The Red and the Black is a psychological historical novel that accounts for the attempts of a regional young man to grow socially beyond his humble upbringing with a blend of skill, hard work, deception, and hypocrisy. He ultimately allows his passions to betray him. The novel has a two-fold literary purpose, being both a psychological portrait of the romantic protagonist, Julien Sorel, and an analytic, sociological satire of the French social order under the Bourbon Restoration.

The story is set in the later years of the Bourbon Restoration and the 1830 July Revolution that launched the Kingdom of the French. Sorel is a sensitive and wise young man who, after seeing no way to progress in the military following Napoleon's fall, attempts to make his place in the church.

This novel is a lot more than a coming of age story. It is remarkably accurate in psychological factors and a valuable record of the history and politics of post-Revolution France. The title refers to both the uncertainties in Sorel's character and the clashing choice he is faced with in his pursuit for success: the army denoted by red or the church by black.