Madame Bovary

Image credit: Dymocks

 Undoubtedly I have said it before, but I will say it again because it’s one of the great surprises and pleasantries of this world: I love nothing more than reading books that are over a century old, yet are still so modern and relevant to the time I’m living in. It’s a weird, prophetic delight that I can’t seem to get enough of. This week, I went back to France, 1857 and was delighted to find a modern, character-driven tale of self-destruction and domino-effect drama: Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary.

The story follows Emma Bovary, a beautiful young woman who marries a sweet and kind country doctor, but then proceeds to become increasingly bored with provincial married life. Yearning for the grand passions and dramas of the romance novels she avidly reads, she seeks happiness in extravagant spending, high fashions, and even adultery. But the more that Emma lusts after this fantastic love that she believes she deserves, the further into ruin she throws herself and her family. 

Madame Bovary is famously considered a ‘modern’ novel because, unlike the other plot-driven novels of the 1900s, Flaubert lets the story progress through his characters. While being the disassociated and omniscient narrator, Flaubert still manages to weave a dramatic and emotionally provocative tale through in-depth, emotional character journeys, as well as a delightfully novel way of throwing his ‘voice’ into the mouths of supporting characters so that a stream of social commentary might flow throughout the work. 

While the conclusion of the book is very dramatic and horrible, it is nonetheless satisfying as Flaubert so successfully manipulates the reader’s emotions towards various characters. While there is absolutely a good lot of sympathy that gets doled out for Emma, the exciting and dramatic climax of the book leaves the reader with a feeling of deep satisfaction, if also a little sadness and remorse.

Image creditL Blogis librorum

While Emma is certainly not a heroine that one would want their daughters to look up to, she is nevertheless a classic and wonderful example of the ‘flawed woman’; a woman that’s not really the conquering hero of her own story, but nonetheless is impressive enough to have an entire story written about her. Vapidness, jealousy, and gullibility are the true villains behind what happens to Emma, in a very sexist type of way, but there is still some strength in how she handles situations up to the very end, as well as some endearing quality that makes us want her to come out all right.

Madame Bovary is a tale that requires a bit of perseverance, but is absolutely worth it in the end. 

Author: Gustave Flaubert, 1857

Published: Charpentier (Paris), 1857. Originally in French, the first translation was made the year of original publication.