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Yet he is often only a would-be egoist; his heart, as he recognizes (11:42), is easily touched. Despite his hard for Mme. de Renal, principles, he is capable of love for her children, for Abbe Pirard, for his devoted friend Fouque, even for a time and in his way for Mathilde. Mme. de Renal is not d…

As these samples show, Stendhal the narrator is rarely absent for long. He is glad to tell us what he thinks and what we should think about many subjects: the weaknesses of the French, notably the bourgeoisie, provincials and Parisians alike; the desiccating oppressiveness of the Restoration; and, …

although disdainful of the meretricious vices he found in most novels, he was at the same time extremely diffident about the merits of his own.