There is always someone in society who dreams of climbing to the very top of the career ladder. That is precisely what the main character of the novel “Red and Black” — Julien — dreams of. As the son of a carpenter, he wants to repeat Napoleon’s fate. But his path upward is slowed by a very ordinary human feeling: love. Yet it is not the love filled with self-sacrifice and heavenly purity. It is a vain feeling that only fans Julien’s main passion—to achieve the highest position in society, or at least to take comfort in the fact that a noblewoman is ready to do anything for him, a commoner.
F. Stendhal’s work has a tragic ending. The love experienced by the young man will not have a happy conclusion. He will have to answer for it.
The young man is led into a dead end by his own pride. He missed something essential in life. Even though the image created by F. Stendhal is vivid, talented, and makes a strong impression, it will not last long. Climbing step by step upward, Julien eventually slips down under the weight of his own pride.