Reading Order
Charterhouse of ParmaThe Charterhouse of Parma Reading Order
The Charterhouse of Parma (La Chartreuse de Parme, 1839) by Stendhal is the most exhilarating novel in the French language — written in fifty-two days when Stendhal was fifty-six, and received by Balzac (who reviewed it at length in the Revue Parisienne) as the greatest French novel of the century, a 'Machiavellian epic' that surpassed even his own work. The novel follows Fabrizio del Dongo, a young Italian nobleman of the Napoleonic generation, through his adventures at Waterloo (the most famous battle scene in literature — seen from the perspective of a young man who cannot figure out what is happening and whether he is participating in an actual battle), his love affairs in Italy, his imprisonment in the tower of the Farnese citadel (where he falls in love with his jailer's daughter Clélia), and his eventual retirement to the Charterhouse of Parma. The novel is defined by its quality of happiness — the sense that even in danger, even in prison, even in political intrigue, the characters experience a kind of generous fullness of life that is Stendhal's greatest achievement. Fabrizio is the counter-Julien: where Julien Sorel is cold, calculating, and consumed by social ambition, Fabrizio is warm, impulsive, and incapable of calculation; he stumbles through life carried by a kind of divine fortune that the novel treats as the gift of a generous nature. The political world of the novel — the small Italian court of Parma, with its minister Mosca, its duchess Sanseverina, and its tyrannical prince — is a miniature Shakespearean stage on which Stendhal's most Shakespearean characters play out their intrigues.
Where to start
The Charterhouse of Parma (1839) — the Penguin Classics edition translated by Margaret Mauldon (2006) is the best modern English translation; the Modern Library edition translated by Richard Howard is also excellent. Balzac's review (available in English translation) is the best single piece of criticism ever written about the novel and is worth reading alongside it.
Complete Charterhouse of Parma Book List
- 1Buy
The Charterhouse of Parma (Penguin Classics)
Stendhal (trans. Margaret Mauldon)·2006·The best modern English translation — Mauldon captures the speed, comedy, and generosity of Stendhal's prose; the Oxford introduction is excellent on the fifty-two day composition and the relationship to Balzac's review. - 2Buy
The Red and the Black
Stendhal·1830·The companion novel — reading The Red and the Black alongside The Charterhouse gives the full picture of Stendhal's art; the contrast between Julien's cold calculation and Fabrizio's warm impulsiveness shows the range of Stendhal's sympathies; both are essential for the full Stendhalian experience. - 3Buy
On Love
Stendhal·1822·Stendhal's analytical essay on the psychology of love — the theory of crystallization is enacted in Fabrizio's love for Clélia as much as in Julien's for Mme de Rênal; essential reading alongside both novels. - 4Buy
Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare·1597·The Shakespearean play that Stendhal most loved and that most directly informs The Charterhouse — the imprisonment scenes, the love across an impossible barrier, and the tragic conclusion all show Stendhal's debt to Shakespeare; reading Romeo and Juliet alongside the prison chapters illuminates both. - 5Buy
Cousin Bette
Honoré de Balzac·1846·The Balzac novel that shows what Balzac himself was doing while he was writing that Stendhal had surpassed him — reading Cousin Bette alongside The Charterhouse is the best way to understand what Balzac meant when he said Stendhal had done things he could not do; the contrast between Balzacian density and Stendhalian speed is one of the most instructive in French literature.
Charterhouse of Parma — Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Charterhouse of Parma about?
The Charterhouse of Parma (1839) by Stendhal follows Fabrizio del Dongo, a young Italian nobleman of the Napoleonic generation, through his adventures at Waterloo (seen from a ground-level perspective that is the most famous battle scene in literature), his love affairs in Italy, and his imprisonment in the tower of the Farnese citadel — where he falls in love with his jailer's daughter Clélia. The novel is set in the miniature Italian court of Parma, with the Minister Mosca and the Duchess Sanseverina as its central political figures. The novel is defined by its quality of generous happiness — even danger and imprisonment are experienced as richly lived.
Why did Balzac call The Charterhouse of Parma a masterpiece?
Honoré de Balzac published a long review of The Charterhouse of Parma in 1840, calling it the greatest French novel of the century and saying that it did things he himself could not do — particularly the battlefield at Waterloo, seen through Fabrizio's bewildered eyes, which Balzac called the finest battle scene in literature. Balzac was generous about The Charterhouse precisely because he recognized in it a mode of fiction different from his own: where Balzac's novels are dense with social documentation and commercial detail, Stendhal's Charterhouse moves with a speed and lightness that Balzac envied. The review is one of the most important pieces of literary criticism of the nineteenth century and transformed Stendhal's reputation.
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