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Resumen de Rojo y negro: crónica de 1830
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About 12 h 30 min to read.Para quién es
This is for readers who love sharp portraits of ambition, secret love stories, and fierce young heroes who watch themselves closely. It also suits anyone curious about politics, class and the Church in nineteenth century France.
De qué trata este libro
What would you do if the only way up were to pretend to be someone you are not? Julien Sorel, a sawmill owner's son in a small town in the Jura mountains, makes that choice at eighteen. He loves Napoleon in secret, hates the rich around him, and decides to climb through the Church.
Stendhal published The Red and the Black in 1830, with the subtitle A Chronicle of 1830. The title is usually read as the soldier's red coat and the priest's black one, the two roads open to an ambitious young man after Napoleon fell. You get the whole shape of the book, from a vain mayor to the seminary and a glittering Paris household.
En este resumen
- 1A small town where profit rules everythingFree
- 2A carpenter's son is hired as tutor
- 3A first love grows between tutor and mother
- 4Guilt and gossip break up the happiness
- 5The seminary teaches Julien the cost of ambition
- 6Paris opens the great house of the Marquis de la Mole
- 7Mathilde turns love into a proud contest
- 8Ambition and real feeling pull against each other
- 9Class, Church and hypocrisy shape every choice
- 10A watchful narrator tells the chronicle of 1830
Idea clave 1 de 10
A small town where profit rules everything
The story opens in Verrières, a pretty town with red-tiled roofs, a rushing torrent and a nail factory that shakes the street. Its master is M. de Rênal, the mayor. He is a proud man with decorations, and he is ashamed that his wealth comes from trade.
Stendhal shows his character through small acts. The mayor builds a tall wall for a public walk and has the plane trees trimmed twice a year because he likes shade. He can think of no other use for a tree unless it earns money. He is an Ultra, a supporter of king and Church, and his rival M. Valenod, the workhouse director, cheats the poor while boasting of his Norman horses.
The mayor decides to hire a tutor for his sons, partly to show the town he can afford one and partly to keep Valenod from getting the young man first. His wife, Madame de Rênal, is shy, tender and devoted to her three boys. Takeaway, in this world even a tree must pay its way, and so must a person.
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About 12 h 30 min to read.Paperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Who’s who
- Julien Sorel
- A carpenter's son with a prodigious memory and fierce pride, he hides a love of Napoleon and plans to rise through the Church.
- Madame de Rênal
- The mayor's gentle, sheltered wife, devoted to her three sons, she finds in the young tutor a tenderness she has never known.
- M. de Rênal
- The vain mayor of Verrières, he measures everything by rank and money and hires a tutor to impress the town.
- Abbé Pirard
- Stern, honest director of the Besançon seminary, he becomes Julien's protector and sends him toward a career in Paris.
- Marquis de la Mole
- A powerful nobleman with sharp business sense and changing moods, he makes Julien his secretary and begins to trust him.
- Mathilde de la Mole
- The marquis's proud, bored daughter, she longs for a love as daring as her ancestor's and chooses Julien as her hero.
- Curé Chélan
- The old priest of Verrières who taught Julien theology, he sees through him and fears for his soul.
- Fouqué
- Julien's loyal friend, a timber merchant in the mountains, he offers an honest life and help whenever Julien is in need.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 196,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 13 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Rojo y negro: crónica de 1830
What is The Red and the Black about?
It follows Julien Sorel, a poor young man from a mountain town who tries to rise in France through the Church. His ambition leads him into a love affair with a mayor's wife, the seminary, and a powerful Paris household.
What do the red and the black mean in the title?
Most readers take them to stand for the army and the Church, the two careers open to an ambitious young Frenchman after Napoleon's fall. Some also see passion and death in the colors.
Is The Red and the Black based on a true story?
Stendhal drew on a real court case of the 1820s, and he subtitled the book A Chronicle of 1830 because it paints actual French society. Julien and the other characters are invented, though.
Who are the main characters in The Red and the Black?
Julien Sorel is the hero. Around him are Madame de Rênal, her husband the mayor of Verrières, Abbé Pirard, the Marquis de la Mole and his proud daughter Mathilde.
What is the main message of The Red and the Black?
Stendhal shows how ambition, rank and hypocrisy shape a young man's choices in a society that rewards acting. The book asks what a person loses when he plays a part for too long.
Cite this edition
Stendhal. The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of 1830. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-and-the-black-a-chronicle-of-1830.
Stendhal. (2026). The red and the black: A chronicle of 1830. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-and-the-black-a-chronicle-of-1830 (Original work published 1830)
Stendhal. The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of 1830. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-and-the-black-a-chronicle-of-1830.
@book{stendhal2026red,
author = {Stendhal},
title = {The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of 1830},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-and-the-black-a-chronicle-of-1830},
note = {First published 1830}
}
