The Red and the Black

Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) is a novel by Stendhal, published in 1831. The title has been translated into English variously as Scarlet and Black, Red and Black, and The Red and the Black. It is set in 1830s France relating a young man's attempts to rise above his plebeian birth through deception and hypocrisy, only to find himself betrayed by his own passions.

Related Topics:
Novel - Stendhal - 1831 - 1830s - France

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As in Stendhal's The Charterhouse of Parma, the protagonist believes himself to be a driven and intelligent man, but is in reality a simpleton, a romantic, and a piece in a chess game played by others. Stendhal uses his addled hero to satirize French society of the time, particularly the hypocrisy and materialism of its aristocracy and the Catholic Church, and to foretell a radical change in French society that will remove both of those forces from their positions of power.

Related Topics:
The Charterhouse of Parma - Materialism - Aristocracy - Catholic Church

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The most common and most likely explanation of the title is that red and black are the contrasting colors of the army uniform of the times and of the robes of priests, respectively. Alternative explanations include: red could stand for love, and black for death and mourning; red and black are the colors of the roulette wheel, and may indicate the unexpected changes in the hero's career.

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