tenbfyaFs llovds A Study in Style Myron I. Barker, Ph. D. University of California at Los Angeles ;•' 193 6 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/stendhalsnovelssOObark Stenbfyafs Tiovds A Study in Style Myron I. Barker, Ph. D. University of California at Los Angeles 1936 STANDARD PRINTING CO., incorporated Louisville. Kentucky "TO 2444 TABLE OF CONTENTS p^e Introduction v I. Some Opinions of Stendhal's Style 1 II. General Stylistic Traits 4 III. Lexicography — A. Choice of Words 7 B. Repetition 10 IV. Stendhal's Method of Correcting His Style 18 V. Technique of the Plot in Stendhal's Novels 26 VI. Individuality and Personality in Style — A. Lyricism and Nature 33 B. Romanticism 37 C. Realism and Naturalism 40 Conclusion 46 562135 INTRODUCTION In writing this study I have started out with no definite thesis to prove, nor when it is finished will I say categorically that Stendhal wrote well or poorly. That is a matter of personal interpretation and feeling. The general consensus of opinion gleaned from the critics of Stendhal leads me to believe that he is a notoriously poor engineer in words and phrases; however, my original study brought down on my head the damnation of some good Stendhalians for agreeing with the critics. The aim of this present paper is to set forth in as unbiased a manner as possible what Stendhal did when he wrote, so as to lead to a better understanding of the man, his personal characteristics as well as his novels. The Rouge et le Noir and the Chartreuse de Parme, the two finished works, if one can say his novels were ever finished to his satisfaction, form the real basis of this study ; however, frequent reference will be made to the two major unfinished and posthumous novels, Lamiel and Lucien Leuwen. Armance has been ignored as being only an experiment. I have purposely omitted reference to style in all of the other numerous works of Stendhal, although I believe they show the same general char- acteristics. The following abbreviations are used: Le Rouge et le Noir — R; La Chartreuse de Parme — C; Lamiel — L; Lucien Leuwen — LL. The page numbers referred to in the works of Stendhal are those of the follow- ing editions: Le Rouge et le Noir, Paris, Champion, 1923 ; La Chartreuse de Parme, Paris, Le Divan, 1927; Lamiel, Paris, Le Divan, 1928; Lucien Leuwen, Paris, Champion, 1928; Journal, Paris, Champion, 1923-1935; Racine et Shakespeare, Paris, Champion, 1925 ; Correspondance (Paupe et Cheramy), Paris, Bosse, 1908. In several instances it has been necessary to quote page numbers of the original edition of the Chartreuse de Parme, especially when referring to the inter-leaves. These have been inserted in the text in the proper places. I have used the exem- plaire Chaper and the transcriptions of the notes in the exemplaire Royer and have seen the exemplaire Bucci of the Rouge et le Noir. I wish to acknowledge appreciation for the suggestion and direction of the original of this study to Dr. W. M. Dey and to Dr. U. T. Holmes, Jr.; to Dr. Louis Cons for valuable suggestions; to M. Pierre Martino for reading the manuscript in embryo and later the finished product and for his criticisms and suggestions; to S. Clodoveo Bucci for his kindness in letting me use his copy of the Rouge et le Noir; to M. Louis Royer for very generously giving me his transcriptions of the notes, which have not yet been published in toto in the exemplaire Royer of the Chartreuse de Parme, the property of his cousin, M. Paul Royer; and to all others who have helped me in this study by their suggestions and criticisms. STENDHAL'S NOVELS A Study in Style I. SOME OPINIONS OF STENDHAL'S STYLE As a means of starting this study it will be well, perhaps, to see what a few others have said about Stendhal's style, since in the following pages some of his own remarks about style in general and his in particular will be discussed. I have chosen at random among commentators and editors some whom I consider representative critics. It would require a thesis in itself to quote and comment on what everyone who has written on Stendhal has said about his style. 1 Taine has been chosen to head the list because he was the first to propagandize Stendhal and "Beylisme." He is so thoroughly immersed in this "Beylisme" and so intent on spreading the doctrine that he regards style as a secondary matter but none- the-less of importance. His references to style and his discussion of it are more about Balzac and the "style metaphorique" which is the "style inexact," but his inter- spersed remarks about Stendhal's style are decisive: "Beyle est aussi net que les Grecs et nos classiques, purs esprits, qui ont porte l'exactitude des sciences dan la peinture du monde moral, et grace auxquels parfois on se sait bon gre d'etre homme. Entre ceux-ci, Beyle est au premier rang, .... car il a . . . . ces mots incisifs et ces phrases pergantes qui forcent l'attention, s'enfoncent dans la memoire et conquierent la croyance . . . . Et ce style piquant n'est jamais tendu .... il est toujours aise et noble, jamais il ne se contraint ou ne s'emporte; c'est l'oeuvre d'une verve qui se maitrise, et d'un art qui ne se montre point." 2 He is quite right in saying it is the work of an art which does not make a show of itself. It is also true that it is an easy style denuded of "metaphores" and color — "dans la lumiere pure il n'y a pas de couleurs." In spite of his enthusiasm Taine has really discovered the basis of Stendhal's style and tried to make others appreciate it better than most of the critics and commentators on Stendhal. Let us see next what Emile Zola had to say. Although Zola felt that Stendhal had exercised great influence on the generation of realists and naturalists, he is not im- pressed greatly with either the Rouge et le Noir or the Chartreuse de Parme. In concluding his short dissertation on Stendhal with a study of his style, he says in part: . $W "D'ailleurs, il est inutile de prouver le manque de composition logique dans les oeuvres de Stendhal; ce manque de composition saute aux yeux .... quant au style, il court de meme tous les casse-cou .... Si Stendhal ecrit incorrectement et sans methode, pour montrer combien il etait superieur, combien un psychologue de sa force se moquait de la langue, il n'est arrive qu'a. ce beau resultat d'etre inconsequent et de se diminuer." 3 For a person of Zola's force and type it seems a bit hardy to condemn a fellow sinner in the matter of logical composition and the "style illogique." Literary interest in problems of heredity was unknown to Beyle, as was the psy- chological reaction of an individual uninteresting to Zola. Even though not sympa- thetic he at least had the goodness to consecrate a few pages of his study to a careful discussion of style. Many people mention Stendhal's style but few seem to have given it any serious study. It is something they have noticed in passing, it "saute aux yeux" and they 1 Consult Stendhal, Melanges de litterature, Paris, Le Divan, 1933, vol. 3, under the title Melanges critiques. Le Style et les ecrivains for Stendhal's own comments on style in general and his own in particular. 2 H. Taine, Nouveaux Essais de critique et d'histoire, Paris, Hachette, 1923 (12th edition), pp. 234-256. 3 E. Zola, Les Romanciers naturalistes (Oeuvres completes), Paris, Bernouard, 1928, pp. 101-102. 2 Stendhal's Novels have felt themselves called upon to make a few remarks about it. For the most part these authors and critics are defenders of the cause and rush to the colors. Col- lignon is somewhat representative of the great number who commented on Stendhal's style when he says: "II £crit rapidement, sous la dictee de ses sentiments et de ses idees, absolument comme il pense et comme il parle en ne songeant a rien que la clarte. ... La plume ne lui sert qua preciser les faits et les idees qui doivent lui servir pour son etude de I'homme, sujet unique de ses pensees comme de ses ouvrages. . . . Stendhal est plus qu'un amateur, c'est un artiste paresseux qui ne ceint pas ses reins et parfois se neglige . . . . Le style de Beyle est ironique, comme l'etait son caractere. Exacte eleve des idealogues et des maitres du 18e siecle algebrique, la notation precise des idees, Beyle parle un langage court et net que les rheteurs trouvent nu parce qu'il n'est pas sur- charge comme le leur de periodes sonores de metaphores ambitieuses ou d'images infideles a la pensee. II pense done, il sent; la parole suit, et son style est court, verveux, nourrie de faits. . . . Quant au son de la phrase, le hasard en decide et I'auteur ne s'en inquiete pas." 4 There is nothing of any particular note to be found there: phrases which have become common place and which will only help to make fashionable the "manque de style" of Stendhal. He does mention one specific ex- ample of this in his commentaries, and that is the repetition of the word "grave" but "II y a peut-etre bien de l'art dans cette affectation de secheresse." 6 The following quotations taken at random will speak for themselves and need no further comment: "Aussi son style est-il souvent sec, compose de petites phrases breves et in- colores. D'autres fois il s'embarque dans des periodes dont il ne peut plus sortir.'" "Le style de Stendhal reflete son esprit. C'est une simple notation de pensees sans rhetorique, c'est a dire sans developpement et sans emphase." 7 "Aussi ecrivent-ils (les critiques) d'un style froid, sec, precis, mathematique, comme de purs dialecticiens ; lequel style est bien celui de notre Stendhal. . . ."" . . . . d'autres n'ont point admis cette maniere heurtee, hieroglyphique, a force d'ellipses de tours etranges, de rapprochements disparates, de clowneries bizarres et n'ont point consenti a reconnaitre a Beyle les qualites d'ecrivain. . . . il a, comme un ecrivain de race, decouvert des ressources, des finesses dans la langue et surtout .... il est personnel en son faire." 9 "Stendhal ignore le rude labeur qu'exigent les oeuvres de l'esprit, le long et lent travail de la lime .... II ne prise que la clarte. Son style se rattache en effet a la prose abstraite, lucide, nullement pittoresque du 18e siecle .... II a ses qualites- clarte, concision, prestesse. Mais, si vif et degage qu'il soit, il est un peu gris et terne, un peu monotone, trop nu, trop depourvu de relief et d'eclat . . . . et il est parfois si bref, si serre, qu'il devient obscur." 10 Praise for Stendhal's style is rather sparing, but strong condemnation is lacking. No one perhaps other than Jean Prevost seems to be willing to take upon himself to say that Stendhal is a perfect writer. But when he makes so bold as to say, "II n'est done pas inutile de dire que le Rouge et le Noir nous donne la meilleure prose franchise depuis les hemes Provinciates, ' ni his critical judgment is apt to be- come suspect in even the most dilettante circles. 4 Collignon, L' Art et la vie de Stendhal, Paris, G. Bailliere, 1868, pp. 226-238. XXI XXll"* Chaperon ' Le Rouge et le No ' r ' Pr eface, Paris, Librairie Conquet, 1884, pp. pp XXI F XXIi qUe SarCCy ' L Ibid., I, 74-80. 27 Ibid., I, 54-56. 28 Chartreuse de Parme, I, 406-409. "Ibid., II, 101. *°lbid., II, 110. nibid., II, 19. 82 Ibid., II, 20. Stendhal's Novels 13 I'agrement . . . , 88 On one page appears: elle sauta lestement a bas de sa petite voiture and on the next page: elle sauta lestement a has de sa voiture? 