Follow the ambitious young Julien Sorel, a low-born but intelligent man who seeks to rise through the rigid social hierarchy of 19th-century France. Torn between a military career (symbolized by "the red") and a life in the clergy (symbolized by "the black"), Julien uses charm and manipulation to advance his position, engaging in love affairs with influential women, which ultimately lead to his downfall. As a Romantic novel, it explores themes of individualism, passion, and the conflict between personal desires and societal constraints, while also portraying Julien as a complex, brooding hero driven by ambition and emotion, embodying the Romantic ideal of the outsider struggling against society.
