Download a PDF to print or study offline.
Study Guide
Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Red and the Black Study Guide." Course Hero. 14 June 2017. Web. 28 May 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Red-and-the-Black/>.
In text
(Course Hero)
Bibliography
Course Hero. (2017, June 14). The Red and the Black Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved May 28, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Red-and-the-Black/
In text
(Course Hero, 2017)
Bibliography
Course Hero. "The Red and the Black Study Guide." June 14, 2017. Accessed May 28, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Red-and-the-Black/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "The Red and the Black Study Guide," June 14, 2017, accessed May 28, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Red-and-the-Black/.
| Character | Description |
|---|---|
| Julien Sorel | Julien Sorel is the novel's ambitious, sensitive, handsome, and intelligent protagonist. Proud to a fault, he is determined to make his way in the world and will not hesitate to employ hypocrisy to get ahead. Read More |
| Madame de Rênal | Madame Louise de Rênal, the wife of Mayor M. de Rênal, falls deeply in love with Julien, her children's tutor. Read More |
| Mathilde de la Mole | Mlle. Mathilde de la Mole is the haughty, intelligent, and perverse daughter of the Marquis de la Mole who has a love affair with Julien. Read More |
| Marquis de la Mole | The Marquis de la Mole is Mathilde's father and the benefactor of Julien Sorel, who becomes his personal secretary. Read More |
| Academician | The academician is one of the Marquis de la Mole's intellectual friends, and he is often found at the family's dinner table. |
| Bishop Agde | Bishop Agde is the young nephew of Marquis de la Mole; he was made a bishop through his uncle's intervention. |
| Comte Altamira | Comte Altamira is an exile and liberal who attends the Marquis de la Mole's salon; he has a price on his head in his own country for challenging the political order. Julien becomes friends with him, and Mathilde admires him. |
| M. Appert | Monsieur (M.) Benjamin Appert is a philanthropist and reformer who comes to inspect the prison and poorhouse in Verrières. |
| M. de Beauvoisis | Monsieur (M.) Charles de Beauvoisis—also called the Chevalier de Beauvoisis—is the diplomat who fights Julien in a duel; he is also the cousin of Madame de Rênal. |
| Amanda Binet | Amanda Binet is the serving woman at the tavern where Julien stops. He flirts with her before he enters the seminary. |
| Napoleon Bonaparte | Napoleon Bonaparte was the French conqueror and emperor who ruled France from 1799 to 1815; he is Julien's hero. |
| Abbé Castanède | Abbé Castanède is second in command at the seminary at Besançon, where Julien studies. He is Abbé Pirard's enemy and a member of the Jesuit cabal. |
| Comte de Caylus | Comte de Caylus is one of Mathilde's friends and a possible suitor. |
| Comte Chalvet | Comte Chalvet is a statesman who comes to the la Mole salon and mentioned in Napoleon's memoir. |
| Abbé Chas-Bernard | Abbé Chas-Bernard is the Director of Ceremonies at the cathedral; he takes Julien under his wing. |
| Duc de Chaulnes | Duc de Chaulnes is the Marquise de la Mole's father. |
| Chazel | Chazel is one of the few distinguished students at the seminary, along with Julien. |
| Abbé Chélan | Abbé Chélan—also called M. Chélan or M. Abbé Chélan—is the old parish priest and Julien's first priestly benefactor. He teaches Julien Latin and attempts to guide his life. |
| M. de Cholin | Monsieur (M.) de Cholin is a frivolous person who gets the lottery concession in Verrières through Julien's malicious intervention. |
| Marquis de Croisenois | The Marquis de Croisenois is Mathilde's suitor and the man her father wishes her to marry. |
| Georges Danton | Georges Danton was a leader in the French Revolution; Julien greatly admires him. |
| Madame Derville | Madame Derville is Madame de Rênal's friend and cousin. |
| Ducros | Ducros was one of M. de Rênal's childhood friends. M. de Rênal abandoned Ducros because he was not an aristocrat. |