4 The following examples are quoted from Lamiel: "Le fait est que la societe de toutes les femmes ennuyait le comte, la societe des femmes honnetes, et au parfait naturel et, fiere de sa conversation, Lamiel, etant encore tout a fait une femme honmete, I'ennuyait encore bien plus; . . . ," 35 /'/ la ferait debuter and a la faire debuter appear in consecutive sentences; 30 fou d' amour occurs twice in the same sentence 37 and d'Aubigne is qualified twice in the same sentence as insouciant et gai. 38 On one page raye gris sur gris occurs three times 39 and on two pages appear votre duchesse parle sans cesse de bonte, dont les femmes de son rang parlent sans cesse and la duchesse parle sans cesse de bonte. w In the Rouge et le Noir the same word combination is frequently used on consecutive pages, such as un sentier abusif and le sentier abusif. 41 The following paragraph is not an uncommon type representing the frequent recurrence of words; note the use of marquis, vieux chirurgien, amour-propre, bonte; Stendhal would rather repeat the noun than use a pronoun: "Le soir, lorsque Julien paraissait en habit bleu, il n'etait jamais question d'affaires. Les bontes du marquis etaient si flatteuses pour l'amour-propre to uj ours souffrant de notre heros, que bientot, malgre lui, il eprouva une sorte d'attachement pour ce vieillard aimable. Ce n'est pas que Julien fut sensible, comme Ton entend a Paris ; mais ce netait pas un monstre, et personne, depuis la mort du vieux chirurgien- major ne lui avait parle avec tant de bonte. II remarquait avec etonnement que le marquis avait pour son amour-propre des managements de politesse qu'il n'avait jamais trouves chez le vieux chirurgien. II comprit enfin que le chirurgien etait plus fier de sa croix que le marquis de son cordon bleu. Le pere du marquis etait un grand seigneur." 42 The word marquis appears eight times on the page cited above and four times on the following page. Note the use of egalite, probably only too conscious a repetition, in the following paragraph: ". . . . Elle pourrait me dire je Vordonne, s'il s'aggisait de quelque chose de relatif a l'education des enfants, mais en repondant a mon amour, elle suppose l'egalite. On ne peut aimer sans egalite . . . . et tout son esprit se perdit a faire des lieux communs sur l'egalite. II se repetait avec colere ce vers de Corneille, que Madame Dorville lui avait appris quelques jours auparavant: L' amour Fait les egalites et ne les cherche pas." 43 In the same paragraph note the frequent use of de, des, and a. Stendhal is not sparing in his use of prepositions, especially de, as the following paragraphs taken from the Chartreuse de Parme will show: "Depuis ce moment fatal, la vie du prince a ete changee; on le voit tourmente' par les soupcons les plus bizarres. II n'a pas cinquante ans, et la peur l'a tellement amoindri, si Ton peut parler ainsi, que, des qu'il parle des jacobins et des projets du comite directeur de Paris, on lui trouve la physionomie d'un vieillard de quatre-vingts ans; il retombe dans les peurs chimeriques de la premiere enfance. Son favori Rassi, fiscal general (ou grand juge), n'a d'influence que par la peur de son maitre; et des qu'il craint pour son credit, il se hate de decouvrir quelque nouvelle conspiration des plus noires et des plus chimeriques. Trente imprudents se reunissent-ils pour lire un **lbid., II, 20. ^Ibid., I, 69-70. 35 Lamiel, 246. 86 Ibid., 245. " Ibid., 222. 38 Ibid., 242. B °Ibid., 242. 40 Ibid., 131-132. 41 Rouge et le Noir, I, 100-101. 42 Ibid., II, 84. 43 Ibid., I, 146-147. 14 Stendhal's Novels numero du Constitutionnel, Rassi les declare conspirateurs et les envoie prisonniers dans cette fameuse citadelle de Parme, terreur de toute la Lombardie. Comme elle est fort elevee, cent quatre-vingts pieds, dit-on, on 1'apergoit de fort loin au milieu de cette plaine immense, et la forme physique de cette prison, de laquelle on raconte des choses horribles, la fait reine, de par la peur, de toute cette plaine, qui s'etend de Milan a Bologne." In this paragraph de or des is used twenty-three times, on six times, cette plaine and fort each appear twice in the last sentence. 44 In the next sentence the same excessive use of de is noticeable: "Ce ton, depouille de toute passion, de tout interet humain, de toute colere, fit palir le comte; il lui rappela la fagon d'etre d'un de ses amis qui, peu de mois aupara- vant, sur le point de mourir, et ayant deja regu les sacrements, avait voulu l'entre- tenir." 46 Occasionally the same idea is expressed several times, but in somewhat different words : ". . . . Julien etait le plus heureux des hommes." ". . . . il etait au comble de la joie." "Son bonheur n'eut plus de bornes." 46 This type of repetition is not common, and it is therefore more noticeable. The next quotations, on the other hand, show a very common sort of repetition found in the novels of Stendhal — that is, the frequent use of que, elle, and il: " . . . . la somme quelle avait regue .... elle fondit en larmes, voulut remettre a sa maitresse ce qu'elle possedait encore sur l'argent qu'elle eteignit, puis dit a la petite Chekina quelle lui pardonnait, mais a condition qu'elle ne dirait jamais un mot de cette etrange scene a qui que ce fut; le pauvre comte, ajouta-t-elle . . . ." 47 ". . . . et ce soir il etait plus trouble que jamais, ce qui m'a donne l'idee qu'il desirait la chose avec passion. Je lui ai dit que je savais mieux que lui qu'il n'y avait point eu de haute recommendation en faveur de del Dongo, que personne a. ma cour ne lui refusait de la capacite, qu'on ne parlait point trop mal de ses moeurs, mais que je craignais qu'il ne fut susceptible d'enthousiasme, et que je m'etait promis de ne jamais elever au places considerables les fous de cette espece avec lesquels un prince n'est sur de rien." 48 ". . . . mais que, plus heureuse apres la mort qu'elle n'avait ete durant la vie, elle irait a quelques pas de la prison, ou si longtemps elle avait gemi, se reunir k tout ce qu'elle avait aime au monde." 49 ". . . . quant a elle, elle le respecta, elle l'admira, elle en avait ete grondee." 60 There is still another trait extremely noticeable in Stendhal's writings, namely the very frequent use of the imperfect subjunctive of avoir, particularly in the third person singular. He constantly uses it after si. and to replace what, in conversation, would be a conditional. This form appears frequently for several pages and then is entirely lacking for several pages only to be resumed again. As this may be seen on any group of pages in each one of the novels, the examples are too numerous to quote. Another point that may be mentioned under the heading of repetition deals with Stendhal's vocabulary itself rather than with constructions. There are certain words that he uses with undue repetition and they attract the reader's attention before he has read very far. Stendhal is either very fond of these words, or is careless in their use, or he has no others readily at hand to express his ideas. In a number of incidents they are marked in the manuscripts or in corrected copies to be changed, but they never were changed. In many cases he probably considered frequent usage of them 44 Chartreuse de Parme, I, 170. 45 Ibid., II, 84. 46 Rouge et le Noir, I, 177. 47 Chartreuse de Parme, I, 264-265. 48 Ibid., I, 320. 49 Ibid., II, 283. 60 Rouge et le Noir, I, 69. Stendhal's Novels 15 necessary to strengthen the impression of the thought to be conveyed to the reader since some words appear as many as eight or ten times on a page. This is particularly true of fort and singulier in the unfinished novels, Luc'ten Leuwen and Lamiel. In the completed novels, the Chartreuse de Parme and the Rouge et le Noir, which were reread, corrected, and reworked for the printer, there is a marked improvement in this respect. However they are by no means free from it. In three hundred pages in the Rouge et le Noir the adjective affreux appears some forty times. Stendhal has a very decided fondness for adjectives such as: furibond, extreme, enorme, injame, cruel, scabreux and particularly the adjectives affreux, plat, and singulier. These adjectives reflect only too well his attitude towards most things with which he dealt and with which he came in contact. In violent contrast and as an expression of his never failing but unfrequently expressed idealism, sublime appears often. They have no special position, as they are used both after and before the sub- stantives and as predicate adjectives. It seems as though they were placed just as they happened to occur to him while he was writing. Stendhal said he would at times reflect for a quarter hour upon the position of such and such an adjective — "Souvent je reflechis un quart d'heure pour placer un adjectif avant ou apres son substantif." 61 — which is most likely an exaggeration. That he spent the time in deliberation may be true, but it would hardly seem probable to the person who has studied his writings; perhaps he was meditating on a new plan which would give his idea more force and clearness because "si je ne suis pas clair, tout mon monde est anneanti." 52 Plat occurs as an adjective and as a noun very frequently, but despite his liking for adverbs in -ment, platement appears but three or four times. Force, meaning very or many, is common. Of the verbs, choquer is among the commonest. Arborer followed by habits and moustaches is used meaning to "put on clothes" or "grow a moustache," in the Chartreuse de Farmed The following verbs are conspicuous for their frequent usage: offusquer, amadouer, navrer, esclandre, deguerpir, clouer, and percer. There are a few nouns which one constantly meets in all of the novels, such as: parleur and hableur used for the same thing and interchangeably; bevue, velleite, hobereau, histrion, freluquet, cuistre, femmelette, and noblilion. Merimee assures us that Stendhal's novels were "toujours ecrits du premier jet."" This may account for his carelessness in putting words together that cause dis- agreeable sound effects. He reread his works for publication and noted one instance to be changed, which is: / ". . . . qui se sentit presque les larmes aux yeux . . . ." E5 In the margin he has written: "Mauvais son: sausieu." 68 Regardless of this observation the same combination appears fifteen times in the Rouge et le Noir alone. All of the characters frequently "fondre en larmes" or have "les yeux pleins de larmes," or the like, and there is constant reference to tears in all the novels such as: "les larmes dans les yeux," "les yeux en larmes," "les yeux brillants de larmes," "mes yeux se remplissent de larmes," "les larmes inonderent ses yeux"; "des grands yeux bleus" is often repeated. For the most part these sound combinations go unnoticed as there is no mention made of them in the Bucci copy of the Rouge et le Noir nor in either corrected copy of the Chartreuse de Parme. This is another proof that Stendhal, in correcting his manuscripts, paid little attention to B1 Correspondence, III, 259. 62 Correspondance, III, 260. 63 Chartreuse de Parme, I, 389. 64 P. Merimee, Op. cit., p. 163. 65 Lucien Leuwen, II, 66. 