The image of Julien Sorel in Stendhal's novel "Red and Black"
The protagonist of the novel "Red and Black" is a young, ambitious young man Julien Sorel. He is a simple carpenter's son, living with his brothers and his father. The main goal of a nineteen-year-old young man is the idea of climbing the church career ladder and being as far as possible from the ordinary world in which he grew up. Julien does not find understanding from society. Stendhal notes that "all the household despised him, and he hated his brothers and father ..." Stendhal Selected Works: In 3 vols. T1: Red and Black: Roman / Per. from fr. N. Chuiko. - M.: Literature, World of Books, 2004. - P.20. The young man is endowed with a rare mind, able to quote the Scriptures in Latin from memory. The young man sees nothing wrong with his idea of becoming a priest, for him this is the only way to escape from the gray, monotonous and gloomy everyday life of his existence.
The formation of his character was greatly influenced by two people: a regimental doctor, a participant in the Napoleonic campaigns, and the local abbot Shelan. The first taught Julien history and Latin, and with his death bequeathed to the young man respect for Napoleon, the cross of the Legion of Honor and books, as well as the concepts of honor and nobility. The second instilled in Sorel a love for the Holy Scriptures, for God, encouraged his aspirations for intellectual and spiritual growth.
It is these qualities that separate Julien from the deceitful, stingy people of the town of Verrières. He is talented and generously endowed with a mind, but he was born at the wrong time. The hour for people like him has passed. The young man admires Napoleon, and it is his era that is close to the young man.
Due to his incompatibility with time, the young man is forced to pretend. He pretends to achieve something in life, but it turns out to be not so easy. With its own rules, the era of the Restoration has come, in which honor, nobility, courage and intelligence are worth nothing. These qualities were important in the era of Napoleon, then a simple person could achieve something in the military sphere. During the reign of the Bourbons, in order to move up the career ladder, a worthy background was required. For the lower class, the path to the military is closed.
Realizing the political situation of the era, Sorel understands that the only way to achieve spiritual and estate growth is to become a priest. Julien decides that even in a cassock he can achieve a good position in the "high society".
The young man behaves unnaturally for himself: he pretends to be a believer, although he himself does not believe in God in the classical sense; he serves those whom he regards as worthier than himself; looks like a fool, but has a great mind. Julien does this without forgetting who he really is and why he achieves this or that thing.
“Julien occupies a central place among all the characters, the author not only reveals the foundations of his personality, but also shows the evolution of the hero under the influence of circumstances. He has many faces” Reizov B.G. Stendhal: artistic creativity. - L .: Hood. literature. Leningrad department, 1978. .
The writer tenderly describes his hero: “He was a short youth of eighteen or nineteen, rather fragile in appearance, with irregular, but delicate features and a chiseled, hooked nose. Big black eyes, which in moments of calm sparkled with thought and fire, now burned with the most fierce hatred. Dark brown hair grew so low that it almost covered his forehead, and this made his face look very angry when he became angry. Among the innumerable varieties of human faces, one can hardly find another such face that would be distinguished by such amazing originality. The slender and flexible camp of the young man spoke more about dexterity than about strength. From an early age, his unusually thoughtful appearance and extreme pallor made his father think that his son was not a tenant in this world, and if he survived, he would only be a burden to the family. : Roman / Per. from fr. N. Chuiko. - M .: Literature, World of Books, 2004. - P. 28 ..
Again, for the first time, Stendhal analytically approaches the description of the feelings and emotions of his hero. This makes obvious a fact new for that era: it is precisely the low social status that allows Julien to develop a colossal will, industriousness and pride in himself. Unlike Lucien, he is not inclined to conformism and is not ready to sacrifice dignity in the name of achieving goals. However, Sorel's concepts of honor and dignity are also peculiar. For example, Julien is not ready to accept additional reward from Madame de Renal, but easily seduces her in his own interests.
Gradually, everyone in the house begins to respect this quiet, modest, intelligent young man, who knows Latin perfectly. In this way, almost for the first time, Stendhal illustrates, using the example of Julien, the advantage of education over origin. Not practical, of course, but intellectual. It is not surprising that both Louise and Matilda see him as a revolutionary, some new romantic Danton. Julien is really close in spirit to the revolutionary figures of the late 18th century.
