How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Despite his prudent reflections, Monsieur de Rênal's dissatisfaction did not blaze any the less brightly in the stream of vulgar comments that followed. (1.9.24)
Monsieur de Rênal feels dissatisfaction when he finds his expensive tutor (Julien Sorel) sleeping in with an apparent cold. He has gone to a lot of trouble to hire Julien, and he's not going to stand for any slacking off just because Julien is living under his roof.
Quote #2
The masters of the house suffered, at bottom, from too much pride and too much boredom. (2.4.5)
It doesn't take much to sum up why the de La Mole house is a really lame place to hang out. The owners have too much pride and too much boredom. You can hardly talk about anything around them without offending their dignity. Oh, you want to talk about politics? Well that's not really appropriate. These are the same people who don't want to talk about anything interesting, but then turn around in the same sentence and complain of boredom.
Quote #3
Still, except on rainy days, and at moments of truly fierce boredom, which did not occur very often, they were always perfectly polite. (2.4.5).
The people of the de La Mole house might be bored and empty, but they're always very polite. This is hardly any consolation to Julien Sorel, though, who finds hanging out with them unbearably boring.
Quote #4
And still, despite this century's reigning boredom, the need for amusement is such that, even on days when the de La Moles invited people for dinner, the marquis had barely left the room when everyone hurried away. (2.4.9)
Even thought everyone who visits the de La Mole house is bored, they're all quick to hurry away when dinner is over. These folks are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They won't give up all of the social customs of upper class life, but it's these same customs that are killing them with boredom.
Quote #5
In the midst of such magnificence, and such boredom, Julien concerned himself with nothing but Monsieur de La Mole. (2.4.17)
Julien finds it hard to breathe the air in the de La Mole house because everything there is filled with dissatisfaction and boredom. That's why he sticks close to the Marquis whenever he can. At least with this guy he can learn about how the upper class world works.
Quote #6
"I find it, sir, the most painful part of my job. The seminary didn't bore me so completely." (2.4.21)
Julien is plan and honest with Father Pirard when he says that he'd rather not eat dinner with the de La Mole family. Pirard thinks this is blasphemy, since all of France would jump at the opportunity of dining with such distinguished people. Julien just finds the family boring and soulless, though.
Quote #7
"Sometimes, I've seen Mademoiselle de La Mole yawning, though she ought to be used to the attentions of the regular guests." (2.4.21)
Julien knows that Mathilde is bored at all of her family's parties. He's surprised that she's not used to her lifestyle yet, but the truth is that no one can get used to living in such a phony world. That's why Mathilde decides to start a romantic relationship with Julien, if only to experience a little change from what she's used to.
Quote #8
He had no sooner put down his pen than he fell into the grip of deadly boredom. (2.5.7)
Julien gets infected by the boredom of the de La Mole house. There's no stopping it. The feeling just seeps into him from the moment he gets there. That's what happens when your only day-to-day concern is killing time instead of killing your dinner (like a peasant would).
Quote #9
It was the withering effect of a politeness that was wonderful, but never unguarded, perfectly calibrated to social status: this was the mark of high society. But no feeling heart could ignore its artificiality. (2.5.7)
Julien can feel Mathilde de La Mole's dissatisfaction to the core from the moment he meets her. This dissatisfaction might have something to do with the fact that Mathilde's entire life is defined by superficial things like politeness and money.
Quote #10
Yet for all these finely tuned arguments, the marquis' soul found it hard to abandon hope of a duchess's title for his daughter. (2.33.45)
Ever since his daughter was born, the Marquis de La Mole has wanted Mathilde to marry into a higher social class. Even though he's high on the social pecking order, he won't be satisfied until there's no higher to go.