66 Ibid., II, editor's note. 16 Stendhal's Novels what we look upon as their style, and that he did, as Merimee said, change the plan rather than correct the wording or syntax. The following are examples of unpleasant sound combinations: ". . . . ils vont me demander mon passe-port;" or, "ce passe-port porte en toutes lettres C, I, 298. "Les regards de Fabrice avaient rencontre une ou deux fois ceux de ce terrible comte €., I, 387. ". . . . etoile mais voile C, I, 269. ". . . . j'aurais perdu un peu plus tot les plus beaux jours LL., Ill, 222. "On etait deja sur le palier de l'escalier . . . .," R., I, 236. ". . . . les choses cruelles quelle lui addressait R., II, 241. "Sans s'en R., I, 137. ". . . . liee a l'idee de l'or R., II, 392. ". . . . perpetuelle, a laquelle R., II, 5. ". . . . dans un coin, loin de la foule R., II, 102. . . . pour tacher d'en arracher R., I, 85. "L'habitude d'habiter R., I, 364. ". . . . au ton doux vous fasse R., I, 8. ". . . . prolongeant et Julien rencontrant R., II, 37. ". . . . en ce cas pourquoi R., II, 53. ". . . . c'est que le severe abbe ne connaissait pas ce qui R., II, 53. "M. Comte, dit le comte R., II, 55. ". . . . si lentement au moment R., II, 98. ". . . . parfaitement seduisante R., II, 107. ". . . . couper la cuisse a un cuirassier C, I, 61. ". . . . reflechissant profondement . . . . ," C, I, 61. ". . . . son compte, sont C, I, 195. "Un peu deparee par de . . . . ," C, I, 197. "S'il vous arrive un accident en entrant dans son cafe," R., II, 163. ". . . . la gravite la plus plaisante, repetant R., II, 265. "II ne leur manquent absolument que le raisonnement R., II, 275. ". . . . voulait me friponner impunement en raccommodant mes charrues," R., II, 6. "Comment, habitant l'hotel R., II, 57. ". . . . rapport fort long," C, I, 319. "Je vais te faire ton affaire C, I, 325. ". . . . vigilante en diable en pays autrichien," C, I, 333. "Eut pu" is used very frequently, and in most cases this disagreeable sound combination could be avoided. There are times when sound combinations seem not to be unconscious repetitions ; they evidently pleased Stendhal because he repeated them several times and they are too obvious to be overlooked: "Dans ce moment, un valet offrait a Julien du vin du Rhin, dans un verre vert, et madame Valenod avait soin de lui faire observer que ce vin coutait neuf francs la bouteille pris sur place. Julien, tenant son verre vert .... II essaya de la cacher avec le verre vert, mais il lui fut absolument impossible de faire honneur au vin du Rhin." 57 This repetition applies occasionally but not often to long adverbs ending in -ment and to adjectives ending in -ent and -ant: Rouge et le Noir, I, 241. Stendhal's Novels 17 "Un homme qui invente, en parlant arrive facilement a une saillie imprudente The few examples cited above show a general tendency or weakness of Stendhal in his composition. This may have been due either to negligence, carelessness, or to an unexplained desire for repetition in sound as well as words; or, on the other hand it may have been an affectation of carelessness, a part of his scorn for the "style noble" and for his contemporaries. 68 Ibid., II, 118. IV. STENDHAL'S METHOD OF CORRECTING HIS STYLE Haste accounts for many faults, and Stendhal realized he committed stylistic errors: "Voila deja une faute de francais; il y en aura beaucoup, parce que je prends pour principe de ne me pas gener et de n'effacer jamais." 1 What he did was to reread his works and try to correct them as much as possible after they were printed for the first time. However, by this time, Stendhal had somewhat lost interest in a given work and could never force himself to the meticulous task of correcting his phraseology. He always had this task in mind because he had the personal copies of his works bound with an inter-leaf between all of the pages. On these leaves he intended to make his corrections and he did make a great many, but they were, for the most part, as Merimee says, a remaking of the plan or an addition to the existing text. In the Bucci copy of the Rouge et le Noir there are very few annotations in com- parison with the number that are to be found in the existing annotated copies of the Chartreuse de Parme. Stendhal began correcting the Chartreuse de Partne shortly after it was published, perhaps because he was elated at the praise he received from Balzac regarding it. He denied that Balzac had any influence in making him reread it. "Sans croire aux louanges exagerees de M. de Balzac, j'entreprends de corriger le style de ce roman." 2 He did not undertake at once to correct the Rouge et le Noir as he did this later work, unless the copy that he corrected has been lost. Unfor- tunately M. Marsan in his edition has not transcribed all of the annotations that are to be found in the Bucci copy. The copies of the Chartreuse de Parme offer a much more fertile field in which to study Stendhal's corrections and additions. There are three such copies in existence which formerly belonged to Stendhal and which were annotated by him: one is in the possession of M. Chaper, the second belongs to M. Paul Royer, and the third is the property of M. Paul Hazard. As I had access to the first two only, the examples used in this study are taken from them. As will soon be seen the annotations have mainly to do with additions to the text, some simply to lengthen it and others to make a particular point clearer, and not to improve his phraseology, with which he is quite satisfied. "Par amour pour la clarte et le ton intelligible de la conversation, qui d'ailleurs peint si bien, suit de si pres la nuance du sentiment, j'ai ete conduit a un style actuel, style qui convient si bien: 1° a l'ignorance des details du coeur humain, qui caracterise la plupart des auteurs 2° et a 1'amour du style noble si naturel chez les ignobles enrichis (M. de Catinat [?}. C. Rey. Lafitte.) et les peres de famille, les fabricants, les commergants, etc. Irai-je me rapprocher de cette enflure en semant ca et la des phrases nobles? Non: je corrigerai les negligences de mon style naturel. Reforme des Carraches. 3° le style a la mode a ete invente par des pauvres de pensees." 3 The above annotation was made on the first of November 1840, and a few days previous to that, while reading the Chartreuse de Parme at Civite Veechia, he noted opposite page sixty- three: "Je pense que dans les recits il n'y aura pas grand'chose a corriger au style."* On the inter-leaf at the head of the Royer copy is found the notation: 1 Journal, I, page 1. See also for Stendhal's best discourse on style: Lettre a M. de Bakac, Correspondance, III, 257-262. 2 Exemplaire Chaper, first inter-leaf. 3 Exemplaire Chaper, Vol. I, first inter-leaf. I give only a few of Stendhal's remarks about style. He made annotations frequently and in everything he read. A complete list would require a volume of no mean proportions. 4 Ibid., inter-leaf opposite page 63 (Le Divan, page 63). Stendhal's Novels 19 "Void la copie qui doit servir a. la 2eme edition." That might have applied to the Chaper copy as well, since both are filled with additions and corrections to the text. When the second edition appeared Stendhal hoped that it would have three volumes and he had that constantly in mind while rereading and correcting the first edition: "Developper convenablement les scenes de la fin; cela fait diviser les manuscrits en trois parties egales, et faire trois volumes de 1'ouvrage." 6 "Allonger ces 16 pages, faire trois volumes a. la seconde edition." 6 "La seconde edition de I860 aura trois volumes. Profiler de l'ennui de l'exposi- tion subie par le lecteur. Faire un volume de plus." 7 The following quotation is taken from the third sheaf of transcriptions headed: "Chartreuse de Parme, Vol. I, Additions a la fin du volume." Previously Stendhal had made annotations on page 130 in both copies of the "Chartreuse de Parme" with the idea of a third volume for the next edition. In the Chaper copy after . . . "amis de l'Etrille" and in the margin appears: "Ici, Warney et Rassi;" in the Royer copy opposite the same words appears: "Ici le grand carton qui annonce Rassi, Riscara et un peu le prince et son ministre, le comte Mosca. J'abrege ce carton." Both of these additions are short and give a general outline of what he has in mind. He really develops his ideas at the end of the volume as we shall now see. "Fabrice fut regu de la facon la plus distinguee par M. Le Baron et par ses amis et fut servi par le mystere a peine affecte, dont il environnait les circonstances qui I'avait pousse pres du champ de bataille de Waterloo .... que son voyage dans la .... qui . . . . le colonel a ne jamais parler guerre et sans en avoir .... donnait le courage . . . . de leur faire des questions sur tout ce qu'il ignorait. "Dans ce meme hotel du Grand Monarch oil Fabrice avait failli etre victime du bon ton de la province se trouvait un grand officier anglais aux cheveux roux blesse a Waterloo. Quand le capitaine Warney commenga a pouvoir sortir de sa chambre il fit des politesses au jeune Italien." 6 Made in Amor 4° de Juin 1840, 4 juin DictS le 2 dec 1840, Xbre. "Nous avons laisse Fabrice malade a Amiens dans une auberge complimenteuse et interessee, vraiement a. la franchise. "La l'ennui le lia avec un grand Anglais aux cheveux rouges blesse a Waterloo. "Le capitaine Warney avait de plus assiste a deux ou trois batailles en Espagne ce qui achevait d'en faire un personnage bien considerable aux yeux de Fabrice. Celui-ci eut ete le plus heureux des hommes s'il avait recu sur le champ de bataille le coup de sabre qui I'avait atteint sur le pont de la sanite. (en faisait un homme d'une grande importance aux yeux du blesse milanais) "Fabrice ne pouvait se lasser de demander des details sur les evolutions des Anglais a Waterloo. II esperait toujours reconnaitre le terrain sur lequel il avait galope a la suite du Marechal Ney. "Surtout ce qui gagnait son coeur a. Warney, c'etait la faveur avec laquelle cet Anglais toujours indigne contre quelque chose ou contre quelqu'un, maudissait l'ingrati- tude des Frangais envers Napoleon. "Sortez-le de son ironie eternelle qu'il prend pour de 1'esprit, s'ecriait Warney, ce que nous avons la betise d'admettre, ce peuple leger est incapable de tout raison- nement suivi. Le voici qui parceque nous l'avons battu, meconnait le heros des siecles modernes! Sans le 18 brumaire, la France de 1800 eut ete conquise par les emigres jeunes encore et furibonds, et alors les rois de l'Europe n'avaient pas vu 5 Ibid., II, inter-leaf opposite page 2 (Le Divan, pages 7-8). 6 Ibid., II, opposite page 375 (Le Divan, pages 398-399). ''Ibid., II, opposite page 3 (Le Divan, pages 8-9). 8 Ce debut barre— titre: Amiens— Episode Warney, Rassi, etc. (Note de M. Royer). 