Julien, the son of a carpenter, is able to say to his master the count: “No, sir, if you decide to drive me away, I will have to leave.
An obligation that only binds me and does not bind you to anything is an unequal bargain. I refuse". And the more intense the development of the hero is, the more he comprehends, the more negative his attitude towards the world around him becomes. In many ways, the young Sorel is the embodiment of growing pride and contempt, the abyss of which sucks in his brilliant mind and brilliant dreams. And now he already hates all the inhabitants of Verrieres for their stinginess, meanness and greed.
Stendhal in every possible way illustrates the duality of the nature of his hero. That is why, I suppose, in his love relationship with Louise there is not even a confrontation, but rather a complex of mercantile interests and sincere romantic feelings.
The contrast between real life and the voluminous fantasy world of Sorel confronts him with the need to constantly wear a certain mask. He wears it at the curé, at De Renal's house, and at De La Molay's mansion. What comes so easily to Balzac's Lucien torments and depresses Sorel. “Eternal pretense eventually brought him to the point that he could not feel free even with Fouquet. With his head in his hands, Julien sat in this little cave, reveling in his dreams and his sense of freedom, and felt as happy as he had ever been in his life. He did not notice how, one by one, the last reflections of sunset burned out. Amid the immense darkness that surrounded him, his soul, fading, contemplated the pictures that arose in his imagination, pictures of his future life in Paris. First of all, he pictured a beautiful woman, so beautiful and sublime as he had never met in the provinces. He is passionately in love with her, and he is loved ... If he was separated from her for a few moments, it was only to cover himself with glory and become even more worthy of her love.
A young man who had grown up in the dull reality of Parisian society, had he even had Julien's rich imagination, would involuntarily chuckle if he caught himself in such nonsense; great deeds and hopes of becoming famous would instantly disappear from his imagination, supplanted by the well-known truth: "He who leaves his beauty - woe to that! - they cheat on him three times a day" ...
In the end, Julien is not even able to explain to himself whether he is in love with, say, the young marquise, or the possession of her amuses his morbid pride. Entangled in his own feelings and thoughts, at the end of the novel he departs from deeply personal experiences and deep social pathos is heard in his speech:
“... This is my crime, gentlemen, and it will be punished with all the greater severity, since, in essence, I am judged by no means equal to me. I don’t see here on the jury benches not a single peasant who has grown rich, but only indignant bourgeois ... ”Stendhal Selected works: In 3 vols. T1: Red and Black: Roman / Transl. from fr. N. Chuiko. - M .: Literature, World of Books, 2004. - P. 35 ..
He spends his last days with Louise de Renal. Sorel understands that he loved only her and she is his happiness.
Thus, Julien Sorel is a young, educated, passionate man who entered the struggle with the society of the Reformation era. The struggle of inner virtues and natural nobility with the inexorable demands of the surrounding reality is both the main personal conflict of the hero and the ideological confrontation of the novel as a whole. A young man who wants to find his place in life and know himself.
Sorel evaluates all his actions, thinks about what Napoleon would do in this situation. Julien does not forget that if he had been born in the era of the emperor, his career would have been completely different. The hero compares the life of Napoleon with a hawk flying over him.
For Sorel, as well as for Stendhal, Napoleon became one of the most important mentors in their lives.
This comparison is not accidental. Frederik Stendhal is recognized as the best researcher of the Napoleonic era. He was one of the first to become interested in such a famous person. A personality that cannot be overlooked. Stendhal realistically and in detail described the mood of the era and the events taking place in it. His works such as "The Life of Napoleon" and "Memoirs of Napoleon" are called by historians of our time the best biographical and research materials dedicated to Bonaparte.
Julien Sorel is the protagonist of Stendhal's novel Red and Black.
The tragedy of Julien Sorel- lies, first of all, in the impossibility of realizing one's ideals in the reality surrounding it. Julien does not feel at home either among the aristocrats, or among the bourgeoisie, or among the clergy, and, moreover, among the peasants.
