The Literature Book

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Rodolphe Boulanger, Emma’s first

lover, recognizes her boredom, her

frustrated passion, and her willingness

to be seduced, and manipulates her

expertly into an affair.

where local dignitaries make

pompous speeches, aping the

urban middle classes, is masterly.

Dramatically, he counterpoises

the tedious speeches against the

passionate conversations and

actions of Emma Bovary, behind

a window overlooking the fair.

Unattainable dreams

Flaubert introduces other

characters who live in Yonville,

among them the town pharmacist,

Monsieur Homais, an atheist and

self-opinionated individual who

practices medicine without a

licence and uses every opportunity

to display his apparent knowledge

in the most pompous manner; and

Monsieur Lhereaux, a merchant,

who callously encourages Emma

to run up debts, as she seeks to

overcome marital boredom with

what would today be described as

retail therapy. Flaubert knew such

characters very well and portrays

them in intimate and realistic

detail; throughout the novel he

brilliantly captures their dullness

and their small-minded attitudes,

while never allowing his writing

to become dull. Just as Flaubert

gently mocks Emma’s completely

unachievable dreams and

romanticism (and describes

the tragic consequences that

they have), so he also mocks the

unsympathetic and pretentious

aspirations of the merchant class.

Set among the realistic details

of everyday routine, Flaubert’s

descriptions of Emma’s romantic

hopes and her frustrations within

her provincial marriage are even

more powerful, and appear

surprisingly modern. Almost

inevitably, Emma seeks romance

and grand passion outside her

marriage, embarking on two

doomed affairs, first with the

wealthy landowner and womanizer

Rodolphe Boulanger, and then with

Léon Dupois, a young law student,

who shares her yearnings for

glorious landscapes, music, and

Romantic literature. Although

initially excited and apparently

fulfilled, Emma ultimately becomes

disillusioned. As Flaubert writes:

“Adultery, Emma was discovering,

could be as banal as marriage.”

Abandoned by one lover and

rejected by the other, she spirals

into a self-destructive path of

increasing debt and alienation.

Realism on trial

Madame Bovary first appeared in

serial form in the Revue de Paris.

Almost immediately, Flaubert,

the printer, and the manager of

the Revue were brought to trial

on charges of obscenity, and

DEPICTING REAL LIFE

there was an attempt to ban the

novel on the grounds of “outrage

against public and religious

morality.” It was not only its content

but also the realism of the style

itself that was considered vulgar

and shocking. But Flaubert and

his colleagues were acquitted, and

although the novel initially received

a mixed reception, it went on to

become a best seller.

Madame Bovary and Flaubert’s

subsequent novel, Sentimental

Education, with their objective,

detailed, and stark portrayal of

everyday life, marked the coming

of age of French realism and at

the same time its highest point.

Within France, Flaubert’s work

influenced other major writers,

including Guy de Maupassant,

whose economical style and

approach reflected the realism of

his mentor; and Émile Zola, who,

in novels such as Germinal (1885),

focused on the harsh realities

of day-to-day life, and who, like

Flaubert, often spent months

researching his subject matter. ■

She wanted equally to die

and to live in Paris.

Madame Bovary

Never touch your idols:

the gilding will stick

to your fingers.

Madame Bovary

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