Stendhal
Stendhal is the representative of French critical realism literature in the 19th century, and he is known as the founder of French critical realist literature, with representative works such as "The Red and the Black", "Armands", "Racine and Shakespeare".
Stendhal has a deep understanding of the changes of the times, he participated in the Napoleonic Revolution, felt the personal struggles of the Napoleonic era, and experienced the restoration of the old order under the rule of the Restoration Dynasty. These experiences and feelings are profoundly reflected in his work. Take, for example, "The Red and the Black."
The Red and the Black
Through the life experience of the protagonist Jullien, "The Red and the Black" depicts the vast social life of the French Restoration era at that time, reveals the various social contradictions that existed at that time, and depicts the contradictions and struggles of the old aristocracy, including religious leaders, the new rich bourgeoisie, the city citizens and other social strata.
From an early age, Yu Lian was intelligent, studious, strong-willed, and talented, and grew up to work as a tutor in the local mayor's home with wisdom. During this time, he had an affair with the mayor's wife, and after the matter was revealed, Jullien fled the mayor's house and entered the seminary.
In the seminary, Jullien, by virtue of his ingenuity, was recommended by the abbot to enter Paris as a private secretary to the Marquis of Larmor. His wisdom was recognized by the Marquis, and he also developed feelings with the Marquis's daughter. In the end, the mayor's wife, under the conspiracy of the church, had to write a secret letter to report to Yu Lian, so that Yu Lian's efforts failed, and he shot the mayor's wife in anger and was sentenced to death.
Yu Lian was born at the bottom of society, and his poor origins and bleak and sad childhood life had a great impact on his character. His childhood was lived during the Napoleonic era, and he grew up in the Restoration period. These two opposing eras created sharp contradictions in him.
In the Napoleonic era, he saw the personal struggles of meritorious achievements and small people. In that era, no matter what kind of origin you came from, no matter what your background was, as long as you made meritorious achievements on the battlefield, you could succeed. Ordinary soldiers can become general marshals for their military achievements. How could Jullien, who was born at the bottom, not aspire? He firmly believed that he could gain glory and status by virtue of his talents and bravery on the battlefield.
However, he was not born at the right time, and when he first came of age, he encountered the Bourbon Restoration. The old nobility came back to power and restored the ruling order of the old nobility.
After the restoration of the old aristocracy, Napoleon's glorious era passed, and it was a period of retrogression, indecency, and vileness, and there was no longer the vigorous action of the past, people could no longer get the opportunity to obtain glory by their own ability, and the door, blood, and seniority became the necessary conditions for obtaining status and honor, and even became the primary criterion for measuring the value of man. Therefore, in real life, a group of exiled aristocrats who have long lost their vitality and a group of despicable and shameless villains who are good at drilling camps control society.
In the face of this reality, Jullien did not give up his faith in his heart, he still strongly regretted that the Napoleonic era was gone, he had no intention of becoming a despicable and shameless person, nor was he willing to wag his tail and beg for mercy in the face of the magnates and aristocratic high society, and he had always maintained hostile emotions and rare pride in the face of them.
But during the Restoration, he not only had to protect himself and survive, but he also wanted to develop himself as much as possible. He had to hide his true thoughts, had to hide his innermost thoughts and feelings, had to violate his feelings, and had to reluctantly make a pious gesture. Because only then can he get a chance, a chance to squeeze into high society.
Jullien was actually a contradictory man, living in two opposing environments, and the environment caused his contradictory psychology. He wants both personal development and his independent spirit, but the objective environment does not allow him to do so at all, which is a matter of choosing one or the other. If we want to develop, we cannot maintain an independent spirit, and we cannot develop an independent spirit.
Is he a good guy? At least it was, and I always wanted to be a good person. Is he a bad guy? bad. It did do bad things, but is this something he can choose? He had no choice. The most striking sign of a civilized and prosperous society is that it allows people to choose freely. Without a choice, he could only become a victim of the times.
Why? What era is this?
Story backdrop
France in the 1830s was a time of fierce confrontation between old and new forces in French history, and not only that, but the whole of Europe was involved in this struggle. As industrialization, urbanization, and modernization unfolded, the new wealthy bourgeoisie began to rise, relying on the power in their hands to constantly challenge the order under the old aristocracy. The old aristocracy was declining, but they were not reconciled.
At every opportunity, the old nobles began restoration operations, trying to restore their ruling order. On the one hand, they continue to consolidate the interests of the old nobility, and on the other hand, they feel that the edifice will fall and panic. This ambivalence made the old aristocracy worried, pale in thought, and spiritually empty. They want to make a difference, but the result is just to keep tossing, tossing and turning or not tossing out, and finally they can only get drunk and dream, enjoy themselves, and have fun in time.
Because the world is irreversible. Industrialization, urbanization, and modernization are the general trend of the times, and it is also a social necessity for the new rich bourgeoisie to replace the old aristocracy, a new system to replace the old system, a new order to replace the old order, and a new social structure to replace the old social structure. But the new social structure, the new system, the new order, the society under the rule of the new rich bourgeoisie is still a society that is extremely irrational and full of evil.
Class antagonism, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the lower strata of society are full of suffering, and the newly rich bourgeoisie still lives a life of extravagance and corruption. Political corruption continues, and all kinds of corruption are emerging. The relationship between people is extremely cruel, the weak eat the strong and so on.
Moreover, after industrialization, urbanization, and modernization, the penetration of money into society is deeper than ever, it is simply pervasive, and it has invaded all aspects of our lives. Everything in life is moneyized and commercialized, and in the face of money, the greed, selfishness, coldness, hypocrisy, and ugliness of human nature are even more exaggerated. The universal goodness and conscience of human beings are almost lost in the face of money. All the normal emotions of human beings are completely suffocated in the face of money. Never before in human history has the greed for money reached such a level.