Armance
by Stendhal
Stendhal's first novel is a romantic novel set during the Bourbon Restoration and published anonymously in 1827. Octave de Malivert, a quiet but bright young man who barely leaves the Ecole Polytechnic School, is attracted to Armans Zohilov, who shares his feelings. The novel tells the story of how a series of misunderstandings set lovers Armans and Octave apart. Moreover, some clues suggest that Octave became impotent as a result of a serious accident. Octave experiences a deep inner turmoil; he himself shows the pain of the romantics of the century. When the couple finally marries, the rival's slander convinces Octave that Armans only marries out of selfishness. André Gide considered this novel the best of Stendhal's novels and was grateful for creating a helpless lover, even if he condemned him for escaping the fate of this love: "I cannot convince myself that Armans will suit him, as Stendhal has drawn for us. ' In Umberto Eco's novel Prague Cemetery, Simone Simonini's protagonist tells another character, Juliana Glinka, that she will suffer the same fate as Stendhal's Octave de Malivert, and that readers have long speculated and therefore cannot follow his offer to her.