20 Stendhal's Novels occuper leurs capitales. Est-ce la faute de Napoleon si eniin sa destine lui a fait rencontrer une armee anglaise? Mais nous les vainqueurs, nous preferons hautement sa cause a celle des emigres qui n'ont rien appris, ni n'en oublie; et nous sommes bons juges que nous avons eu a. notre pays tous ces petits rois du continent maintenant si fiers, et toujours battus avant notre arrivee, etc etc etc " "Des que Warney et Fabrice purent supporter le mouvement de la voiture, ils gagnerent Paris a. petites journees. Fabrice n'eut garde de chercher l'hotel de M. Maunier, ou des Frangais beaux parleurs l'avaient si bien de valire (voler?) a son premier passage. Warney, fidele a la mode, ce tiran des Anglais, debarqua chez Meurice et y conduisait Fabrice. La table d'hote de cet hotel anglais retentissait d'imprecations contre la lachete des dandys frangais, qui atteles a une longue corde essayaient de renverser la statue de Napoleon placee au sommet de la colonne Vendome. "Une certaine reserve inspiree par l'orgueil anglais, avait toujours detourne Fabrice de raconter son histoire au capitaine Warney. Malgre son apparente non- chalance pour tout ce qui n'etait pas la pairie anglaise, Warney brulait de savoir pourquoi ce bel Italien, presque encore enfant avait ete blesse dans les murs d'Amiens. Mais il en eut trop coute a son orgueil atrabilaire d'admettre pour base des aventures de son ami un sentiment non vulgaire, et le capitaine Warney eut ete au desespoir d'apprendre la verite. Nous ne voudrions pas jurer que dans son chagrin, cet homme qui se croyait honnete ne se fut pas permis quelque demie noirceur. "Deja. la gaite, la bonne humeur constante, la presence du bonheur chez cet enfant qu'il rencontrait plusieurs heures chaque jour et dont pourtant il ne pouvait se detacher commengait a lui etre cruellement importun. "Pendant que Fabrice s'attachait tous les jours davantage a Warney; celui-ci creusant ce qui se passait dans son ame s'impatientait de la sorte de curiosite penible qui l'attendait au pas du jeune Italien. Warney eut ete ravi qu'un malheur non sereaux (serieux?) amene par le hasard, fut venu contrecarrer cet air de felicite voluptueuse qui eclatait dans la figure de Fabrice et semblait a tous les moments faire la critique de la tristesse anglaise. "Warney s'arrangea pour croire a. quelque intrigue bien commune qui avait sans doute amene Fabrice dans les environs d'Amiens. Quelque femme de General telle que se les figuraient les Anglais, quelque ci-devant blanchisseuse comme en epousaient necessairement tous les marechaux de Napoleon devenu(s) immensement riches, avait des bontes pour le jeune Italien et afin de tromper son mari avec plus de facilite avait feint de ne pouvoir rester a Paris quand son mari se trouvait a 1 'armee, et y etait venue se faisant suivre par cette sorte d'amant valet de chambre. C'etait sans doute en s'aquittant des nobles fonctions de ce role que Fabrice s'etait trouve pour son malheur trop pres d'un sabre anglais. "Malgre ces suppositions sur les antecedents de Fabrice, ne le quittait gueres (sic) et tous les soirs ils s'etablissaient au balcon de l'Opera. Warney connaissait les aydes de camp du general prussien Mufflig qui commandait la place de Paris et ce fut par la protection de ces messieurs que Fabrice eut le plaisir inexprimable, mais qu'il garda bien d'exprimer, de se voir admis tous les soirs dans les coulisses de l'Academie royale de musique. "Fabrice eut 20 amis au bout de huit jours les beautes du pays lui trouvaient de la grace; il ne parlait jamais de la blessure qui lui fessait (sic) porter les bras en echarpe et il ne se passait pas de journee que Warney ne fit illusion aux siennes. Fabrice donnait de jolis diners dans un cabaret de Sceaux qui aVait trouvait grace aux yeux de Melle Ernestine son amie. "Rien ne manquait au bonheur de Fabrice. Ce qui le rendait complet, c'est que personne ne s'apercevait qu'il voyait tant de belles choses pour la premiere fois de sa vie. Mais un Anglais a. quelque classe distinguee de la societe qu'il apartienne, est toujours heureux de meler de noir a la vie d'un ami qui s'amuse. Warney fit re- marquer a Fabrice qu'au Foyer de L'Opera et partout un petit homme noir porteur de 4 ou 5 croix et d'une figure commune le suivait constamment des yeux. A peine Stendhal's Novels 21 Fabrice eut-il verifie l'observation qu'il courut a l'etranger, lequel palit beaucoup et se mit a. sourire bassement. Fabrice le pria tres instamment de ne plus le regarder s'il ne voulait s'exposer a. recevoir des coups de canne. "Mais a l'inexprimable joie du capitaine Warney ce bonheur si jeune qui l'offusquait chez Fabrice disparut. "En quelque lieu qu'il entrait, Fabrice cherchait ce petit Italien charge de croix et etait attentif a voir s'il en etait regarde — A votre place j'aimerais mieux avoir affaire avec ce (malotru) que d'etre occupe constamment a. epier ses regards. " — Cet homme a cependant le droit de regarder devant lui, dit innocemment Fabrice, sans reflechir le moins du monde au motif qui pouvait partir 1'Anglais a lui donner un tel conseil. "Le M (malotru) dont il s'agit, homme tres fin de son metier s'appelait Rassi et avait ete frappe de la figure evidemment italienne et de la mise recherchee de ce jeune homme qui portait le bras en echarpe. II s'appelait Rassi et etait juge dans un tribunal a Parme. C'etait l'ame damnee de ce fameux Ranuce Ernest IV, prince souverain de Parme et qui avait ete un des hommes les plus distingues d'Italie > quand meme le hasard ne l'aurait pas place au rang de souverain. Apres Waterloo, Ranuce Ernest avait senti la necessite d'avoir un homme a. lui a Paris. II n'etait pas de rang a y envoyer un ambassadeur qui put parler degal a egal a MM de Metternich, de Castlereigh, etc mais il etait bien aise de le charger en son nom (de) leur demander des nouvelles. Le Rassi, son favori avait assez d'esprit pour etre a. la hauteur de ce role, mais par malheur la nature avait donne cet espion de la mine la plus Tasse. Ranuce Ernest, malgre son esprit, dont il avait infiniment, s'ennuyait assez souvent et alors s'amusait a outrager son favori Rassi et ce favori portait ecrit dans ses traits l'habitude de souffrir ce traitement. II avait a Paris un etatmajor compose de huit ou dix espions, Riscara savant distingue, Maleatti medecin celebre, etc., etc Tous ces gens-la. etaient suffisamment garnis de croix imaginaires et a 1'aide de leur science s'etaient faufiles dans les salons des membres de l'lnstitut et des journalistes qui complimentaient chaque jour le magnanime empereur Alexandre. "Le capitaine Warney avait deja empoisonne le bonheur de son jeune ami en lui faisant remarquer la figure de Rassi. "II eut la fantaisie de plaire a. la petite Ernestine. " — Prenez la figure de mon petit Italien et alors nous verrons, mais quant a present tenez-vous-en a vos livres. Warney etait savant et historien du moyen-age et n' avait pas laisse ignore ce genre de merite aux demoiselles qui dinaient a Sceaux. La reponse que nous venons de citer n'augmenta pas sa bienveillance pour son jeune ami. Warney eut soin au bout de quelques jours de rappeler a Fabrice l'exis- tence de M.-le comte Rassi. C'etait le nom que s'etait donne dans les salons de Paris l'envoye de Ranuce-Ernest IV. Warney avait decouvert qu'il etait envoye a. Paris par le fameux baron Brider directeur et fondateur de cette fameuxe police de Milan qui commengait alors a. faire parler d'elle preludant a cette reputation quelle a du plus tard a MM. Pelico et d'Andryane. "Par suite de cette fausse information, Fabrice fit plus d'attention que par le passe aux yeux pergants de Rassi. II se promit de nouveau, malgre l'objection de son bras encore faible de lui donner un coup de canne pour peu qu'il en trouvat l'occasion. Mais Rassi de son cote n'avait garde d'oublier la perspective des coups de canne. "Fabrice etait fort occupe d'Ernestine qui s'etait prise pour lui de ces passions folles durant deux mois qui souvent conduisent les demoiselles de l'Opera au suicide, lorsqu'un soir a l'Opera Warney l'arracha d'aupres d'Ernestine et le prit a part. "Le Rassi fort peureux naturellement avait amene de Parme un garde de corps, un ancien gendarme gros et trapu portant un . . . . , lequel ne quittaient guere le foyer de l'Opera quand Rassi y etait. Ernestine dit a. Fabrice que le patron lui avait dit que cet etre remarquablement hideux, s'appelait Barbon. Prends garde a toi, mon petit Italien, ce Barbon t'assassinera. Ce mot retentit dans Time de Fabrice comme un avertissement d'en-haut. Sa gravite et son air d'importance etaient admirables. 22 Stendhal's Novels " — Je dois vous dire que du grace du due de Wellington toujours modele de prudence a desire avoir la liste des Italiens que Ton avait vu s'etablir a. Paris depuis Waterloo. Et sur cette liste, a cote du nom du chevalier Rassi et du comte Ricarra son acolyte, on lit "Vasi, e'est le nom qui se donne un jeune gentilhomme de Milan qui porte le bras droit en echarpe, non suspect etant protege par l'amitie du capitaine Warney avec lequel loge hotel Meurice." "Ce mot fut un coup de foudre pour Fabrice. II retourna aupres d'Ernestine avec Warney, mais ce dernier eut le supreme bonheur d'entendre la petite danseuse dire a. Fabrice: "Vous n'etes plus aimable ce soir depuis que vous avez parle a l'Anglais." Une idee ne quitta plus Fabrice et empoisonnait sa vie: "Quelle tache pour ma vie si jamais quelque journal anglais publie cette liste d'espions ! II sera si facile de savoir que je me suis appele Vasi ! "Par un de ces enfantillages du coeur que la raison se garde d'avouer, Fabrice avait fait une sorte de voeu de ne pas revoir les Tuileries apres l'exil de Napoleon. En sortant de l'Opera a minuit, il passa a l'hotel de M. Meunier, duquel on aper- cevait les Tuileries, et il y trouva une foule de lettres. Sa tante le suppliait de revenir au plus vite. "Une derniere lettre de la comtesse Pietranera portant une date recente le sup- pliait de revenir au plus vite. Cette lettre avait un certain ton enigmatique qui l'inquieta fort. "C'etait avec une insistance remarquable que dans une lettre d'une date recente, la Cesse Pietranera suppliait Fabrice de revenir au plus vite. Les termes enigmatiques qui lui servaient a faire diviner sa pensee sans imprudence plongerent Fabrice dans une reverie profonde. "Fin d'episode Warney, Rassi, et Cie. 14 3Xbre 1840." In the same copy there is another very long addition which is to be inserted on page 133 and which describes "la foret entre Lugano et grianta." The following two sentences were transformed into the rather long passage which is given directly after them. This addition is preceded by the remark noted above the correction. "Cette annee assez amusante pour Fabrice, fut terrible pour la duchesse. Le comte fut trois ou quatre fois a deux doigts de sa perte; le prince, plus peureux que jamais, parce qu'il etait malade cette annee-la, croyait en le renvoyant, se debarrasser de l'odieux des executions faites avant 1'entree du comte au ministere. 