Mortally Wounded Mme De Essay - 1,459 words

Warning: There are a few spelling errors. 'It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. ' 'What is essential is invisible to the eye, ' the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember. -- Antoine de Saint-Exupry, The Little Prince The ending of Stendhal's, The Red the Black, is obscure. Julien Sorel is sentenced to death by guillotine for the crime of attempting to murder Mme. de Real, his former mistress. During his trial, Julien has the sympathy of the town and powerful figures of influence behind him; he could quite easily change the verdict of trial by simply claiming his act was a crime of passion. Yet Julien stubbornly insists, from the moment of the offense until the day of his death, that his crime was utterly premeditated and he deserves nothing short of death. The details of the crime are nebulous.


Throughout his life, Julien devoted all his energy to perfecting his outward behavior in order to transcend humble, peasant, beginnings and achieve fame, wealth, and social status. On the very brink of achieving his goal (he had acquired estates, a title, the rank of lieutenant of the Hussars, ) a letter from Mme. de Real, accusing him of deliberately seducing her, threatens to unravel Julien's carefully wrought future. After being informed of the letter, Julien leaves suddenly for Verrires, buys a pair of pistols, and shoots Mme.


de Real in the middle of Mass. In the time between reading the letter and the shooting, the reader hears none of Julien's, usually prevalent, inner monologues, nor does he receive any commentary by the narrator. All that is given are a few objective details: 1. ) Julien fails an attempt to write a legible letter, and 2. ) Julien has a difficult time communicating with the gunsmith. These facts indicate that Julien was in no rational state, but the very sparsity of information leaves a number of possibilities for the motive and nature of the crime. What state of irrationality was it?


Confusion or rage? It is not clear that the crime is premeditated... but it is also not clear that it isn't. After the crime, Julien is seized and put in jail.


There, without the slightest reflection, Julien confesses his guilt and demands his own death. He asserts that the situation is perfectly simple: I intended to kill, so I must be killed. (474) Even as it becomes clear that Julien can escape his sentence through pity and the ever-present dishonesty of men in power, he continues to demand that justice be served. The prevalent question is: why would a man actively seek his own death? There are different ways to interpret Julien's decision. It is possible that Julien is a broken and absurd man whose hypocrisy consumed him and who simply gives up. When faced with the destruction of his long cherished dreams, the only thing he knows well, it is possible that Julien acted rashly, believing that it was the only way to retain petty notions of honor.


He thus took furious vengeance on Mme. de Real as if defending his integrity in a dual. Julien has reacted to insult this way many times before. After the crime is committed, however, Julien has truly lost the chance of ever rising up in society the way that he dreamed of. All of Julien's life was dedicated to his ambition; even his romances are manifestations of a Napoleonic ideal that can no longer be realized. What else does he have to live for?


Julien thus resigns himself to death. In his jail cell, directly following the crime, Julien feels no remorse, Why should I feel any? I was atrociously wronged; I committed murder, I deserve death, but that is all there is to it. (472) He feels content; he tells himself, I have nothing left to do on earth. (472) He welcomes death. When Julien finds out that Mme. de Real was not mortally wounded his contentedness is briefly upset. His social ambition is gone, but Mme.


de Real is not completely a part of that ambition. She is not lost to him; he knows, somehow, that she forgives him and still loves him. He falls in love with her, yet, he is still resigned to death. Ju ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: julien, mme de, mme, mortally wounded, interpretation

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