The Red and the Black tells the rise and fall of Julien Sorel, the son of a carpenter from Verrières who tries to get ahead in France in 1830 through a career in the Church, becomes secretary to a marquis in Paris, is about to marry his daughter, and ends up condemned to death for having shot the woman he loved most.
In Book One, Monsieur de Rênal, mayor of Verrières, hires Julien as tutor to his children so as not to fall behind his rival Valenod. Julien conquers Madame de Rênal first through calculation and then through love. An anonymous letter denounces the affair to her husband, and when the gossip spreads, Abbé Chélan demands that he leave for the seminary at Besançon or for the house of his friend Fouqué. At the seminary, Julien discovers that merit attracts enemies, and Abbé Pirard protects him.
In Book Two, on Pirard's recommendation, Julien goes to Paris as secretary to the Marquis de La Mole. Mathilde, the marquis's bored daughter, decides to love him. After many comings and goings of pride, she becomes pregnant, and the marquis ends up giving Julien lands, the name Chevalier de La Vernaye, and a lieutenant's commission in the hussars.
Before the marriage can take place, the marquis receives a letter from Madame de Rênal that accuses Julien of hypocrisy and seduction. Julien goes to Verrières, buys pistols, and shoots her during Mass. She survives, but he is tried in Besançon, condemned, and executed. Mathilde buries his head with her own hands, and Madame de Rênal dies three days later.