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Stendhal. "Red and black". Conflict of society and personality

Stendhal is a French writer who made a great contribution to European literature. His real name is Henri Beyle. The time in which he lived, reflected on his life and work. After the overthrow of such an eminent ruler as Napoleon, in France the epoch of philistinism came. It was this phenomenon that was contrary to the writer to the core of his soul. It is worth considering one wonderful work that Stendhal created. "Red and black" - a novel in which the struggle between the individual and everyday life is considered. It is based on a real story, which the author read in one of the French newspapers.

The story begins with the fact that the mayor of a small town of Verrieres, de Renal, tells the life partner about the intention to hire a tutor. They become Julien Sorrel, who stands out from among peers education. This young man also is distinguished by pride and ambition, which is incompatible with his social position.

The wife of M. de Renal was strongly opposed to this idea of her husband. She did not want to have someone "superfluous" between her and her three beloved children. However, when she saw Julien, she was surprised - instead of the uncouth teenager, as she had imagined, an embarrassed young man appeared to her eyes. Soon everyone in de Renal's house began to treat him with respect, for he was educated and held with dignity.

Over time, the maid, who worked in the house de Renalay and inherited a large fortune, shows the desire to become the wife of an attractive tutor. But he is too ambitious to accept this proposal - his goals are more ambitious. The mayor's wife, Madame de Renal, realizes that Julien is the brightest and most intelligent of all the men she knows. Soon they become lovers. The Mayor of Verriera guessed this, and Julien had to leave the family de Renalay. He falls in love with a noble lady, Matilda de La Mole. She gets pregnant from him and wants to get married. It would seem that everything began to improve in Julien's life. But here there is a big trouble. The future father-in-law of Julien decides to ask Madame de Renal about the identity of her former tutor. In response, she sends a letter in which she describes Sorrel as a dishonest careerist, a sycophant and a hypocrite, for whom all means are good. This letter falls into the hands of Matilda. After reading it, she hands it to Sorrel. Having read the letter of the former mistress, he understands that M. de la Mole will not agree to be his father-in-law. From this, he loses control. At the same time he goes to Madame de Renal and on the way acquires a gun. Finding Madame de Renal, Julien shoots her twice. The court sentences him to death. De Renal remains alive, although wounded. She tries, using her position and means, to mitigate the fate of the former tutor, but these attempts end in failure. Coming to his prison, de Renal tells Sorrel that the author of the ill-fated letter is her confessor. In the last days of his life before the execution, Julien for the first time in many years feels happy and loved.

In this work showed the full power of his talent Stendhal. "Red and black" is not at all an accidental title for the novel. It partially reveals the features of the novel: in the work there are no positive and negative heroes - every actor has serious shortcomings. There is no opposition between black and white, good and evil. To raise the question of the influence of society on man is the main goal that Stendhal pursued. "Red and black" shows the conflict of human nature and everyday life, personality with its ambitions and demands and society, which prevents it from realizing. After all, Julien realizes that his main crime, because of which the judges sentenced him to the highest measure, is not an attempt on murder, but the fact that he, being a commoner, dared to get out into people.

Serious problems are raised in the novel by Stendhal. "Red and Black" is a work that shows the conservatism of a society that hinders the realization of the potential of an individual and even spoils it, often inducing hypocrisy, lies and meanness to achieve one's goals. These unattractive features are visible in the actions of the main character, Julien Sorrell, and the higher he ascends the career ladder, the more they are noticeable. Envy and other negative qualities of individual members of society can become an insurmountable obstacle for other people.

The author of the novel has always focused on the psychological characteristics of society and his characters. Considering the work from this side, one can be surprised at how skillfully Stendhal wrote "Red and Black". Criticism of the French society of those days is keeping pace with the problems of the individual. In the end, Julien Sorrel is not trying to somehow mitigate his fate. Once in prison and realizing that his days are numbered, he felt a spiritual cleansing. He realized that if he became the spouse of Mademoiselle de la Mole, then the role of her husband would still lose all attraction for him. He realized that he did not feel the point in such a life. Sorrel calmly and courageously goes to death, and the feeling of happiness gives him the care of his beloved woman.

In the novel "Red and Black" Stendhal touched upon problems that are characteristic not only of French society after the overthrow of Napoleon, but also for our time.

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