Who He Is
Parisian nobleman, father of Mathilde de La Mole and Norbert, in whose mansion Julien Sorel lives in Book II as a secretary. The ancestor who gives the family its name is Boniface de La Mole, beheaded in 1574 (see the severed head).
Trajectory
In Chapter 19 of Book I, before he even appears, he is already a recipient of letters: after the king's visit, a subject from Verrières writes to him asking for a job on the strength of his loyalty.
Cholin, a subject from Verrières, writes to the Marquis de La Mole asking for a post on the strength of his loyalty, not his merit:
I beg the lord marquis for the lottery office in Verrières, which will surely be vacant one way or another, since its holder is very ill and, moreover, votes badly in the elections, etc.
His lawsuit against Abbé de Frilair over an inheritance of land runs in parallel, a case in which Abbé Pirard had defended him for years. It is Pirard, now in Paris in the service of the marquis, who suggests Julien as secretary. The five hundred francs that Julien attributed to Madame de Rênal in fact came from the marquis.
In Chapter 1 of Book II, Pirard describes the family to Julien: the marquis pays well and on a whim, and the son is described thus.
Ch. I. Abbé Pirard describing the La Mole family:
He has two sons, a daughter, and a son of nineteen, elegant beyond compare, an eccentric who never knows at noon what he will do at two o'clock.
The family name is engraved in black marble on the door of the mansion, and Julien reads fear in it.
Such ostentation displeased Julien. They are so afraid of the Jacobins! They see a Robespierre and his cart behind every hedge; they are always joking about everything, and they display their house in this way so that the rabble will recognize it in case of riot, and plunder it.
He receives Julien, orders twenty-two shirts made ("Here is the first quarter of your salary"), and grows discouraged ("All this experience is wasted time") when Julien writes "isso" with a single s. According to Pirard, the marquis does not like scribblers.
Ch. IV. The hosts of the La Mole palace:
At bottom, the hosts felt a great deal of pride and a great deal of boredom; they were accustomed to malicious gossip to amuse themselves, so that they could hope for true friends.
In Chapter 7 of Book II, gout keeps the marquis at home, and Julien becomes his exclusive company. In the evening, in a blue suit, Julien is treated as the younger brother of the Comte de Chaulnes, and in the morning, in a black suit, he goes back to being the secretary.
If one can become attached to a fine cocker spaniel, thought the marquis, why am I so ashamed of becoming attached to this little priest? He is original. I treat him like a son. Well then! Where is the impropriety?
At the ball, Mathilde compares Julien to her father.
Ch. IX. Mathilde watching Julien at the ball:
He never talks about himself! He is not like Caylus or Croisenois. This Sorel looks a little like my father perfectly imitating Napoleon at a ball.
In Chapter 17 of Book II, during the sword scene, Julien hesitates when he remembers the marquis, his benefactor. In Chapters XXI to XXIII, the marquis recruits Julien to carry a conspiratorial note to a duke, and at the meeting he himself proposes a private army of noblemen.
I will take you to a salon where twelve people will be gathered; you will write down what each one says.
Let each of us sacrifice a fifth of his income to form this small devoted troop of five hundred men per department.
The secret note that the marquis drafted, based on the long twenty-six-page minutes written by Julien, was not ready until a quarter to five.
In Chapter 32 of Book II, Mathilde writes him an eight-page letter about her pregnancy. In Chapter 33 of Book II, he reacts with the fury of a man who sees ruined the dream of ten years of seeing his daughter a duchess, and in Chapter 34 of Book II he gives way in stages: he grants land and then gives Julien a commission and a name.
Refrain from further follies; here is a lieutenant's commission in the hussars for the gentleman cavalier Julien Sorel de La Vernaye. [...] Let him depart within the next twenty-four hours to present himself at Strasbourg, where his regiment is stationed.
It is to him that the letter from Madame de Rênal arrives, and after it he disappears.
Poor and ambitious, it was with the help of the most consummate hypocrisy and through the seduction of a weak and unhappy woman that this man tried to attain a position and become someone.
Themes Embodied
The standard themes that run through him are Social class, Politics, and Power.
The marquis gives way to Julien always through a change of clothes or of name: the blue suit of the evening and the black of the morning, the mission in which Julien carries the conspiracy by heart without being asked his opinion, and finally the commission with the name La Vernaye. At none of these steps does Julien enter the house as Sorel.
Relationships
- Mathilde de La Mole: his daughter, whose eight-page letter leads him to give way.
- Julien Sorel: the secretary, later Lieutenant Julien Sorel de La Vernaye.
- Abbé Pirard: the abbé who defended him in the lawsuit and who recommends Julien to him.
- Abbé de Frilair: the opposing party in the inheritance lawsuit.
- Madame de Rênal: the author of the letter that reaches him on the eve of the wedding.