Madame Bovary

Advanced Higher French Folio Essay

David Cajcik

Is Madame Bovary a monster or a victim? Discuss.

The realist novel Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert, is widely recognised as a milestone in world literature. The story takes place in the first half of the nineteenth century in France and tells about a young woman Emma, captured in the flatness of marriage, desiring passion and eventually betraying her husband Charles. Gustave Flaubert made a significant effort not to show his personal opinions in this book. Unlike him, this essay will argue if Madame Bovary is a monster or a victim, and judge her acts.

To begin, it needs to be noted that Emma was not satisfied with her marriage to Charles from its very beginning. During her studies in a convent, she read plenty of Romantic literature and later on, when she happened to be in a situation where all fictional heroines were almost fainting with happiness, she did not feel much and was dissappointed.

“... cherchait à savoir ce que l’on entendait au juste dans la vie par les mots de felicité, de passion, et d’ivresse, qui lui avaient paru si beaux dans les livres.”

It is apparent that expecting her life to be as in a girl’s novel is naive in itself. But what is more, Emma has a caring husband, who despite being a mostly mediocre doctor, does everything to make her happy. Under the circumstances, she leads a life which would be considered as happy by many. Regarding the passion she desires, Charles is always very passionate about Emma (but she is not) which is described in the first part of the book:

“Il ne pouvait pas se retenir de toucher continuellement à son peigne, à ses bagues, à son fichu; quelquefois, il lui donnait sur les joues de gros baisers à pleine bouche, ou c’étaient de petits baisers à la file tout le long de son brad nu...”

Charles is generally happy with the marriage and much in love with Emma. Surely, he does not...