The Red and the Black

The Red and the Black is set in a small village near the French Alps in 1828, at the height of the royalist restoration. Here we meet an impoverished 19-year old, Julien Sorel. Because he has been taught perfect Latin by the town priest, the town mayor offers him the position of tutor to the mayor’s sons. Complications arise when the mayor’s beautiful wife becomes infatuated with Julien’s charm–but Julien views her only as a member of the hated aristocracy and begins planning to take advantage of her affections to get revenge.