Madame Bovary
A novel of provincial ennui and romantic disillusionment.
The novel centers on Emma Bovary, a woman who lives beyond her means to escape the boredom of provincial life, and is considered a seminal work of literary realism.
- author
- Gustave Flaubert
- original_language
- French
- genre
- Literary realism
- nationality
- French
- known_for
- Its portrayal of provincial ennui and its influence on the development of the realist novel
Lore & Background
She accumulates debt with the merchant Lheureux, and when her debts are called in, she poisons herself with arsenic and dies. Charles dies heartbroken, and their daughter Berthe is sent to work in a cotton mill. Flaubert's writing style was of supreme importance to him; he aimed for a book held together by the internal strength of its style. The novel is seen as a commentary on the bourgeoisie and the gap between illusion and reality. Flaubert despised the bourgeoisie, and the novel mocks Emma's romantic daydreaming.
Reader's Guide
It is a prime example of literary realism, a movement that was partly a reaction against romanticism. The novel's realism was a key element in the obscenity trial, with the prosecutor arguing that realism in literature was an offense against art and decency.
Did You Know?
- The last line of the novel reveals that the pharmacist Homais was awarded the Legion of Honour.
More in Novels And Epics 1-18
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