The Carterhouse of Parma

The Charterhouse of Parma" chronicles the adventures of the young Italian nobleman Fabrice del Dongo since its birth in 1798 to his death. It is a novel by Stendhal, published in 1839. The protagonist Fabrice spent the first years of his life in the family castle on Lake Como, while most of the rest of the novel is set in a Parma. The book begins with the French army invades Milan. Fabrice grew up surrounded by intrigues and alliances for and against the French. The book, in the beginning, describes the effort somewhat quixotic by Fabrice to join Napoleon when the latter returned to France in March 1815 (the hundred days). Fabrice at seventeen is idealistic, , rather naive, and speaks poor French. He leaves his home on Lake Como to travel north with false documents. He wanders through France, losing money and horses. He was imprisoned as a spy, but manages to escape, wearing the uniform of a dead French soldier. In his enthusiasm for the role of a French soldier, he wanders on the battlefield of Waterloo and he remains badly wounded in the leg. He survives the fighting; he returns to the family castle on Lake Como. In this environment many people claim that he was one of the bravest captains of Napoleon.