9 "En cherchant a corriger la phrase au bas de la page 208, qui boite, je corrige le fond, tant la periphrase racinienne et noble m'est antipatique. "Je fais cette phrase: .... amusant pour Fabrice, le fut trop pour la duchesse. Le comte fut trois ou quatre fois a deux doigts de sa perte, il manquait absolument de la premiere qualite de courtisan: il songeait a etre utile, mais il ne pouvait se flatter d'etre sans honneur. A la moindre humiliation il n'aurait pu s'empecher de tout quitter, il etait sur de l'attachement de la duchesse et savait vivre avec le peu qu'il avait. Plus peureux cette annee-la parce qu'il fut toujours souffrant, Ranuce Ernest songeait toujours aux severites passees et se laissait tourmenter par les lettres anonymes. Jamais le comte ne put le determiner de prendre sur lui de les jeter au feu sans les lire ou a les envoyer a la princesse, qui les communiquerait a un ministre. "Mais, monseigneur, lui disait le ministre, si vous voulez qu'on oublie des severites qui peut-etre furent utiles, je ne puis en juger, il faut montrer k tous que vous les oubliez vous-meme tout le premier. Allez seul a. la chasse, avec moi, avec tout autre, ne prenez qu'un de vos ministres pour donner des ordres s'il le fallait. "Dans d'autres instants le comte cherchait a relever le coeur d'un homme qui avait l'etoffe d'etre fier. • Exemplaire Chaper, Vol. I, page 208 (Le Divan, page 216). Stendhal's Novels 23 " — Nous n'en sommes plus aux temps faciles des souverains et des ministres; il suffisait alors que la Providence eut jete une couronne sur la tete d'un heureux mortel. Mais maintenant on ne respecte plus rien; pour faire du despotisrne a rebrousse-poil dans un siecle qui a vu d'abord la police, puis le charivari, il faut un caractere ferme (grand caractere) et votre Altesse est a la hauteur de son role quand Elle jouit de sa sante. "Les soirs surtout, le prince etait accable par les souvenirs des executions faites avant l'entree du comte au ministere et il croyait, en exitant, en secouer tout l'odieux. " — N'est-ce pas bien la, disait le ministre, la logique d'un homme d'esprit gate par la tout-puissance? " — Pour moi, disait la duchesse, je n'y vois que l'addresse supreme de madame Raversi sachant exploiter la mauvaise humeur d'un envieux. Au nom de Dieu, ayez la complaisance pour moi de ne pas prendre d'humeur, et nous gagnons le pari. "Le Rassi etait le favori . . . , 14 It is apparent that the style of the additions showed no improvement over that of the printed text. There are the same repetitions, the same words and sentence-for- mation that are found in what he had previously written plus a decided negligence regarding grammatical construction. Stendhal did attempt to correct his words in some instances, but he evidently did not know how to make corrections in his style as a whole. He attempted to change words only and not the paragraphs or even the sentences as a unit. These changes are for the most part isolated instances, such as the following, taken from the Exemplaire Chaper: "Au moyen-age, les Milanais etaient braves comme les Francais de la Revolution, et meriterent .... "Autre lecon: Au moyen-age les Lombards etaient braves, et meriterent de voir leur ville .... "Autre lecon: Au moyen-age, les Lombards, republicans forcenes, etaient braves, et meriterent .... "Autre lecon: (du 5 fevrier 1842) .... des Francais, aussi meriterent-ils de voir "Durant les belles nuits du mois de juin, de tous cotes Ton entendait retentir le petit violon francais et les eclats de rire. "Autre lecon: Durant les belles nuits du printemps de 1796, de tous cotes Ton entendait retentir le petit violon francais et les eclats de rire." . . . c'etaient de veritables fetes; . . . . . . . avait eu la moindre fortune, .... Ce jour-la la comtesse .... ". . . et ces hommes ne purent faire aucune remarque . . . . , . . . elle en avait fait . . . . . . avait eu a peine de vivre, ..." Ce jour-la Gina Pietranera . . . . . . ces hommes dont deux d'ailleurs etaient du parti liberal, ne purent . . . *> Exemplaire Chaper, I, page 208 (Le Divan, page 216). ™Ibid., I, page 8 (Le Divan, pages 5-6). « Ibid., I, page 11 (Le Divan, page 8). 13 Ibid., I, page 213 (Le Divan, page 221). Ibid., I, page 178 (Le Divan, page 184). "Ibid., I, page 135 (Le Divan, page 139). "Ibid., I, page 136 (Le Divan, page 139). 24 Stendhal's Novels ". . . des glaces nouvelles, ajoutees a celles .... . . . des glaces nouvelles que le marquis le determina a ajouter a celles . . . . . pendant sa premiere detention . . . . . . pendant les premiers mois de sa detention . . . . 1S The following examples are taken at random from the Royer copy: "marchand de barometres, l'officier l'envoya a la prison de B . . , petite ville du voisinage, ou notre heros arriva sur les trois heures du matin, outre de fureur et mort de fatigue. . . . marchand de barometres, mais fils du marquis del Dongo, grand officier de la cour de S.M. l'Empereur de l'Autriche. Le lieutenant de gendar- merie ouvrait de grands yeux, de temps a autre, haussait les epaules et ses yeux exprimaient la pitie. Enfin sans dire mot, il l'envoya a la prison de B . . , petite ville du voisinage ou notre heros arriva sur les trois heures du matin outre de fureur et mort de fatigue. 18 ". . . dans cette miserable prison; il ecrivait lettres .... ". . . il va etre tue .... ". . . se disait-il avec amertume .... "... a pic et fort glissant. "Notre heros etait fort peu heros .... ". . . ce regard le fit rougir .... ". . . crinieres pendantes .... "Tous les yeux le regarderent avec bienveillance .... "vils fripons ! ! ! Fabrice exagerait comme tout homme indigne. . . . dans cette miserable prison. II ecrivait lettres . . . . 20 . . . il va etre mis a l'ombre. 21 . . . se disait-il confusement . . . j° ... a pic et l'eau . . . , 23 Notre heros etait fort trouble . . . .** . . . ce regard de tant de gens le fit rougir . . . , 25 . . . crinieres flottantes .... 23 Tous les yeux regarderent celui-ci avec une bienveillance marquee . . . , 27 . . . vils fripons ! ! ! En pensant a la patrie, devoir faire attention a ce qu'on ne vous vole pas une etrille! Fabrice exagerait .... 17 Exemplaire Chaper, II, page 276 (Le Divan, page 295). 18 Ibid., II, page 367 (Le Divan, page 390). 19 Exemplaire Royer, I, page 57 (Le Divan, page 56). 20 Ibid., I, page 57 (Le Divan, page 56). 21 Ibid., I, page 67 (Le Divan, page 67). 22 Ibid., I, page 69 (Le Divan, page 69). 23 Ibid., I, page 74 (Le Divan, page 74). 24 Ibid., I, page 75 (Le Divan, page 76). 26 Ibid., I, page 78 (Le Divan, page 79). 26 Ibid., I, page 83 (Le Divan, page 83). 27 Ibid., I, page 82 (Le Divan, page 82). Stendhal's Novels 25 vers le bois ". . . un des ces coups de pointe blessa un hussard a la main: fort en colere d'etre touche par un tel soldat .... ". . . il paierait bien, ce qui offensait la bonne maitresse de l'auberge et ses filles. II y avait quinze jours .... (Same line is corrected in Chaper as fol- lows:) . . . vils fripons, et que Ton voit con- stamment des bas calculs du plus vil egoisme, ensuite les voir briller de la meme bravoure que Ton reconnait en soi, et pour laquelle on s'estime, voila ce qui est plus fort qu'une ame de dix-sept ans. 28 . . . vers le fourre du bois . . . . 28 . . . un de ces coups de pointe s'arreta dans la main d'un hussard et le blessa: (Same line is corrected in Chaper as follows:) . . . un de ces coups de pointe toucha un hussard a la main: fort en colere d'etre blesse par un tel soldat . . . . so . . . il paierait bien, il ne s'apercevait pas qu'il offensait cruellement la bonne maitresse de l'auberge et ses filles. Son caractere profondement religieux et en- thousiaste pris le dessus. Oserons-nous dire qu'il avait des visions? Il lui sem- blait que la Madone sollicitee du fond de l'ltalie par sa tante Gina Pietranera, daignait lui apparaitre et lui promettre son secours. II lui semblait que sa tante lui tendait les bras et l'embrassait pen- dant son sommeil. II y avait quinze jours . . . . 31 The preceding examples taken from the two annotated copies of the Chartreuse de Parme support the statement made earlier that Stendhal added to his works rather than corrected the style of them. When he began rereading the Rouge et le Noir he made small and for the most part insignificant corrections. He evidently had no idea of increasing its length for we find no long additions nor noticeable changes in the text. He maintained throughout his natural style which, as he said, "est le contraire du style un peu enfle des romans actuels." As long as Stendhal made clear his meaning, the words and their grouping did not disturb him. 28 Ibid., I, page 87 (Le Divan, page 88). 29 Ibid., I, page 94 (Le Divan, page 95). 30 Ibid., I, page 119 (Le Divan, pages 120-121). 31 Ibid., I, page 125 (Le Divan, page 128). V. TECHNIQUE OF PLOT IN STENDHAL'S NOVELS Stendhal, when writing, was interested in ideas, clarity, and logical order of presentation. He was none the less interested in dramatic presentation, in catching the reader's eye and holding his attention. — In spite of his aristocratic attitude towards the crowd, he sought its favor but failed to get it. Cordier has drawn up a balance sheet 1 showing Stendhal's lack of favor with the reading public and he has also shown Stendhal's despair at not being well thought of and widely read. There was some dynamic force working within him which drove "notre heros" forward in spite of his downcast moments and threats of suicide. In his own mind Stendhal created an imaginary place for himself in posterity, a creation that ultimately came to pass. It was this ideal, with the aid of momentary relief which came to him at each crisis, which was evidently the cause of the persistency he put into his literary endeavors. There was always that feeling in his mind that he might some day win this coveted favor. Balzac's flattering letter on the Chartreuse de Parme was an inspiration that gave him renewed life and hope. It is quite evident that Stendhal experienced fits of depression due to the lack of money to satisfy his various whims and, if one is to believe M. Cordier, this de- pression carried him to the contemplation of suicide on several occasions. His timidity towards women in the beginning of his friendships with them and his depend- ency on them in life brought on alternate exaltation and depression. Stendhal, on the whole, lived a life of nervous tension — a life of hero worship — the life of an idealist who believes in the ultimate attainment of his ideals despite the fact that he sees them torn to shreds every day. Such an existence must necessarily have exerted a tremendous influence on his writing. There was a psychological force impelling him onward always through all of his difficulties to an unknown aim, but patience, care, and true creative ability were lacking in his make-up. The idea! that was the thing; the idea was put in the "mines de Salzbourg" and the crystallizations studied. Characters were the personifica- tions of Stendhal's ideas, something definite with which to work and mould, with which to develop himself. If one examines the novels of Stendhal this impelling movement or force becomes clearer and more definite. Why do Julien Sorel and Fabrice del Dongo act as they do unless it is from a sense of experimentation in the mind of the author, a trying out of old ideas in new ways? That Julien is doomed to a tragic end is sensed in the beginning; that is obviously the logical outcome, not only the logical sequence of events, but the logical and clear development of a psychological background of ideas. Therein lies the interest in the Rouge et le Noir and in the Chartreuse de Parme: Julien and Fabrice are both children of the school of Condillac, with rampant imagina- tions, conceiving an idea or plan which they execute without applying to common sense or reason but to cornellian rationalism for guidance. These composites of ideas and experiences, this headlong rush from one situa- tion to another help to explain what might be termed a bad style. In Stendhal's mind the ultimate aim of the Rouge et le Noir is to have Julien fire two shots at madame de Renal, perhaps to kill her or perhaps not — that will depend on what is in his mind when he gets that far — but certainly to bring the death penalty on himself in order to conform to the Berthet incident. 