Madame Bovary is a novel by Gustave Flaubert, whose appearance in 1856 caused a scandal in the literary community. And years later, the work became one of the masterpieces of world literature.
The history of the creation of the novel
It took Gustave Flaubert five years to complete Madame Bovary. The perfectionist Flaubert spent several days working on one page of his work until he could get the perfect version.
Flaubert was inspired by the story of the Delamare family, which the writer was reminded of by Louis Bouillet's best friend. Eugene Delamard was a rather poor medical student who studied with Flaubert's father, a respected physician. Eugene worked in a provincial town near Rouen. Like Charles Bovary, he married an elderly widow who died a few years later. Then Eugene married a young, beautiful daughter of a farmer Delphine Couturier. She was brought up in a monastery and was fond of reading romantic novels. At first, Delphine was happy to escape the family farm, but soon she became bored. She became disillusioned with her husband and her life. Like Emma Bovary, Madame Delamare was profligate in money and had many extramarital affairs. She soon ran into large debts and committed suicide. Eugene was deeply in love with a selfish woman and, unable to live without her, committed suicide. Mother Eugene raised the couple's only daughter in poverty.
Of course, the main characters were created by the author in accordance with his vision of the future novel. For example, Flaubert associated some character traits of Emma Bovary with his mistress Louise Colet. Moreover, Dr. Lariviere based himself on the image of Flaubert's father, and Felicite's maid on Julie, Flaubert's nurse.
At first, the novel describing adultery caused a lot of controversy and in 1857 was the subject of legal proceedings. But soon an acquittal followed, and the scandal caused by the publication of the book only added to the popularity of the work of Gustave Flaubert.
Abstract: part I
Charles Bovary is the son of a former military surgeon. His family lives on a small farm. Over time, it becomes obvious that Charles' father is bad at managing money. And his numerous romances with "village harlots" led to the fact that his wife lost all respect for her husband and focused on raising her son. She believes that medicine is the boy's vocation. But unfortunately, Charles is too lazy and not smart enough to master this science. Several times he fails the exams, but in the end he manages to get a diploma. His mother arranges for him to practice and convinces him to marry a rich widow, Eloise Dubuc.
One day Charles goes to the aid of his neighbor, the farmer Rouault. There he meets his daughter Emma and very soon realizes that he is in love. Eloise notices a change in her husband's behavior and makes Charles promise that he will never visit Farmer Rouault's house. Charles reluctantly agrees. But then he finds out that his wife's lawyer stole most of her money. Moreover, she exaggerated the size of her fortune. A week after these events, Eloise dies suddenly.
After the death of Eloise, Charles spends more and more time with Emma and soon asks for her hand in Rouault. After consulting with his daughter, the farmer agrees. Despite the fact that the marriage is agreed, Emma and Charles must wait until the end of the mourning. In the meantime, they are planning a wedding. Emma dreams of a romantic wedding, but Charles arranges a more traditional ceremony, followed by a celebration late into the night.
The next day, after the wedding night, Charles is in high spirits. And Emma is too calm and collected, considering that she lost her virginity and began her married life. Soon, the couple travels to Charles' house in Toast. Rouault is left with memories of how happy he was during his own wedding.
Once in Toast, Emma takes a look around her new home and starts making her own rules. She begins planning small improvements to the house, while Charles in love focuses exclusively on his beautiful young wife. However, Emma, romantic by nature, who dreamed of an ideal marriage full of bliss and passion, begins to understand that reality has not lived up to expectations.
Meanwhile, the Marquis d'Anderville, Charles's patient, invites the couple to the ball. She is amazed at the wealth of the marquis and the luxury of the ball. Against this background, her husband seems to her too awkward and simple-minded. At one point, Emma sees the maid open the window to cool the ballroom. She notices the peasants watching the ball and remembers the farm and her real life.
Emma became obsessed with the idea of a luxurious life. She treats Charles with anger and contempt, whom she largely blames for her boring, gray everyday life. She is so oppressed by the environment that she becomes physically ill. Charles is very worried about Emma's health and believes that the change of scenery will give her a chance to recover. He decides that they will move to Yonville, a city where there is a vacancy for a doctor. Just before that, Emma regretfully realizes that she is pregnant. In a fit of anger and frustration, she throws her dried bridal bouquet into the fire and watches as it burns out. And then he packs his things and prepares for the move.
Abstract: Part II
Charles and Emma arrive in Yonville. They go to dinner with the doctor Mr. Ome. A young man, notary's assistant Leon Dupuis, joins the meal. While Charles is busy talking with Ome, Emma and Leon discover many common topics of conversation. They feel mutual sympathy. Emma hopes that, perhaps, this is where she will be able to start a new life of which she dreams.
Meanwhile, Emma gives birth to her daughter Bertha and is disappointed again. After all, she dreamed of a boy. Her dull everyday life is brightened up only by meetings with Leon, which eventually develop into a romantic relationship. But Leon understands that a relationship with a married woman has no future. In addition, he was rather tired of Yonville. Leon is attracted to Paris and soon he leaves.
Emma falls into deep depression again and becomes disillusioned with her life. But acquaintance with the landowner Rodolphe Boulanger changes everything. A romantic relationship begins between them, which soon turns into a sexual one. As their romance progresses, Emma becomes increasingly dependent on Rodolphe and obsessed with him and his luxurious life.
Gradually Rodolphe gets tired of his too romantic mistress. Emma, feeling coldness on the part of the landowner, buys many expensive gifts for Boulanger, accumulating large debts to the merchant Leray.
Meanwhile, Charles remains the only person in the city who does not notice his wife's behavior. He gets the opportunity to perform a unique operation, but he is unsure of his abilities. Emma persuades him to agree. After all, this will have a good effect on her husband's career. Meanwhile, the operation is proceeding with complications, and Charles shows his incompetence. Emma becomes convinced of the worthlessness of her husband and decides to flee with Rodolphe Boulanger. The landowner leaves the city, leaving Emma a farewell letter.
Emma is overcome with sadness and falls ill again. For six weeks she suffers from a very high fever. Her treatment turns out to be too expensive and Charles is forced to borrow money from Leray at a very high rate. Emma begins to recover.
Wanting to cheer up his wife, Charles invites her to go to Rouen to visit the opera. There they meet Leon and all three go to the cafe. By coincidence, Charles returns to Yonville on the same evening. And Emma stays in Rouen overnight to watch the second half of the performance the next day.
Abstract: Part III
After a chance meeting in the opera, the relationship between Emma and Leon is developing rapidly. Under the pretext of musical pursuits, she travels weekly to Rouen, where she indulges in amorous pleasures with her lover. At the same time, Emma continues to spend large sums of money, increasing her debts.
Emma's life begins to spiral out of control. Relationship with Leon no longer excites her as before, and debts have reached such proportions that the police intervened in the case. He is notified of an auction for the sale of her property. In horror, Emma seeks help from her lovers, turns to Lera, but none of them is ready to lend her money. Realizing the horror of her situation, she takes arsenic and dies.
Charles mourns his wife. While sorting out her things, he stumbles upon Emma's love letters, which Rodolphe and Leon wrote to her. Upon learning the truth about his wife, Charles experiences deep suffering and suddenly dies in his garden. All his remaining property is given to creditors, and Bert is sent to live with his grandmother. Unfortunately, Charles's mother also soon dies and the girl ends up in the family of a poor aunt, where she is forced to work in a cotton factory.
