This is the victory of a natural feeling pulsating in an alien, hostile society. The threat of losing everything that was planned, everything that she was proud of, made Matilda suffer and even, perhaps, truly love. She seemed to understand that her happiness was in him. The “inclination” towards Julien finally triumphed over pride, “which, since she could remember herself, had reigned supreme in her heart. This arrogant and cold soul for the first time I was overcome by a fiery feeling."

The struggle of nature with civilization, with an unnatural system social relations seem to end with the victory of natural human feelings. The thirst for honor and glory, the expectation of triumph in the world, which Matilda despises just like Julien, has disappeared. Obstacles have been overcome. For Matilda, there is only love-passion, which the book about love glorified as the only truly human, natural feeling. Julien was freed from the need to hide his passion from her.

If Matilda's love reached the point of insanity, then Julien became reasonable and cold. And when Mathilde, in order to save him from a possible attempt on his life, said: “Farewell! Run!”, Julien did not understand anything and was offended: “As it inevitably happens, that even in their best moments these people always manage to do something... something to hurt me!" He looked at her with a cold gaze, and she burst into tears, which had never happened before.
Having received vast lands from the Marquis, Julien became ambitious, as Stendhal says. He was thinking about his son, and this also obviously reflected his new passion - ambition: this is his creation, his heir, and this will create a position for him in the world, and perhaps in the state. His "victory" turned him into a different person. "My romance finally ended, and I owe it only to myself. “I managed to make this monstrous proud woman fall in love with me,” he thought, looking at Matilda, “her father cannot live without her, and she cannot live without me...” His soul reveled, he barely responded to Matilda’s ardent tenderness. He was gloomy and silent."

And Matilda began to be afraid of him. “Something vague, something like horror, crept into her feeling for Julien. This callous soul knew in her love everything that is available to a human being, nurtured among the excesses of civilization that Paris admires.”
Having learned that they wanted to make him the illegitimate son of some high-ranking de La Vernet, Julien became cold and arrogant, as he assumed that he was really the illegitimate son of a great man. All he could think about was fame and his son. When he became a lieutenant in the regiment and hoped to soon receive the colonel's chip, he began to take pride in something that had previously irritated him. He forgot about justice, about natural duty and lost everything human. He stopped even thinking about the revolution.

Brief conclusions on section 2.

Among the many assumptions about the meaning of the title of the novel “Red and Black”, one can find a version according to which Stendhal disguised under secret colors two feelings that raged and possessed the spirit of Julien Sorel. Passion - spiritual impulse, moral thirst, unbridled, unaccountable attraction, and ambition - thirst for rank, fame, recognition, action not according to moral convictions in the pursuit of a goal - these two feelings fought in Julien, and each had the right to own his soul. The author divided the hero into two parts, into two Juliens: passionate and ambitious. And both of them achieved their goals: Julien, prone to natural feelings, with an open soul, achieved the love of Madame de Renal and was happy; in another case, ambition and composure helped Julien win Matilda and a position in the world. But this did not make Julien happy.

We are convinced of how destructive the path that ambition pushed him turned out to be for Julien’s personality. The last thing Stendhal wanted was for his contemporaries, the young men living on the sixth floors, to recognize Julien Sorel as an exemplary hero worth emulating.

Stendhal depicted the fate of an energetic and gifted young man, in front of whom all doors were closed. Julien had to take a detour.

Instead of benefiting society and thereby becoming famous, as would have happened in another, more democratic era, he becomes a criminal.

The political reaction is to blame for this, contrary to the democratic trends of the century; everything that is monstrous and unnecessary was brought with it by the Restoration, which tried to crush the revolution and everything that it created.

The novel “Red and Black” is perhaps the most extraordinary in French literature XIX century, sounded like a formidable warning: the time will come when the Julien Sorelys - young plebeians who can passionately dream of a better future and fearlessly fight for their happiness - will be able to find the right path!

Conclusion

The influence of Stendhal's work on the further development of literature was broad and multifaceted.The reason for this world fame lies in the fact that Stendhal, with extraordinary insight, revealed the main, leading features of modernity, the contradictions tearing man apart, the forces fighting in it, the psychology of the complex and turbulent 19th century, all those features of the relationship between man and society that wereare not characteristic of France alone.

With deep truthfulness, which makes him one of the greatest realists, he showed the dynamics of his era. With each novel, the scope of his images increased, his psychologism became deeper.Stendhal's favorite heroes cannot accept the forms of life that developed in the 19th century.Preaching independence of thought, energy that rejects ridiculous prohibitions and traditions.