The image of Julien Sorel "Red and Black"
Julien Sorel is a representative of the generation of the early 20s of the 19th century. He has the traits of a romantic hero: independence, self-esteem, the desire to change fate, the desire to fight and achieve goals. He is a bright personality, everything in him is above the norm: the strength of the mind, will, dreaminess, purposefulness.
Our hero is the carpenter's son. He lives in the small provincial town of Verrieres with his brothers and father and dreams of breaking out of here into the big world. No one in Verrieres understands him. “All the households despised him, and he hated his brothers and father…” The young man raved about military service from early childhood, his idol was Napoleon. After much deliberation, he decides: the only way to achieve something in life and escape from Verrieres is to become a priest. “To break the road for Julien first of all meant to break out of Verrieres; he hated his country. Everything he saw here chilled his imagination.”
And here is the first victory, the first "appearance". Julien is invited to his house as a teacher of children by the mayor of Verrieres, Mr. de Renal. A month later, the children adored the young teacher, the father of the family was imbued with respect for him, and Madame de Renal felt for him something more than simple respect. However, Julien felt like a stranger here: “he only felt hatred and disgust for this high society, where he was admitted only to the edge of the table ...”
Life in the house of Mr. de Renal was filled with hypocrisy, the desire for profit, the struggle for power, intrigue and gossip. “Julien's conscience began to whisper to him: “Here it is - this is dirty wealth, which you can achieve and enjoy, but only in this company. Oh Napoleon! How wonderful your time was! ..” Julien felt alone in this world. Thanks to the patronage of the curé Chelana, Sorel enters the Besancon Theological Seminary. “If Julien is only a hesitant reed, let him perish, but if he is a man of courage, let him make his way,” Abbe Pirard said about him. And Julien began to break through.
He studied diligently, but kept aloof from the seminarians. Very soon I saw that "knowledge here is not worth a penny," because "success in the sciences seems suspicious." Julien understood what was encouraged: hypocrisy, "ascetic piety." No matter how hard the young man tried to pretend to be a fool and a nonentity, he could not please either the seminarians or the seminary authorities - he was too different from the others.
And finally - the first promotion: he was appointed a tutor in the New and Old Testaments. Julien felt the support of Abbé Pirard and was grateful to him for it. And suddenly - an unexpected meeting with the bishop, which decided his fate. Julien moves to Paris, to the house of the Marquis de La Mole and becomes his personal secretary. Another victory. Life begins in the mansion of the Marquis. What does he see? “No flattering comments about Beranger, about opposition newspapers, about Voltaire, about Rousseau, about anything that even slightly smacked of freethinking and politics were allowed in this mansion. The slightest living thought seemed rude.
A new light opened before him. But this new light was the same as the light at Verrieres and Besançon. Everything was based on hypocrisy and profit. Julien accepts all the rules of the game and tries to make a career. A brilliant victory awaited him. But the affair with the daughter of the Marquis Matilda upset all Julien's plans. Matilda, this satiated secular beauty, was attracted to Julien by his intelligence, originality and boundless ambition. But this love was not at all like the bright and bright feeling that connected Julien with Madame de Renal. The love of Matilda and Julien was more like a duel between two ambitious people. But she might well have ended in marriage if not for Madame de Renal's letter, written under the influence of the Jesuit brothers. “How many magnificent plans - and in an instant ... it all crumbles to dust,” Sorel thinks.
Madame de Renal's letter ruined all Julien's plans and put an end to his career. In an effort to take revenge, he commits a reckless act - in the church of Verrieres he shoots Madame de Renal.
JULIEN SOREL
Julien Sorel (fr. Julien Sorel) - the hero of F. Stendhal's novel "Red and Black" (1830). The subtitle of the novel is "Chronicle of the 19th century". Real prototypes - Antoine Berte and Adrien Lafargue. Berte is the son of a rural blacksmith, a pupil of a priest, a teacher in the family of the bourgeois Michou in the town of Brang, near Grenoble. Ms. Michou, Berthe's mistress, upset his marriage to a young girl, after which he tried to shoot her and himself in the church during the service. Both remained alive, but Berthe was tried and sentenced to death, executed (1827). Lafargue is a cabinet maker who killed his mistress out of jealousy, repented and asked for the death penalty (1829).