2 He uses a jealousy motif, the eternal triangle, to accomplish his aim just as the event was actually supposed to have happened. However, Stendhal lacks the ability or interest to develop a varied and consecutive series of exciting adventures leading to his foregone conclusion; in fact, that is entirely foreign to his nature and his interest lies in showing the mental reac- tions to the few adventures to which his characters must submit. To have a novel of any consequence there must be a plot to hold together the thought and the action to be portrayed. With Stendhal the plot was a secondary 1 H. Cordier, Comment a vecu Stendhal, Paris, Villarelle, s.d. (1900). 2 For a complete summary of this incident see the Appendix to the Rouge et le Noir, II, 494-552. Stendhal's Novels 27 matter, but not of such little importance as he would have us believe. In the manu- script of Lamiel he has left a few pages which throw a great deal of light on his manner of composing a novel. There are four pages very legibly written and headed: "Art de composer les romans" and dated from Civita Vecchia, 25 mai 40. Je ne fais point de plan. Quand cela m'est arrive, j'ai ete degoute du roman par le mecanisme que voici: je cherchais a. me souvenir en ecrivant le roman des choses auxquelles j'avais pense en ecrivant le plan, et, chez moi, le travail de memoire eteint l'imagination. Ma memoire fort mauvaise est pleine de distractions. La page que j'ecris me donne l'idee de la suivante: ainsi fut faite La Chartreuse. Je pensais a la mort de Sandrino, cela seul me fit entreprendre le roman. Je vis plus tard le joli de la difficulte a vaincre. 3 There are few annotations in the Bucci copy and none deals with the procedure employed in constructing the plot. The existing copies of the Chartreuse de Parme are the most fertile in notes and the following annotation is taken from one of them: "Memento pour moi. — J'improvisais en dictant, je ne savais jamais, en dictant un chapitre, ce qui arriverait dans le chapitre suivant. Souvent j'essayais un effet comme Robert. Le style devait etre pittoresque, mais je ne songeais guere a. ces graces a la Villemain qui, par une allusion qui fait elegance, distraisent (sic) du sujet. 3 nov 1840." 4 It may be quite true that he composed while dictating and put in incidents and characters that were suggested to his mind as the story progressed, but his denial of having a plan to work on is pure affectation. In commenting on Stendhal's method of composing a novel M. Henri Debraye who has carefully studied it says: "En d'autres termes, l'auteur nous annonce qu'il va d'abord ecrire l'essentiel de son roman, ce qui en constitue la trame, et qu'ensuite il ajoutera des observations originales, des broderies ou, comme il aurait dit, des fioritures." 5 "Etablir les epoques, couvrir la toile, puis en relisant, ajouter les souvenirs." 6 In the notes to Une Posi- tion Sociale, merely a projected novel, are to be found several plans for the construc- tion of his plot. 1 He sketches the outlines for his plot and demonstrates that he has a definite aim in mind. In spite of this concern on the part of the author the plots in the novels remain the weakest parts of them. There is no sustaining element that makes them stand out as unusual or unique and they, to a large extent, show Stend- hal's lack of imagination in composing. Without his characters and his background built up little by little as they are his stories would be banal indeed. Let us have a look at the plots of the two novels and see to what narrow confines they can be reduced. In the Rouge et le Noir Julien Sorel, a stolid lumberman's son, is introduced into the "best house" in a provincial town as a tutor; he falls in love with the mistress and she returns his affection; the love affair advances to such aj stage that it is deemed prudent to send Julien to a seminary at Besancon ; there he is I persecuted, but for very indefinite reasons gets the protection of a powerful Parisian, j Julien is transferred to Paris into an aristocratic milieu where he falls in love with the daughter of the family; he wins her and again has to move to another place — • Strasbourg. At this point a new series of events arises but it is near the end of the story. At the moment Julien and Mathilde, the aristocratic and proud daughter, are about to be married madame de Renal hears of the plan, denounces Julien, he returns to Paris, sees Mathilde for a moment and rushes to Verrieres where he shoots madame de Renal. He is next in prison in Besancon, is tried, found guilty, and guillotined. Although somewhat more complicated, the plot of the Chartreuse de Parme is no more difficult to follow. Fa brice de l Danger is first introduced to~court"life at the court of Prince E ugene at IMlilan ; ~Re~becomes a worshiper of Napoleon and during * The above notations are taken from the MS, and the complete text of the Art de com- poser les Romans is to be found in the introduction to Lamiel (Le Divan, 1928) by M. Henri Martineau. 4 Exemplaire Chaper, opposite page 140. 6 H. Debraye, Op. cit., p. 714. 'Ibid., 715. * Stendhal, Une Position sociale, edition H. Debraye, Paris, Kra, 1927, pp. 99-102. 28 Stendhal's Novels the "Cent Jours" he gets an opportunity to slip away to join the "Grande Armee;" after being arrested and released he arrives on the field at Waterloo. He meets dis- appointment at every turn and goes back to Grianta, his home, and Milan; there he is denounced by his brother as a French adherent and is forced to flee to France for safety. Here begins the Gina-Mosca intrigue which governs the rest of the life of Fabrice. Gina goes to Parma and that is the geographical center of the story. Due to court intrigue Fabrice is sent to Naples for four years, returns to Parma, falls in love with an actress, kills her protector accidentally and escapes to Bologna. On account of further court intrigue at Parma Fabrice is tricked into coming back too soon, is put in prison where he carries on a clandestine love affair with Clelia Conti encountered earlier in the story, escapes with the aid of Clelia and Gina, and is finally acquitted. In the meantime and due to Gina's machinations, Clelia is married to another but Fabrice sees her, has a child by her, both the mother and the child die, and Fabrice retires to a monastery to end his few remaining days. Those are the bare outlines on which the novels are constructed. They do not by any means include all of the scenes or all of the intrigue, but are merely the plans which Stendhal evidently had in mind. By the interpolation of many in- cidents and the analysis of his characters he spun them out to some nine hundred pages each. Both plot and action were subsidiary to the expression of ideas and the desire to picture the mind rather than the physical aspects and events of nature. The Rouge efr*2g Noir is based on an incident, a murder committed by a jealous secretary; this then Ts~~th€--ultimate"aim of all of -the action in the novel. Stendhal is enough of a dramatist to realize that action is necessary, but he is unable to overcome his desire to philosophize. The shift of scene from Julien's home to the Renal home is quite well motivated but based on nothing extraordinary. From that point the story-telling slows down until Julien is actually on his way to Besangon and new adventures which befall him in the cafe. Once i n the seminary the action again dies and his removal from there to Paris is weakly motivafed. The arrival of the priests in Verrieres gives Stendhal a chance, not only to bring in more characters who will be met later in the story, but to revive the reader's interest and distract him from so much reasoning. Once in Paris nothing exciting happens until the secret mission on which Julien is sent and which is left forever unexplained in the mind of the reader. Stendhal introduces the typical duel scene which appears in all of his novels. The counterpart of the duel in the first part of the story is the use of the rowdy scene in the cafe at Besan^on and has much better motivation than the duel. The latter is very artificial but serves a very important purpose by giving a somewhat reasonable excuse for spreading the rumor that Julien was the illegitimate son of a noble. The Chartreuse de Parme opens up a field more fertile in action, but Stendhal fails to take advantage of the fact. In spite of his dramatic abilities, he slows down the action with analyses of characters and situations. There are times when he seems more interested in the action than in his characters, but those times are only when some action is necessary to bring on a new set of situations to which he can submit his characters. This is particularly true when Fabrice kills Giletti; the action is very rapid for several pages but then slows down again after Fabrice has gotten to Bologna. A duel is interpolated for no apparent reason unless it be to illustrate his idea that a man should fight at least one duel in his life. Lucien Leuwen and Lamiel have even less action and rapidity in the plot than the above-mentioned novels. Another proof that Stendhal had the frame work of his story in his mind and that his composition was not entirely a matter of momentary inspiration is the fact that he gives away the outcome of his stories too frequently. This appears in such incidents as when Julien sees the scrap of paper in the church with following inscrip- tion: Stendhal's Novels 29 Details de I' execution et des dernier s moments de Louis Jewel, execute a Besangon, le . . . '. Qui a pu mettre ce papier la, dit Julien? Pauvre malheureux, ajouta-t-il avec un soupir, son nom finit comme le mien . . . . et il froissa le papier. 8 Again: ". . . . Julien finit, sans s'en apercevoir, par abandonner la main de madame de Renal. Cette action bouleversa Fame de cette pauvre femme; elle y vit la mani- festation de son sort." 9 When Julien is talking to Fouque and the latter is trying to persuade him to become his partner, the following conversation foretells what will happen: "Cela finira pour toi, dit cet electeur liberal, par une place de gouvernement, qui t'obligera a quelque demarche qui sera vilipendee dans les journaux. C'est par ta honte que j'aurai de tes nouvelles." 10 After the hitrigu&~with Mathilde de La Mole has started there is a very definite prediction ' of the events to follow. This is when Julien learns why she wears mourning "le 30 avril." Marguerite de Navarre took the head of her lover, an ancestor of Mathilde, and carried it in her carriage to the burial place, as Mathilde does at the end of the story. The same sort of thing occurs in the Chartreuse de Parme in such incidents as the following: Fabrice has gotten the passport belonging to a man executed in prison "Et ce malheureux Boulet est mort en prison! Tout cela est de sinistre augure; le destin me conduira en prison." 11 Another noteworthy example is the prophecy of the abbe Blanes: " — Eh bien! ce fut un rare bonheur, car, averti par ma voix, ton ame peut se preparer a une autre prison bien autrement dure, bien plus terrible! Probablement tu n'en sortiras que par un crime, mais, grace au ciel, ce crime ne sera pas commis par toi. Ne tombe jamais dans le crime avec quelque violence que tu sois rente; je crois voir qu'il sera question de tuer un innocent, qui, sans le savoir, usurpe tes droits; si tu resistes a. la violente tentation qui semblera justifiee par les lois de l'honneur, ta vie sera tres-heureuse aux yeux des hommes . . . . et raisonablement heureuse aux yeux du sage, ajouta-t-il apres un instant de reflexion; tu mourras comme moi, mon fils, assis sur un siege de bois; loin de tout luxe, et detrompe du luxe, et comme moi n'ayant a. te faire aucun reproche grave." 