That is why even now, so many years after Stendhal’s death, his works are read in all countries by millions of people, whom he helps to understand life, appreciate the truth and fight for a better future.That is why our readers recognize him as one of the greatest artists of the 19th century, who made an invaluable contribution to world literature.

It was then, on the eve of the general crisis and global wars, that Stendhal’s novel “Red and Black” was born, embodying the philosophical and sociological problems of that time. Stendhal's novel "Red and Black" can rightfully be called an "encyclopedia of vanity" Andat the same time, the novel is a warning, educational role which in Stendhal's attempt to show the reader of the 19th century the paths of love, always lying far away from the seductive and disastrous road of vanity.The action of the novel dates back to 1827-1831, reflects the mores of the 19th century, and at the same time it will always be modern, because love, on the basis of which the struggle of human vanities unfolds, will never die in any era.

Thus, in this work, the novel “Red and Black” was considered as a unique work that is able to talk about the future not as something distant, but as something inevitably approaching. This work consists of two sections. The first section examines the life, work and worldview of Stendhal, as well as the writer’s theoretical works on this novel. The second is dedicated to the novel “Red and Black” - a chronicle XIX century. Each section ends with brief conclusions.

List of used literature:

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Vinogradov A.K. Stendhal and his time / A.K. Vinogradov; Ed., preface. and comment. A. D. Mikhailova. - 2nd ed. - M.: Young Guard, 1960. - 366 p.

Galkin A.B. The theme of vanity in Stendhal's novel The Red and the Black. – M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 2004. – 24 p.

Dezhurov A.S. Ideological issues and literary features in F. Stendhal’s novel “Red and Black”. – Minsk, 2003. – 43 p.

Jean Prevost “Stendhal: experience in the study of literary mastery and the psychology of the writer.” “Fiction” M.-1960.- 203 p.

Zababurova N.V. Stendhal and problems of psychological analysis. – Rostov n/d.: Rostov University Publishing House, 1982. – 115 p.

Foreign literature of the 19th century: Romanticism. Critical realism. Reader./ Comp. Antonov M.L. et al. - M.: Education, 1979. - 639 p.

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The main character in The Red and the Black is a man named Julien Sorel, the son of an ordinary blacksmith. Subtle, silent and even somewhat effeminate, Julien, who was not particularly favored by his family, dreams of rising to the top of French society, proving to everyone that he is not a “geek”, and showing his worth to society. He begins to study by teaching at the seminary

Theology and Latin.

In the novel “Red and Black,” Stendhal shows readers the character’s internal conflict: either remain himself – a hopeless romantic living honestly, and, therefore, remain poor, or bend under people of higher status, learn to use others and benefit from them to advance your career.

His comrades disliked the smart, honest, free-thinking and logical Julien. He, in turn, at first did not realize that there was absolutely no place for common sense and reasoning in the seminary. To get approval, Julien had to

Just being addicted to wealth. Also, Julien understood that he did not want to be a clergyman, he dreamed of being a military leader like Napoleon, he wanted to be heard and noticed.

The era in which Julien lived literally contributed to the corruption of the human soul. He needed love and respect so much significant people, that he nevertheless became ready to step over himself and others.

Soon he was noticed by the marquise’s daughter, Matilda, who at first simply wanted to relieve boredom and played the main character. Noticing this, Julien began to repay her in the same coin, after which Matilda appreciated the young man’s pride and fell in love with him. Then they decided to get married, which plunged the girl’s father, Marquis, into complete shock. But the purposeful Matilda did not back down and got her father to help Julien get a worthy title and title. The girl’s father did not stop being negative and decided to make inquiries about the young man. He addressed a letter to Madame De Renal, who, in turn, was also not indifferent to Julien and was very offended that he left her. Undoubtedly good recommendations She did not give information about this young man and turned the marquis’s family against poor Julien Sorel, assuring them that he wanted to marry the marquis’s daughter only out of self-interest.

This put an end to Sorel’s life - the woman he truly loved simply broke his fate and destroyed all his dreams. Only at the end of the novel, while in prison, does Julien clearly understand that his destructive desire for ambition is absolutely insignificant. He is executed, his body has died, but his soul still triumphs. Victory over himself: he nevertheless realized that the world, which seemed ideal to him, was completely different - it was insignificant and pitiful.