The Fall of Madame Bovary

A detailed Summary of The Fall of Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary is a classic, renowned for the impartialness and creativity that was put into it. It is considered an art form that is as pure as human art forms can be. Every line was created with objectivity in mind. Gustave Flaubert, the author, wanted to make

a work that didn't reflect the opinion of the author, but simply displayed the events of a common woman's life, Madame Bovary, for all of us to see. This style is called "objective seriousness" because it is nothing but a steady thoughtful gaze. However, The circumstances that lead to her downfall is what interests us most of all.

Although Gustave Flaubert starts and finishes his novel with Charles Bovary, a simple man that is unable to provide for himself, the story focuses on the life and deceptions of Madame Bovary. Charles, her husband, from a young age is dependant on others to provide for him. During school his mother took care of him until she arranged for him to be married. From that point until he became a widower he was taken care of by his wife. It was only natural for him to again marry someone who could provide for him. His naivete led him to Emma.

At the age of twelve Emma Bovary was sent to a convent where

Although Emma Bovary has all that a woman would need to make her happy, she absolutely can't be satisfied with her fate. The essence of her soul is that of romance. Yet she marries Monsieur Bovary, who is the polar opposite to her. He is reality and everything that reality represents. He is average, yet she can't live with being an average woman, in an average home, with an average life. It is her romantic nature that leads to her demise. Had she not been so engrossed with the idea of love, she would not have sought after it in a manner that could only lead to adultery and unhappiness. Madame Bovary would not have descended from a whimsical girl, to a romantic woman, to an amorous courtesan.

He makes her into the most beautiful creature only after she committed this atrocious sin. After her first transgression, she is not upset. She is elevated to something more divine, something to be worshiped because of her carnalities. Color has been added to the painting of Emma Bovary. Her tawdry dreams of love were again prominent here. She wanted so badly to have a lover, but she couldn't distinguish between love and lust, what was real and what was illusion. This was the major flaw that Flaubert created for Madame Bovary. It was a purposeful illusion in the painting, and one that intensified her immorality and wantonness.

daily she was surrounded by nuns and priests. When this is revealed to us, Emma's character has not yet been established, but the woman she will become is foreshadowed. An ordinary child would try to please, but she was no ordinary child. From a young age she showed lustfulness, and an uncommon sensuality. "When she went to confession she would invent trivial sins in order to prolong her stay there. . . the references to fiance, husband, heavenly lover and eternal marriage that recur in the sermons awakened unexpected joys within her"(56). Emma, at twelve years old, when she should know nothing regarding the ways of the sexual world, was stimulated by thoughts of a heavenly lover and husband. She created sins in order to hear the preacher speak of these things.

". . .when she saw her reflection in the mirror, she was astounded at her appearance. Her eyes had never been so large, so black, nor of such depth, She was transfigure by some subtle change permeating her entire being. She kept telling herself, 'I have a lover'. . .she was finally going to possess those joys of love, that fever of happiness, of which she had so long despaired"(163).

Because Emma had taken this lover and given him so many expensive gifts, she began to run up a large debt. Yet it isn't here that her character falls, th

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Approximate Word count = 1801
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English