| Élisa | Élisa is Madame de Rênal's maid; she is the first woman to fall in love with Julien. |
| Falcoz | Falcoz was one of M. de Rênal's childhood friends. M. de Rênal abandoned Falcoz because he was not an aristocrat; later in life he betrays Falcoz for political reasons. |
| Madame de Fervaques | Madame de Fervaques is a rich aristocratic widow and pious Catholic; Julien courts her to make Mathilde jealous. |
| Fouqué | Fouqué is a wood merchant and Julien's best friend. |
| Abbé de Frilair | M. Abbé de Frilair is the Vicar-general—bishop's representative—in Verrières. |
| Signor Géronimo | Signor Géronimo is a well-known Neapolitan singer and friend of the diplomat M. de Beauvoisis who pays a social call to the Rênals on behalf of Madame's cousin when he passes through their town. |
| M. Gros | Monsieur (M.) Gros is a celebrated mathematician who should have received the lottery concession in Verrières, but Julien inadvertently intervened before that could happen. |
| Prince Korasoff | Prince Korasoff is Julian's friend; he comes from Russia, but Julien originally met him in London. The two meet again in Strasbourg, and Prince Korasoff tells Julien how to win back Mathilde. |
| Viscomte de Luz | Viscomte de Luz is one of Mathilde's friends and a possible suitor. |
| Queen Marguerite | Queen Marguerite of Navarre was the mistress of Boniface de la Mole in 1574; she buried his head after he was executed for treason. Mathilde sees herself as a modern-day Marguerite. |
| Abbé Maslon | Abbé Maslon is the priest who takes over Abbé Chélan's parish after Chélan is fired. He is in league with the Jesuit faction. |
| M. de Maugiron | Monsieur (M.) Charcot de Maugiron is a sub-prefect—an administrative official—of the town of Bray. |
| M. de Moirod | Monsieur (M.) de Moirod is a pious man in M. de Rênal's camp; they want him to be first deputy so he will become mayor if M. de Rênal is elected to Parliament. |
| Boniface de la Mole | Boniface de la Mole, one of Mathilde de la Mole's ancestor's, was Queen Marguerite's lover; he was beheaded for treason in 1574. Mathilde sees Julien as a modern-day Boniface de la Mole. |
| Marquise de la Mole | Madame la Marquise de la Mole is the wife of the Marquise de la Mole and mother of Mathilde. |
| Comte Norbert de la Mole | Comte Norbert de la Mole is the Marquis and Marquise de la Moles' son. |
| M. de Nerval | Monsieur (M.) de Nerval is minister of foreign affairs and attends the la Mole salon. |
| Noiroud | Noiroud is the gaoler, or jailer, at the jail in Verrières. |
| Abbé Pirard | Abbé Pirard is director of the seminary in Besançon where Julien studies. |
| Adolphe de Rênal | Adolphe de Rênal is the oldest child of the Rênals. |
| M. de Rênal | Monsieur (M.) de Rênal is the mayor of Verrières and Madame de Rênal's husband. He is wealthy and materialistic and pays little attention to his wife. |
| Stanislas-Xavier de Rênal | Stanislas-Xavier de Rênal is the youngest child of the Rênals. |
| Marquise de Rubempré | The Marquise de Rubempré is a rich benefactress of the cathedral. |
| M. de Saint-Giraud | Monsieur (M.) de Saint-Giraud, secretary to the prefecture, or local office of the bishop, leases a house at below market price in Verrières through Valenod's machinations. |
| M. de Saint-Giraud of Montfleury | Monsieur (M.) de Saint-Giraud of Montfleury is the brother of the secretary to the prefecture. |
| Saint-Jean | Saint-Jean is M. de Rênal's valet, or personal servant. |
| Old Sorel | Old Sorel is Julien Sorel's abusive father. |
| M. Tanbeau | Monsieur (M.) Tanbeau is the nephew of the Academician, an intellectual friend often at the Marquis de la Mole's table. |
| Comte de Thaler | Comte de Thaler is the very rich son of a Jew; Mathilde de la Mole and her friends look down on and make fun of him for this reason. |
| Baron de Tolly | Baron de Tolly is an Ultra politician who makes an appearance at the Marquis de la Mole's salons. |
| M. de Valenod | Monsieur (M.) de Valenod—later Baron de Valenod—is director of the poorhouse and a rising member of the bourgeoisie; he is also M. de Rênal's rival. |
Have study documents to share about The Red and the Black? Upload them to earn free Course Hero access!