小说描述了主人公于连个人奋斗的过程和*终的失败,尤其是他的两次爱情经历。
维里埃是法国弗朗什一孔泰省的一个漂亮的城市。故事就从这里开始。野心家于连是当地一个农民的儿子。虽然他在心里崇拜拿破仑,但是在当时王朝复辟的社会中,他认为从事神职是平民惟一的成才之路,子是便决心跻身教会。他刻苦努力,虽然他的父亲老索莱尔千方百计地阻挠、折磨他,但凭着膨胀的野心和极好的记忆力,他获得了渊博的知识和非凡的才能。维里埃的市长德·莱纳先生得知了他的才智,便聘请他作孩子们的家庭教师。在此期间,他迷上了市长的妻子德·莱纳夫人,并利用她的单纯无知引诱她。当他们两人沉迷于狂热的爱情中时,嫉妒的女仆把秘密透露了出去,消息传遍了全城。于连被迫去贝藏松神学院继续学习。他表现出众,深得院长彼拉神父的垂青。后来,由于院长的大力**,他得以出任政界名人德·拉莫尔侯爵的私人秘书。侯爵十分赏识于连的才智,给予他极大的信任,并委派他前往巴黎办理一件极为重要的事情。
侯爵的女儿,自尊心极强而又傲慢的玛蒂尔德,深深地为出身低微却傲骨凛然、精力旺盛的于连所吸引。经过感情的几番波折,于连终于赢得了玛蒂尔德的心。同时,她发现自己已经怀

Book One
Chapter One A Small Town
Chapter Two A Mayor
Chapter Three Care of the Poor
Chapter Four Father and Son
Chapter Five Striking a Bargain
Chapter Six Boredom
Chapter Seven Choices
Chapter Eight Events
Chapter Nine An Evening in the Country
Chapter Ten A Good Heart and a Small Fortune
Chapter Eleven In the Evening
Chapter Twelve A Journey
Chapter Thirteen New Shoes
Chapter Fourteen A Pair of English Scissors
Chapter Fifteen The Call of the Cock
Chapter Sixteen The Day After
Chapter Seventeen First Assistant
Chapter Eighteen A King in Verrieres
Chapter Nineteen Thinking Brings Suffering
Chapter Twenty Anonymous Letters
Chapter Twenty-One Discussion with a Master
Chapter Twenty-Two Behavior in 1830
Chapter Twenty-Three The Problems of a Politician
Chapter Twenty-Four A Capital City
Chapter Twenty-Five The School
Chapter Twenty-Six The World, or What the Rich Man Lacks
Chapter Twenty-Seven First Experience of Life
Chapter Twenty-Eight A Procession
Chapter Twenty-Nine First Promotion
Chapter Thirty A Man of Ambition
Book Two
Chapter One Pleasures of the Countryside
Chapter Two Entry into Society
Chapter Three The First Steps
Chapter Four The Hotel de La Mole
Chapter Five Sensitivity
Chapter Six What Decoration for a Man?
Chapter Seven The Dance
Chapter Eight Queen Marguerite
Chapter Nine The Power of a Young Lady
Chapter Ten Might He Be a Danton?
Chapter Eleven A Plot
Chapter Twelve A Young Lady's Thoughts
Chapter Thirteen Is It a Plot?
Chapter Fourteen One O'clock in the Morning
Chapter Fifteen An Old Sword
Chapter Sixteen Cruel Moments
Chapter Seventeen The Italian Opera
Chapter Eighteen The Secret Letter

Chapter Nineteen The Discussion
Chapter Twenty The Church, Forests, and Freedom
Chapter Twenty-One Strassburg
Chapter Twenty-Two The Department of Virtue
Chapter Twenty-Three Properly in Love
Chapter Twenty-Four Manon Lescaut
Chapter Twenty-Five Boredom
Chapter Twenty-Six A Box at the Italian Opera
Chapter Twenty-Seven Frightening Her
Chapter Twenty-Eight The Tiger
Chapter Twenty-Nine The Pain of Weakness
Chapter Thirty A Man of Intelligence
Chapter Thirty-One A Storm
Chapter Thirty-Two Sorry Problems
Chapter Thirty-Three A Prison
Chapter Thirty-Four A Powerful Man
Chapter Thirty-Five Peace
Chapter Thirty-Six The Trial
Chapter Thirty-Seven Reluctant to Be Apart
Chapter Thirty-Eight Facing the Death