Chapter summary
The Marquis de La Mole, furious and tormented by the idea that his daughter will be called Madame Sorel and will not be a duchess, heaps insults on Julien Sorel, and Julien answers with the feigned humility of Tartuffe, the hypocrite of Molière's comedy. Julien writes a suicide note, offers the marquis the job of killing him, and goes to the garden, where he discovers that he loves life and must keep it for his son. The next morning he confesses everything to the Abbé Pirard, to whom he lays out three possible ways out: death, a duel, or exile. Meanwhile Mathilde de La Mole, who saw the note, swears to her father that she will publicly be the widow Sorel, sends Julien to Villequier out of prudence, and rejects all plans for a clandestine birth. Pirard, who at this time becomes Mathilde's most useful ally, convinces the marquis that only a public marriage is prudent. In a moment of tenderness the marquis sends his daughter a title with ten thousand livres a year for Julien, but his soul still cannot get used to giving up the title of duchess for his daughter.
Analysis
Julien writes the suicide note and offers the marquis the job of killing him because the insults strike at the only thing he has, the honor of a man who came from below. In the garden he discovers that he loves life and must keep it for his son. Pirard, Mathilde's most useful ally, convinces the marquis that only a public marriage is prudent.
Chapter epigraph, from Mirabeau: Cutting this diamond, an unskilled jeweler erased some of its liveliest sparks. In the Middle Ages, or rather still in the time of Richelieu, the Frenchman had willpower. MIRABEAU
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