“The Parma Charterhouse” is Stendhal’s second novel about the Restoration. Parma, among other provinces of Northern Italy, was briefly freed by Napoleon from Austria’s rule. Stendhal portrays the Parma patriots as people for whom the name Napoleon becomes synonymous with the liberation of their homeland. At the same time, the pillars of Parma’s reaction, fearing Napoleon, are ready at any moment to betray their country.
The fate of Fabrizio, the novel’s main character—a freedom-loving young man—brims with unexpected twists during the historical turning point in Italy at the beginning of the 19th century: he is alternately a rich, successful young man cherished by beautiful women; an unfortunate exile; a powerful handsome courtier; and finally a prisoner condemned to death in the Parma fortress. Yet it is here that he meets the young Clélia Conti, the daughter of the jail commander—and she becomes both the love and the torment of all his life. What will he choose: love or freedom? Life or honor?