The wasted life of Julien Sorel

Editor/translator Bruce Robbins makes a valiant attempt to defend Julien Sorel in his intro to the edition (ebook) I read of Stendahl's The Red and the Black (1830), but, sorry, he misses the point, can't see the forest for the proverbial trees. Yes, Julien is a social climber whose ambition is to rise above the confines of his class (provincial son of a carpenter/sawmill owner) - a metaphor Stendahl develops thru Julien's several uses of a ladder to access the bedroom window of his two mistresses. So, sure, he is potentially a liberal, progressive, or even radical, unwilling to be confined by the conventions and restrictions of his birth and class. But does he have even a moment of thinking about anyone but himself? Does he take any political, social, or military action to break down of social and class barriers prevalent in France (and Europe) post Revolution? He has vague thoughts about the glories of Napoleon, who for a time broke through class barriers and established a short-lived republic in France, but he sees Napoleon's army as a glory of the past, a missed opportunity. He imagines he would have been heroic (much as our liar-in-chief opined that he would have given chase to the school shooter, had he only been present!), but instead does nothing but seduce two women of "higher" social class in his attempt to gain wealth and a title. He even takes part in a right-wing conspiracy with some vague goals of restoring a monarch (as w/ much of Stendahl, some of the plot details are deliberately vague and not really worth parsing - it's not about the details, it's about the character). Robbins rightly notes the Oedipal aspect of Julien's struggles - hatred of father and brother, complete absence of even the mention of a mother, attachment to an older, nurturing, motherly woman - and he also notes the "triangulation" of Julien's love relationships, the beloved becomes more valuable and wanted only when she (or he) is pursed by a third party, a theory developed at great length by one of my former professors, Rene Girard. All true, but that misses the point that Julien is a worthless character, without a thought for others, without commitment to any ideals, aspiring to rise in the church despite complete lack or interest in faith or morals. Julien could be a force for advancing the "careers open to the talented." Instead, he buys into the ideology and structure of a class system, so long as he can rise within that structure. Julien, greatly talented and gifted with looks and charm, is a study in a wasted life.