Red and the Black (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

Red and the Black (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Synopsis

The Red and the Black, by Stendhal, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classicsseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.After Napoleons defeat, the French aristocracy tried to reassert its power in a government known as the Restoration. Venal and corrupt, the Restoration fell in 1830. Later that year, Stendhal published his scathing satire of Restoration society, The Red and the Black. Its title refers to the military and the clergy, the two career paths open to young men of intelligence and ambition but no social standing.Stendhals hero, Julien Sorel, is such a young man. A seminary student, he is nevertheless an admirer of Napoleon, and dreams of military glory. When he is hired to tutor the mayors children, he quickly seduces the mayors wife, then moves on to Paris where he conquers a noblemans daughter. Sorel comes to believe that the secret of success is to outperform the hypocrites and vicious opportunists who surround himand hes right. But when the rich and powerful he so admires align against him, his downfall becomes unavoidable.A master of characterization, Stendhal paints a fascinating, multi-layered portrait of Julien Sorel, who endures as one of literatures most complex and surprisingly sympathetica would-be manipulator out of his depth in a sea of sharks.Bruce Robbins is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He is the author of Feeling Global: Internationalism in Distress, The Servants Hand: English Fiction from Below, and Secular Vocations: Intellectuals, Professionalism, Culture.

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