Resumo de Madame Bovary - Gustav Flaubert

I have heard this book described as a great paradigm for modern feminism. However, that is always for the reader to side, and different people react very differently to the tale of Madame Bovary.

Emma Bovary is (possibly) a tragic heroine. Flaubert's book begins with a description of the male lead, Charles Bovary. Charles is a doctor and the pinnacle of provincial French attitudes: he worked hard to qualify for his doctor's diploma second time around, but he lacks any real intelligence and is a bit of a simpleton throughout the novel. He is chosen a wife by his mother, Charles meets Emma, the daughter to a patient. His first wife is suspicious of her, but there is little she can do, and when she dies Charles is free to woo Emma as he wishes. Emma consents to the marriage and foolishly thinks that love and romance will follow. However, she soon discovers she is wrong.

After a short period of marriage she becomes bored and dissatisfied and having met the true love of her life Leon; her intellectual equal, she realizes the stupidity of her rushed marriage to Charles. We are informed that Emma grew up under the careful nurturing of a convent. The nuns hoped that Emma would join the vocation but sadly were disappointed when she moved away from the faith and immersed herself in Romantic fiction. Perhaps this is Emma's problem. Without any 'real' reference points her ideals are exactly that - unachievable aims. Reading the book it is easy to question whether any life will be good enough for Emma. She is a real-life romantic trapped in the drudgery of provincial town life with a safe, caring but somewhat dull husband.

I feel some sympathy for the limited nature of Emma's life and the control and restrictions that are placed upon her by society. Although she has freedom it is limited to the confines of domesticity. But even in this arena, Emma is not in control. In fact, she has no control. Her husband, a local doctor, is the financial provider, whilst her maid is in charge of domestic affairs. Emma initially channels her frustrations into needlework and piano but soon discovers this is not enough.

Ultimately, the attractions of the passionate and exciting Rodolphe are enough to lure her away from the provincial boredom that becomes her routine. Emma invests everything in her affair, having lost Leon after he moves away. The real tragedy is the sense of trust she places in Rodolphe. He is deft and clever enough to manipulate her and this book certainly bears testament to the fact that even intelligent women are destroyed by love.

Emma's boredom leads her into financial debt and ruin and Rodolphe abandons her leaving her destroyed and in ill-health. Spinning a web of deceit she becomes unable to deal with the reality of life and the tragedy of Rodolphe's abandonment.

Emma begins another affair and by this point in the book she has seemingly given up on life. Her affair cannot continue and trapped in marriage and by the debts she has amounted - which make her increasingly vulnerable to the unwanted attentions of her financial advisers, her depression deepens.

This story is a tragedy of circumstance. Perhaps it would be easy not to forgive Emma for her immorality and naivete, but, ultimately she is a victim of circumstances. Bored by nearly everything in her life she attempts to create her own passion and drama. However, she is consistently stifled by the limitations and expectations not only of those around her, but also by her own expectations. The woman who immerses her soul in the intensity and passion of the romantic novel is destroyed in a manner entirely appropriate for the tragic heroine.

I will not spoil every last detail of the plot, but I hope you can tell from my review that I did enjoy this book. It is a classic of early modern fiction. Although Flaubert's style is at times challenging; it can be loaded frustratingly with overdone description, the simple ending of the book belies the movement towards the Moch Flaubert initiated. The characterisation is effective and although the book is not overtly 'dramatic' it is the internal consciousness of its heroine that provides all the drama the book needs to sustain its reader.

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