Over the span of the XIX century, Europe's socioeconomic and political reality was transformed by unprecedented changes in technological development. Urbanization and the emergence of the middle class redefined the social stratification of most European countries. These dramatic changes did not go unnoticed in art, and particularly in literature. The idealistic individualism of the romantic era gave way to a movement referred to as realism. This new wave of literature focused on the observations of everyday contemporary life and attempted to portray it with an almost scientific objectivity. Gustave Flaubert was one of the foremost writers of the realistic tradition and his novel Madame Bovary became one of the most celebrated works of the time. Through the use of the free indirect discourse and a changing narrative point of view, Flaubert attempted to keep a level of detachment from his characters and thus to portray reality in as objective manner as possible. Despite the fact that Madame Bovary is the main character, the novel begins and ends with the point of view of Charles Bovary in order to convey the sense of objectivity characteristic of works of the realistic move

The other irony presented by the author relies entirely on switching the focus of the narration to Charles after Emma's death. As he is obsessively mourning her passing away, he begins to take on her personality traits: "To please her, as though she was still alive, he adopted her tastes, her ideas: he bought himself patent leather shoes, took to wearing white cravats. He waxed his mustache, and signed - just as she had - more promisory notes. She was corrupting him from beyond the grave" (Flaubert 1115). This passage presents one of the greatest ironies of Madame Bovary: the fact that Charles was probably the easiest man for Emma to change to her liking because he was the only one who loved her unconditionally. It shows how absolutely blind she was to his devotion, since she looked for her empty ideals elsewhere, while the person who was the most likely to fulfill them was at her side all along. At the same time, Charles's adaptation of Emma's ideals shows his complete blindness to her lies and sets him up for the final pain of seeing through them, which in turn will cause his death. Charles's unawareness of his wife's deceit and her oblivious ignorance of his forthrightness result from their idealistic natures and shows once again the ironic parallels between their personalities. (Sherrington 116)

Mack et al. 6th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 1992. 2: 889-1120.

Flaubert, like all other realists, wanted to be as objective in his writing as possible. Certain literary methods allow the author to portray the world he or she creates in a somewhat detached manner. One of the techniques used in Madame Bovary is referred to as the free indirect discourse. It involves the change from the linguistic form typical of a direct quote of a character's words or thoughts, to that characteristic of indirect speech. This method of writing allows the author to present events as the character would have experienced them, as opposed to interpreting them as an omniscient narrator. Through the use of the free indirect discourse, the author reveals the novel's world through the subjective point of view of its characters. In Madame Bovary, the narrator describes only things seen or experienced by the character whose point of view is being expressed at the time and the nature of this description is subjective to the manner in which the character experiences his or her world. As the point of view switches between the characters, the reader is presented with a series of subjective perceptions, a synthesis of which depicts a theoretically objective reality.

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Approximate Word count = 2038
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)