The image of Zh.S. - a hero who commits a criminal offense on the basis of love passion and at the same time a crime against religion (since the attempted murder took place in a church), repentant and executed - was used by Stendhal to analyze the ways of social development. Literary type Zh.S. characteristic of French literature of the 19th century. - a young man from the bottom, making a career, relying only on his personal qualities, the hero of an educational novel on the theme of "disillusionment". Typologically Zh.S. akin to the images of romantic heroes - "higher personalities", who proudly despise the world around them. Common literary roots can be observed in the image of an individualist from the “Confession” by J.-J. Rousseau (1770), who declared a person (a noble soul) who is sensitive and capable of introspection as an “exceptional personality” (1 "homme different).
In the image of J.S. Stendhal comprehended the experience of rationalistic philosophy of the 17th-18th centuries, showing that a place in society is obtained at the cost of moral losses. On the one hand, J.S. is the direct heir to the ideas of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, the three key figures of the beginning of the "bourgeois age" - Tartuffe, Napoleon and Rousseau; on the other hand, the extrapolation of the moral throwing of romantics - his talent, individual energy, intelligence are aimed at achieving a social position.
In the center of the image of Zh.S. is the idea of "alienation", confrontation "against everyone" with the final conclusion about its absolute incompatibility with any way of life. This is an unusual criminal who daily commits crimes to assert himself as a person, defending the "natural right" to equality, education, love, who decides to kill in order to justify himself in the eyes of the woman he loves, who doubted his honesty and devotion, a careerist guided by the idea of his chosenness . The psychological drama of his soul and life is a constant fluctuation between the noble sensitive nature and the Machiavellianism of his sophisticated intellect, between diabolical logic and kind, humane nature.
The phenomenon of Zh.S.'s personality, emancipated not only from age-old social foundations and religious dogmas, but also from all principles, caste or class, reveals the process of the birth of individualistic ethics with its egoism and egocentrism, with its neglect of means in achieving the goals. J.S. fails to kill his noble soul to the end, he tries to live, guided by internal duty and the laws of honor, at the end of his odyssey, having come to the conclusion that the idea of \u200b\u200bestablishing the "nobility of the spirit" through a career in society is wrong, to the conclusion that earthly hell is more terrible than death . He renounces the desire to rise "above all" in the name of an unbridled feeling of love as the only meaning of existence.
The image of Zh.S. had a great influence on the further understanding of the problem of "exceptional personality" in literature and philosophy. Immediately after the release of the novel, critics called Zh.S. "monster", guessing in him the type of the future "plebian with education". J.S. became the classic ancestor of all the lonely conquerors of the world that are failing: Martin Eden of J. London, Clyde Griffith T. Dreiser. Nietzsche has noteworthy references to searches in the author J.S. "missing features" of a philosopher of a new type, who declared the primacy of a "higher personality" of a certain "will to power". However, Zh.S. served as a prototype for heroes experiencing catharsis and repentance. In Russian literature, his successor is F.M. Dostoyevsky's Raskolnikov. In the words of Nicolò Chiaromonte (The Paradoxes of History, 1973), “Stendhal teaches us by no means the egocentrism that he proclaimed as his creed. He teaches us to give a merciless assessment of the delusions in which our feelings are guilty, and all sorts of fables with which the world around us is full.
The famous performer of the role of Zh.S. the French film adaptation of the novel featured Gérard Philippe (1954).
Lit.: Fonvieille R. Le veritable Julien Sorel. Paris et Grenoble, 1971; Remizov B.G. Stendhal. L., 1978; Gorky A.M. Foreword
//Vinogradov A.K. Three colors of time. M., 1979; Timasheva O.V. Stendhal. M., 1983; Andrie R. Stendhal, or Masquerade Ball. M., 1985; Esenbayeva R.M. Stendhal and Dostoevsky: typology of the novels "Red and Black" and "Crime and Punishment". Tver, 1991.
L.G.Vyazmitinova
literary heroes. - Academician. 2009 .