12 Stendhal changes the scene and hastens things when he has exhausted the possibilities of the preceding one or needs some strategic point to hold his plot together. When the action offers no possibility or at least no good opening for description of character it is not of much interest to Stendhal. He jumps over time with impunity. Fabrice goes to Romagnon in France, is called back after several years, and is told that he is to be sent to Naples: "II sera temps d'avoir de l'esprit quand tu seras eveque. Fabrice debuta a Naples avec une voiture modeste et quatre domestiques . . . The conversation is broken off abruptly, as can be noticed, and the time and place are suddenly changed. The same thing happens in the Rouge et le Noir when some- thing drastic is needed to concentrate Julien's interest in Mathilde. Stendhal slips in the following sentence as a separate paragraph and as a surprise to the reader who is unprepared for it: "Elle se trouva enceinte et l'apprit avec joie a Julien." 1 * The episode of the battle of Waterloo, the killing of Giletti, Fabrice's hair- breadth escape to Bologna, and the final escape from the "tour Farnese" offer action 8 Rouge et le Noir, I, 45. 9 Ibid., I, 137-138. ™Ibid„ I, 366. 11 Chartreuse de Parme, I, 112-113. 33 Ibid., I, 280-281. 18 Ibid., I, 216. 14 Rouge et le Noir, II, 349. 30 Stendhal's Novels and suspense each in itself. The Rouge et le Noir can offer only one part in which there is any real and powerful dramatic action, and that is all in the last hundred or more pages which contain the shooting scene, the trial, and finally the gruesome spectacle of Mathilde caressing the severed, iiead of her lover. What conclusions regarding hisjistyje^ran we draw from the above? In the first place it is evident _th_at Stendhal had some dramatic instinct, romantic in that he has no regard for the famous unities, but classical in that action tends to be reduced to a minimum on through the mouths of the characters rather than through their actions; the characters are dramatic and emotional but too introspective and loquacious to succeed on the stage. Stendhal is too interested in them to leave any doubt about them in . the mind of the spectator; this leads to infinite detail that brings upon an audience what Stendhal himself strove to overcome: ennui. No one in a period when people were brought up on the novels of Walter Scott and imitations of these novels, stories of Mrs. Radcliffe and her host of imitators in France where the Gothic novel really got its start in the eighteenth century, the novels of Dumas pere and an endless number of melodramas could be interested in the slow-moving and psychological analyses of Stendhal in the style of Corneille. A return to religious principles with de Maistre, Chateaubriand, the horrors of '93, the brilliance of the Empire, the delirium of warfare and governmental instability had wrought such havoc with the Frenchman's serenity and superiority, that he was ready to call for the soul-rending poetry of a Lamartine or the horrors of a melodrama. Stendhal, with his skillful seduction and sensual love, patience and hatred for the multitude, the intellectual snob, had no place in the hearts of the people. The foregoing observations lead to the statement that Stendhal carries on the interest in his story by impressions and sensations, by examining all of the impressions and sensations his characters undergo, not with the heart ruling the mind but with the mind as an isolated standard of criticism. He analyzes his characters as mental creations, as beings removed from the stream of every-day life yet undergoing the experiences of life as he underwent them in his own mind, a syllogistic existence if such a phrase is permissible. As his mind works, so does the pen of Stendhal. As he analyzes his characters so is his mind analytic. To be analytic it must be clear, and hence his pursuit of clarte. ~The gradual conquering of the easy-going and quiet Madame de Renal is quite different from that of the fiery Mathilde de la Mole. Julien, who is quite un- sophisticated, approaches both by instinct instead of being armed with experience. The most minute reflections and thoughts of Juhjsn are pictured in simple language and show him to be not very adroit or adept in his manner. He wavers, lacks ability to make a rapid decision; and we become very impatient with him; but when he determines upon a. plan of action he marches straight to his goal; the action quickens, the language takes on renewed life and vigor, and we feel that Stendhal is experiencing the same feverish haste. Once the goal is reached, the reaction sets in and with it a slowing down of action and expression, but there is always the continuous under- current of ideas. There is a mysterious force dinning in his ears to go on, and Stendhal cannot resist it. He goes on writing and inventing as fast as his abilities will permit. He had doggedness of persistence; in spite of everything Julien must die, Fabrice is to remain in prison, Lamiel is to discover life and love. He refuses to realize that he is unpopular and continues his jibes at the very people whose favor he is secretly court- ing. He becomes bitter when they refuse to buy his works and attacks everything around him; but this bitterness is the sting which goads him on to higher things. He would like to be a self-sufficient person, but the lure of company and of people is too strong to resist. ~" The urge, to continue .is within him, as it is in Julien Sorel and Fabrice del 'TDongo. They represent moral forces trying to overcome the exigencies of a hypo- critical_jworld nT~which ~they believe themselves "to~b"e masters of fate rather than mere ^creatures buffered by it at will. They are endowed with the mind of an im- aginary person — Stendhal as he would like to have been. Would he have had the Stendhal's Novels 31 courage of his convictions to force his own death as did Julie n or to retire from the world like Fabrice? He held on to his life until the last~minute7~aiways-- finding sofiae-jexcuse 15 and constantly seeking new friendships and acquaintances to make his existence bearable. Stendhal is conscious of a stream of ideas and thoughts running through his mind and that is what urges him on. He wants to appear rational and logical, but from the point of view of common sense he appears to be the most irrational and illogical person, both in mind and in action. Had he lived in a comparatively inde- pendent position his attitude might have seemed more reasonable, but chance played him too many base tricks and forced him into too many embarrassing situations. For this reason, the unfavorable judgment of him by the average person is unjust. But what does this have in common with his style? If style means merely a matter of juggling words and phrases, it has little to do with his style; but without thoughts and ideas, words and phrases mean very little. Out of Stendhal's mind comes a series of ideas A, B, and C, one not neces- sarily depending on the other but each one logically leading up to the other through a constant flow of thought. Each idea suggests an infinite number of illustrations and details which come forth in a jumble; this mass he tries to assimilate in as short a space as possible and as rapidly as possible, causing him to forget the impression to be made on the reader: the result is sometimes long unwieldy sentences or short sentences with seemingly little connection, and paragraphs of three or four pages in length. This may be illustrated by the author's description of Fabrice's four years in Naples. He has not time to express nor has he any interest in what he was doing there, but still a number of things come to his mind that it might be well to mention. "C'est de petits details de cour aussi insignifiants que celui que nous venons de raconter qu'il faudrait remplir l'histoire des quatre annees qui suivirent. Chaque printemps, la marquise venait avec ses filles passer deux mois au palais Sanseverina ou a. la terre de Sacca, aux bords du P6; il y avait des moments bien doux, et Ton parlait de Fabrice; mais le comte ne voulut jamais lui permettre une seule visite a Parme. La duchesse et le ministre eurent bien a reparer quelques etourderies, mais en general Fabrice suivait assez sagement la ligne de conduite qu'on lui avait indiquee: un grand seigneur qui etudie la theologie et qui ne compte point absolument sur sa vertu pour faire son avancement. A Naples, il s'etait pris un gout tres-vif pour l'etude de l'antiquite, if faisait des fouilles; cette passion avait presque remplace celle des chevaux. II avait vendu ses chevaux anglais pour continuer des fouilles a Misene, ou il avait trouve un buste de Tibere, jeune encore, qui avait pris rang parmi les plus beaux restes de l'antiquite. La decouverte de ce buste fut presque le plaisir le plus vif qu'il eut rencontre a Naples. II avait 1'ame trop haute pour cher- cher a. imiter les autres jeunes gens, et, par exemple, pour vouloir jouer avec un certain serieux le role d'amoureux. Sans doute il ne manquait point de maitresses, mais elles n'etaient pour lui d'aucune consequence, et, malgre son age, on pouvait dire de lui qu'il ne connaissait point l'amour; il n'en etait que plus aime. Rien ne l'em- pechait d'agir avec le plus beau sang-froid, car pour lui une femme jeune et jolie etait toujours l'egale d'une autre femme jeune et jolie; seulement la derniere connue lui semblait la plus piquante. Une des dames les plus admirees a. Naples avait fait des folies en son honneur pendant la derniere annee de son sejour, ce qui d'abord l'avait amuse, et avait fini par l'exceder d'ennui, tellement qu'un des bonheurs de son depart fut d'etre delivre des attentions de la charmante duchesse d'A . . . . Ce fut en 1821, qu'ayant subi passablement tous ses examens, son directeur d'etudes ou gouverneur eut une croix et un cadeau, et lui partit pour voir enfin cette ville de Parme, a laquelle il songeait souvent. II etait Monsignore, et il avait quatre chevaux a. sa voiture; a. la poste avant Parme, il n'en prit que deux, et dans la ville fit arreter devant 1'eglise de Saint- Jean. La. se trouvait le riche tombeau de l'archeveque Ascagne del Dongo, son arriere-grand-oncle, l'auteur de la Genealogie Latine. II pria aupres 15 H. Cordier, Op. cit. 32 Stendhal's Novels du tombeau, puis arriva a pied au palais de la duchesse qui ne l'attendait que quelques jours plus tard. Elle avait grand monde dans son salon, bientot on la laissa seule." 