 Henri Dubouchet's illustration for an 1884 edition of Le Rouge et le Noir, Paris: L. Conquet | |
| Author | Stendhal (Henri Beyle) |
|---|---|
| Original title | Le Rouge et le Noir |
| Language | French |
| Genre | Bildungsroman |
| Publisher | A. Levasseur |
Publication date | November 1830 |
| Publication place | France |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 2 vols. |
| ISBN | 0-521-34982-6 (published before the ISBN system) |
| OCLC | 18684539 |
| 843/.7 19 | |
| LC Class | PQ2435.R72 H35 1989 |
Original text | Le Rouge et le Noir at French Wikisource |
| Translation | The Red and the Black at Wikisource |
Le Rouge et le Noir (French pronunciation: [lə ʁuʒ e l(ə) nwaʁ]; meaning The Red and the Black) is a historical psychological novel in two volumes by Stendhal, published in 1830.[1] It chronicles the attempts of a provincial young man to rise socially beyond his modest upbringing through a combination of talent, hard work, deception, and hypocrisy. He ultimately allows his passions to betray him.
The novel's full title, Le Rouge et le Noir: Chronique du XIXe siècle (The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of the 19th Century),[2] indicates its twofold literary purpose as both a psychological portrait of the romantic protagonist, Julien Sorel, and an analytic, sociological satire of the French social order under the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830). In English, Le Rouge et le Noir variously is translated as Red and Black, Scarlet and Black, and The Red and the Black, without the subtitle.[3]
The title is taken to refer to the tension between the clerical and secular [4] interests of the protagonist, represented by each of the title colors, but it could also refer to the then-popular card game "rouge et noir", with the card game being the narratological leitmotiv of a novel in which chance and luck determine the fate of the main character.[5] There are other interpretations as well.[6]
- ^ Garzanti, Aldo (1974) [1972]. Enciclopedia Garzanti della letteratura (in Italian). Milan: Garzanti. p. 874.
- ^ The Red and the Black, by Stendhal, C. K. Scott-Moncrief, trans., 1926, p. xvi.
- ^ Benét's Reader's Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition, (1996) p. 859.
- ^ "The Red and The Black". www.nytheatre.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ Lubrich, Naomi (2015). «Wie kleidet sich ein Künstler?», in: KulturPoetik 14:2, 2014, 182–204; Naomi Lubrich, Die Feder des Schriftstellers. Mode im Roman des französischen Realismus. Aisthesis. p. 200.
- ^ "Red and Black?"