See what "JULIEN SOREL" is in other dictionaries:
Julien Sorel- The Soviet Julien Sorel has not yet been written, a man tearing himself out of the social group to which he is assigned, who made education an instrument of his exaltation. ZS 1995 8 113. Yesenin Julien Sorel lived in it. Conqueror. That is, of course... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
- (French Jullien or Julien): Contents 1 Surname 2 Literary characters 3 Other meanings ... Wikipedia
Sorel, Stanislav French inventor of magnesian cement (1867); Sorel, Agnes courtesan of the 15th century; mistress of the French king Charles VII; Sorel, Gustav Belgian painter (1905 1981); Sorel, Georges ... ... Wikipedia
This term has other meanings, see Red and black (meanings). Red and Black ... Wikipedia
This term has other meanings, see Red and black (meanings). (((Name))) Le Rouge et le Noir ... Wikipedia
Frederic (real name Henri Bayle, 1783 1842) French writer, one of the founders of the French realistic novel of the 19th century. R. in Grenoble in a bourgeois family, almost all of whose members (with the exception of the Voltairian grandfather, who had ... ... Literary Encyclopedia
This term has other meanings, see Red and black (meanings). Red and Black Le Rouge et le noir ... Wikipedia
The birth of the realistic novel. Stendhal- 30s and 40s of the XIX century. in French literature marked by the rise of realism. During this period, the contradictions between the ideals of bourgeois democracy and reality, the development of capitalism, were revealed with particular clarity. Impoverishment… … The World History. Encyclopedia
Red and Black (film, 1976) This term has other meanings, see Red and Black (meanings). Red and black [[File:|200px|Movie poster]] Genre drama Director Sergei Gerasimov ... Wikipedia
Red and black Le Rouge et le Noir Author: Stendhal Original language: French Original published: 1830 Translator: Sergey Bobrov, Maria Bogoslovskaya Publishing house ... Wikipedia
The writing. Comparative characteristics of Julien Sorel and Gobsek (based on Stendhal's novel "Red and Black", and Balzac's story "Gobsek")
The realist trend in the literature of the 19th century was led by the French novelists Stendhal and Balzac. Largely based on the experience of the Romantics, who were deeply interested in history, realist writers saw their task in depicting the social relations of the present, the life and customs of the 19th century. Stendhal in his novel "Red and Black" and Balzac in the story "Gobsek" describe the desire for the intended goal on the example of two people - Julien Sorel and Gobsek.
Julien and Gobsek are united by origin and the same social position. Mother attached Gobsek as a cabin boy on a ship and at the age of ten he sailed to the Dutch possessions of the East Indies, where he wandered for twenty years. Julien was the son of a carpenter, and the whole family was busy earning money for a living. However, the differences in the fates of the heroes coincide in their purposefulness. Gobsek, wanting to get rich, becomes a usurer. He was very fond of money, especially gold, believing that all the forces of mankind are concentrated in gold. Julien, because he was physically weak, was mocked by his father and brothers. And so he finds friends only in books, communicates with them and becomes much smarter and higher than those people who despise him. Meanwhile, he dreams of breaking out into a world where he will be understood. But he saw the only way to advance in society in that, after graduating from the seminary, to become a priest. Both heroes also choose different means to move towards their intended goal: for Gobsek it is work as a cabin boy on a ship and usury, while for Julien it is, first of all, love affairs.
When communicating with different people, the characters use their character in different ways. Gobsek was very secretive. No one guessed that he was a usurer and, to be careful, he always dressed poorly. Thanks to another character trait - neatness - in Gobsek's rooms everything was always neat, clean, tidy and everything was in its place. Walking around Paris on foot and hatred for his heirs testified to his greed and stinginess. In dealing with people, he was always even and did not raise his voice when talking. Gobsek never lied or gave out secrets, but as soon as he realized that a person did not keep his word, he coolly "destroyed" him and twisted everything in his favor. In Julien's soul, as Stendhal shows, good and bad inclinations, careerism and revolutionary ideas, cold calculation and romantic sensitivity are fighting. Views on the life of Julien and Gobsek also converge in contempt for high society. But Gobsek, expressing contempt, left "in memory" dirt on the carpet of the rich, and Julien kept this feeling in his soul.
At the end, both heroes die under different circumstances. If Gobsek dies rich, but spiritually poor, then Julien, shortly before his execution, already in prison, was able to fully understand his actions, soberly assess the society in which he lived and challenge him.
