Scarlate and Black also titled Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) is a 19th-century French novel by Marie Henri Beyle popularly known as Stendhal, which explores the life of a young man whose ambitious and passionate nature leads to his tragic downfall. In this fiction taking place during the Bourbon Revolution, an important socio-political period in French history, Stendhal wonderfully combines romanticism and realism to describe the journey of his hero. Stendhal's psychologist also gives readers insight into Julien's scheming aspirations and, ultimately, repentance following the guilt of attempting to murder his true love in pursuit of his ambitions. This psychological perspective is considered to be the result of the influence of medical books, notably Pinel's Treatise which Stendhal read in 1805 and 1810, showing greater interest in one of its chapters, The Art of Counterbalancing the human passions by others of equal or greater strength, an important part of Medicine (Kete, 2005). Thus, this essay will examine how the desire of the Stendhalian protagonist is revealed in Scarlet and Black. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay From the beginning, Julien's character stands out for his love for reading, knowledge and wit. Even within the family, he is considered different from the other members of the family, which is seen through the father's attitude: "He could have forgiven Julien for his small size, so unsuited to difficult work, and unlike the build of his older brothers, but this The madness of reading was odious to him. He himself did not know how to read” (Stendhal, 1831). It is this passion for reading that allows Julien to accept the position of tutor in an aristocratic house as the first step towards realizing his dreams. Furthermore, he carefully chose the clergy rather than a military profession because of the power conferred by the Church, particularly in French politics during this period, and the good life given to the clergy. He maintained close relations with Father Chelan with whom he trained in theology with the prospect of entering the clergy. Nevertheless, Father Chélan, who had “a troubled glimpse, deep down, of a dark ambition” in Julien, doubted his intentions to become a priest (Stendhal, 1831). Father Chélan whom Julien adores is perhaps the only one who can glimpse Julien's soul. The protagonist always faces internal conflict when his moral codes are compromised in his journey to achieve his goals and objectives. However, as “ambition was still his central passion… [which] was indeed his pleasure of possession”, he must most of the time go against his conscience to obtain material benefits (Stendhal, 1831). Moreover, at Father Pirard's seminary, he distinguished himself from other students by his liberal ideologies and spirit. More importantly, he gains the respect and favor of the strict Father Pirard through whom greater connections in society are made, notably with the introduction to Monsieur de la Mole. Furthermore, like Stendhal himself, Julien is an ardent secret admirer of Napoleon and his heroic exploits which continue to inspire him (Gleeson-White, 2012). So, Stendhal immediately distinguished the protagonist by his attractive features and overly ambitious character. Despite his aversion to aristocrats or royalists, Julien Sorel uses them to climb the social ladder and pursue his excessive aspirations. Similar to Stendhal, Julien was a liberal who despised the morals of the bourgeois, their treatment of the lower classesespecially. However, the difference between the two is that Stendhal, who grew up in Grenoble, was originally from a royalist Jesuit family that he began to criticize while his fictional hero is of a lower rank in society with a natural character.tendency to dislike the upper classes (“Stendhal”, 2016). In the novel, Julien hides his true political leanings and manages to impress the household of Renal, notably the mayor of the province of Verrières, Monsieur de Renal and even his rival Monsieur Valenod, through demonstrations of memorized knowledge of the Bible and other readings. However, Julien, being a proud person, initially expresses his dissatisfaction at being offered a position as tutor in the house of Monsieur de Renal mainly for fear of being reduced to the position of servant in his house. “The horror of eating with the servants was not something natural to Julien; to make his fortune, he would have done other things just as unpleasant” shows that he would do anything to succeed in life (Stendhal, 1831). Later, in the novel, he even gains the favor of the powerful Monsieur de la Mole because of his skill with politics and his reputation as a good tutor. Although the fictional hero takes many advantages from these important figures in order to realize his inordinate aspirations and even the opportunity to ride in the honor guard of the king's parade, he continues to secretly criticize and disapprove of their lifestyle and their actions. attitudes. Despite all these criticisms, he furtively aspires to belong to their world by hiding behind a religious facade. Thus, he can be perceived as a hypocrite because “hypocrisy and the absence of any sympathy were the usual methods of protecting oneself” (Stendhal, 1831). By putting on a good face and gaining a good reputation through his knowledge of books, the protagonist thus enters the upper-class society, which is a step towards achieving his goals. Two important relationships that play an important role in Julien's plans are his affair with Madame. of Renal and Mlle. Mathilde. Julien's spirit and fervor attract the two women who had never been in love before. This is seen in the instant attraction that Madame de Rênal feels for Julien during their first meeting. For her part, Madame de Rênal was completely seduced by his beautiful complexion, his large black eyes and his beautiful hair, curlier than that of most men. — since, to cool off, he had just plunged his head into the water of the public fountain (Stendhal, 1831). Julien uses this captivating personality to seduce Mme. de Renal to learn about many things about refined society and its politics through his discussions with her, which he finds useful for his plans in the near future. However, his early relationship with the delicate and charming Mme. De Renal, can be seen as the point at which he understands true love or the "presence of being in love" (Haig, 1891). It can be perceived that his feelings for her were genuine when he realizes his true passion for her when he is confined in the cell and repents of his crime, because "in his heart ambition was dead, but from the ashes another passion was born: he called it remorse for having tried to kill Madame de Rênal” (Stendhal, 1831). In contrast, his affair with the proud and haughty Miss. Mathilde can be seen as more of an intellectual attraction as he is able to express to her his most personal and cynical views on class inequality and other policies that he hid in the previous case. This relegates Miss Mathilde to the position of confidante. An example of the mixture of romanticism and realism in the novel.. 2016].