10 The foregoing paragraph requires almost three pages of the text and deals with archeology, mistresses, theology, a trip from Naples to Parma, a church, and the salon of the duchesse de Sanseverina. It is in a maze such as this that Stendhal is rushing first here and then there, picking his way out so that the ultimate aim and idea are lost sight of for the moment. This is the place where reality and reason step in and tear up his trend of thought. Explaining psychological reactions to realities in a clear and logical way, trying to make reality fit in the mould of his rational categories is a task requiring no mean ability. According to their background and their mental reactions Stendhal's characters can be ranged in fairly regular categories. Likewise their actions can be put in cate- gories. JulieO-and Fabrice are both destined to an untimely death brought on by their love affairs; it is the weak and undetermined woman that wins both of them and is the cause of their death. Each is pursued by two women, one of whom is meek and fearful and the other bold and temperamental. There is not only a similar- ity in persons~buY also in" events. These categories are perhaps not mere chance coin- cidences but are put in purposely in an attempt to show how persons of different classes and milieux would react to the same stimuli. It is this type of exposition which attracts Stendhal and forms the psychological force that impels him onward, the desire for examination and experimentation. What set of forces does he use? In the Rouge et le Noir Julien is to shoot madame de Renal but he cannot accomplish without madame de Fervaques; there he has a laboratory in which to work and show three distinct manners of seduction and explain them. That is all very reasonable, but then comes the idea of class distinc- tions- which must be overcome; this threatens to disrupt the whole story but the conventional use of the duel ultimately eliminates that difficulty. It is into such tight places that "logic" sometimes leads Stendhal, but he manages to manoeuvre out of them without appearing too artificial. Similar situations are apparent in the Chartreuse de Parme. This^ time it is a hero of high birth and a heroine from the lower stratum, though not as low as that of Julien. Fabrice avoids an importunate love by ignoring it. The plot is somewhat more complicated, but the ends attained are quite similar. Stendhal is not a genius endowed with an inventive imagination. He cannot devise a long series of incidents interesting enough to hold the reader's attention, but he is a master at presenting the mind in both its normal and its abnormal func- tioning. He does not live the active life of his characters, but he does live in their brains. From experience he seems to realize that fact, which gives him an inferiority complex. The desire for attention and the will to succeed are, in all probability, the psychological force that is behind him driving him always onward, and this helps to explain the maze of events and the language into which he falls. 18 Chartreuse de Parme, I, 228-230. VI. INDIVIDUALITY AND PERSONALITY IN STYLE A. LYRICISM AND NATURE Stendhal, a failure as a poet and a scoffer at verse as a medium of expres- sion, perhaps because of his own deficiency and ability, was not entirely devoid of lyric sentiments and qualities. 1 Not a poet at heart and not intentionally attempting to invade the realms of lyricism, he sometimes rises to heights of lyric expression unexpected in a person of his temperament. If one examines the Rouge et le Noir he will find a few such passages. They are rare but well worth noting as showing a temporary and, in each case, a minor and unconscious turn of his character. * ~"~ "Julien, debout sur un grand rocher, regardait le ciel embrase par un soleil d'aout. Les cigales chantaient dans les champs au-dessous du rocher; quand elles se taisaient tout etait silence autour de lui. II voyait a. ses pieds vingt lieues du pays. Quelque epervier parti des grandes roches au-dessus de sa tete etait apergu par lui, de temps a autre decrivant ses cercles immenses. L'oeil de Julien suivait machinalement 1'oiseau de proie. Les mouvements tranquilles et puissants le frap- paient; il enviait cette force, il enviait cet isolement." 2 Perhaps this is not nature such as Rousseau saw it and would describe it, but it certainly has something in common with Byron's Manfred and with Lamartine as do the following lines: "Perdu dans une reverie vague et douce, . . . . il ecoutait a demi le mouvement des feuilles du tilleul agitees par ce leger vent de la nuit, et les chiens du moulin du Doubs qui aboyaient dans le lointain." 3 "Sans y songer il vit s'etendre, 1'un apres l'autre, tous les rayons du crepuscule. Au milieu de cette obscurite immense, son ame s'egarait dans la contemplation de ce qu'il imaginait rencontrer un jour a Paris." 4 Similar types of passages may be found in the Chartreuse de Parme. In that novel, as in the Rouge et le Noir, the most j>oetic mparts are those in which he is insp ired by nature, as the surroundings of the castle of Grianta at the time when the news of Napoleon's return to France is received: Fabrice is watching the lake and when he hears the news he bursts into tears and rhapsodies about an eagle flying overhead in a passage similar to the one just quoted in which Julien is watch- ing a hawk; he decides to leave and offer his feeble aid to Napoleon out of gratitude for saving Italy from the debasement of the Austrians. The last part of the passage is a liberal translation of some verses of Monti, but to do that required an uncommon ability. 5 It is rather difficult to pick out one long passage that shows a sustained poetic inspiration. Stendhal, in his desire to be clear, usually spoils what promises to be a continuous and really superb passage by inserting many details which the poet would pass over in his exultation. Such is the passage in the Chartreuse de Parme in which Gina returns to Grianta and sees again with her nephew the places of "les beaux jours de sa jeunesse." "La comtesse se mit a. revoir, avec Fabrice, tous ces lieux enchanteurs voisins de Grianta, et si celebres par les voyageurs: la villa Melzi de l'autre cote du lac, vis-a-vis le chateau, et qui lui sert de point de vue; au-dessus le bois sacre des Sjondrata, et le hardi promontoire qui separe les deux branches du lac, celle de Come, si volup- tueuse, et celle qui court vers Lecco, pleine de severite: aspects sublimes et gracieux, que le site le plus renomme du monde, la baie de Naples, egale, mais ne surpasse point. Cetait avec ravissement que la comtesse retrouvait les souvenirs de sa premiere jeunesse et les comparait a. ses sensations actuelles. Le lac de Come, se disait-elle, 1 See P. Arbelet, Stendhal au Pays des Comediennes, Grenoble, B. Arthand, s.d. (1934). 2 Rouge et le Noir, I, 111-112. s Ibid., I, 117. *lbid„ I, 127. 5 Chartreuse de Parme, I, 50. 34 Stendhal's Novels n'est point environne, comme le lac de Geneve, de grandes pieces de terre bien closes et cultivees selon les meilleures methodes, choses qui rappellent l'argent et la specula- tion. Ici de tous cotes je vois les collines d'inegales hauteurs plantes par le hasard, et que la main de l'homme n'a point encore gates et forces a rendre du revenu. Au milieu de ces collines aux formes admirables et se precipitant vers le lac par des pentes si singulieres, je puis garder toutes les illusions des descriptions du Tasse et de l'Arioste. Tout est noble et tendre, tout parle d'amour, rien ne rappellent les laideurs de la civilisation. Les villages situes a mi-cote sont caches par de grands arbres, et au-dessus des sommets des arbres s'eleve l'architecture charmante de leurs jolis clochers. Si quelque petit champ de cinquante pas de large vient interrompre de temps a autre les bouquets de chataigniers et de cerisiers sauvages, l'oeil satisfait y voit croitre des plantes plus vigoureuses et plus heureuses la qu'ailleurs. Par dela ces collines, dont le faite offre des ermitages qu'on voudrait tous habiter, l'oeil etonne apercoit les pics des Alpes, toujours couverts de neige, et leur austerite severe lui rappelle des malheurs de la vie ce qu'il en faut pour accroitre la volupte presente. L'imagination est touchee par le son lointain de la cloche de quelque petit village cache sous les arbres: ces sons portes sur les eaux qui les adoucissent prennent une teinte de douce melancolie et de resignation, et semblent dire a l'homme: La vie s'enfuit, ne te montre done point si difficile envers le bonheur qui se presente, hate-toi de jouir. Le langage des ces lieux ravissants, et qui n'ont point de pareils au monde, rendit a la comtesse son coeur de seize ans. II y eut une tempete .... On rencontra une seconde tempete; elles sont terri- bles et imprevues sur ce beau lac: des rafales de vent sortent a l'improviste des deux gorges de montagnes placees dans des directions opposees et luttent sur les eaux. La comtesse voulut debarquer au milieu de l'ouragan et des coups de tonnerre; elle pretendait que, placee sur un rocher isole au milieu du lac, et grand comme une petite chambre, elle aurait un spectacle singulier; elle se verrait assiegee de toutes parts par des vagues furieuses; . . . ." 6 "Voluptueuse," "pleine de severite," "aspects sublimes et gracieux," "leur austerite severe lui rappelle les malheurs de la vie" recall to mind Les Meditations of Lamartine. "Le son lointain de la cloche de quelque petit village" is perhaps a reminiscence of Gray or Lamartine. Although the spirit of the true romantic poet is lacking in Stendhal, it would seem that he had flashes of lyric genius. These flashes were not given an opportunity to develop and were perhaps not even recognized by him. His love of clarity and logic leaves nothing to the imagination of the reader for fear of misinterpretation, and the feverish speed at which he wrote without contemplation almost completely swamped the poetic inclinations that appeared from time to time. Without this inclination which is pushed into the background, some of the best scenes would lack the force and power which they have. No other than a person with much sentimentality — and this word is used in no derogatory sense — could have imagined the anxieties of Julien in prison and portrayed them so forcefully, or could have brought out the futility of love and even life as Stendhal saw it personified in Julien Sorel and Fabrice del Dongo. It was an unequal struggle for existence against which Stendhal was always fighting, although he was in many cases the cause of his own troubles. If not actually expressed in a lyrical way there was at least a gigantic struggle, which was going on in his mind and which he portrayed, that raised him above the general type of his contemporaries. It.was against this fluidity of words and phrases to cover up a lack of real feeling and experience that Stendhal revolted; it is because of this lack of fluidity of words that Stendhal never succeeded in becoming a true lyric poet of the romantic school. Had he had the divine gift of verse making per- haps he would have rivaled Vigny in seriousness and expression. It seems evident to me that he would have tended towards the pessimistic attitude and tried to celebrate the "good old times." He lacked the superficial depth of melancholy to ever pro- duce a volume of Meditations Poetiques. This is the relationship he has with Lamartine and Vigny; an avowed hater of Catholicism and an aristocrat it is natural 6 Chartreuse de Parme, I, 42-45. Stendhal's Novels 35 that he should despise the religious sentimentality of Chateaubriand and revolt against DeMaistre. To a man who was a firm believer in ideology — ideas developed by sensual induction — living in an age of religious sentimentality, everything must have appeared hypocritical; and it was the struggle of the poet in him to rise above his surroundings and defend himself that gave to Stendhal the power that, in reading his novels, one feels must have been in the man. As previously noted most of the lyric passages drew their inspiration from nature. Nature__as_ a_Kast__and all absorbing force, nature representing the greatness of God 3n