Published in 1830, Scarlet and Black (Le Rouge et Le Noir) tells the story of a provincial young man's attempts to socially rise beyond his modest upbringing with a combination of talent and hard work, deception and hypocrisy - yet who ultimately allows his passions to betray him. In Scarlet and Black, Stendhal paints a sweeping portrait of early nineteenth-century France - its social classes, professions, politics, and manners - in Paris and the...