Literature:
Stendhal, "Red and Black". Chronicle of the XIX century. Moscow, "Fiction" 1979.
Julien Sorel and other characters in the novel "Red and Black"
In his novel Red and Black, Stendhal created an objective picture of the life of contemporary society. “True, bitter truth,” he says in the epigraph to the first part of the work. And this bitter truth adheres to the last pages. Fair anger, resolute criticism, caustic satire of the author are directed against the tyranny of state power, religion, and privileges. It is this goal that the whole system of images created by the writer is subordinated to. These are the inhabitants of the province: the nobility, the bourgeoisie, the clergy, the bourgeoisie, the magistrate and representatives of the highest aristocracy.
The novel is actually divided into three parts, each describing the life and customs of individual class groups: Verrieres - a fictional provincial town, Besancon with its seminary and Paris - the personification of high society. The intensity of the action increases more and more as events move from the provinces to Besancon and Paris, but everywhere the same values \u200b\u200bdominate - self-interest and money. The main characters appear before us: de Renal - an aristocrat who married for the sake of a dowry, who sought to withstand the competition of aggressive bourgeois. He started, like them, a factory, but at the end of the novel he has to give in the fight, because Valno becomes the mayor of the city, who "collected the very rubbish from every craft" and suggested to them: "Let's reign together." The author shows through this image that it is gentlemen like Valno who become a social and political force in his time. And the Marquis de La Mole accepts this ignorant, provincial crook, hoping for his help during the elections. Stendhal also reveals the main trends in the development of society, in which the aristocracy and the clergy are striving to retain power with all their might. To do this, they start a conspiracy, the essence of which the writer reveals in an ironic epigraph: “The basic law for everything that exists is to survive, to survive. You sow tares and hope to bring forth grain.” The characteristics that Julien Sorel gives them are eloquent: one of them is “completely absorbed in his digestion”, the other is full of “the anger of a wild boar”, the third looks like a “clockwork doll” ... They are all ordinary figures, which, according to Julien, “ They are afraid that he will make fun of them.”
Criticizing and ridiculing the political aspirations of the bourgeoisie, the author also directs his irony to the clergy. Answering his own question about what is the meaning of the activity of a clergyman, Julien comes to the conclusion that this meaning is to "sell believers places in paradise." Stendhal openly calls existence in a seminary disgusting, where future spiritual mentors of the people are brought up, since hypocrisy reigns there, thought is combined with crime there. It is no coincidence that Abbé Pirard calls the clergy "the lackeys necessary for the salvation of the soul." Without hiding the slightest detail of the life of a society where “the oppression of moral suffocation” prevails and where “the slightest living thought seems rude,” the author draws a system of social relations in France at the beginning of the 19th century. And this chronicle does not cause sympathy at all.
Of course, Stendhal does not deny his heroes the ability to think, suffer, obey not only profit. He also shows us living people, such as Fouquet, who lives far from the city, the Marquis de La Mole, who is able to see the personality in a poor secretary, the Abbé Pirard, whom even his friends did not believe that he did not steal as rector of the seminary, Mathilde, Madame de Renal and, first of all, Julien Sorel himself. The images of Madame de Renal and Matilda play a very important role in the development of events. Therefore, the author pays special attention to them, showing how society, the environment broke their souls. Madame de Renal is sincere, honest, a little ingenuous and naive. But the environment in which she exists forces her to lie. She remains the wife of de Renal, whom she despises, realizing that it is not she herself who is of value to him, but her money. Selfish and proud Matilda, convinced of her superiority over people only because she is the daughter of the Marquis, is the complete opposite of Madame de Renal. She is often cruel and ruthless in her judgments of people and insults the plebeian Julien, forcing them to invent ingenious means to subdue her. But there is something that brings her closer to the first heroine - Matilda, although rationally, and not instinctively, also strives for a sincere feeling of love.
Thus, the pictures of social life created by Stendhal gradually lead us to the idea of how “dull” the described time is, and how small and insignificant people become under the influence of this time, even those who are naturally endowed with not so bad qualities.
Bibliography
For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://slovo.ws/ were used.
