Summary of Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The story of Madame Bovary is an undeniable piece of classical literature, which narrates the story of an infidel woman – Emma – whose behavior led to irreversible processes (Bart 14).
Young doctor Charles Bovary first saw Emma when he was called to the farm of his father, who had broken his leg. Charles had already been married to an ugly and grumpy widow. Soon, however, the wife of Charles suddenly died. And after some time he married Emma. Charles was devoted to her, kind and hard-working, but Emma was missing something in him: she wanted her man to be strong and heroic. He taught nothing, knew nothing, wished nothing (Flauberte 14).
One day Bovary received an invitation to a ball in the ancestral castle of the Marquis, whom Charles successfully removed an abscess in the throat. The magnificent halls, noble guests, delicious food, flowers, fine linen and truffles - in this atmosphere Emma experienced a sharp bliss. This is when Emma started feeling that she wanted to live in luxury. After this the family moved to another place and they were already expecting a child.
In the new city, everyone knew everything and gossiped about everyone and everything. The Bovary were introduced into the local society. Emma met Leon Dupuis – blond, with curled lashes, timid and shy. He loved reading, painting watercolors and strumming on the piano with one finger. Emma Bovary struck his imagination. From the first conversation they felt in each other a kindred spirit. Both loved to talk about the sublime and suffered from loneliness and boredom.
Emma wanted a son, but the newborn turned out to be a baby girl. She called her Bertha – the name she had heard at a ball at the Marquis. However, it was obvious that Emma was not feeling happy. Even her child made her angry and she did not feel any love to the poor girl. The only thing saving Emma from her endless depressions were the meetings with Leon Dupuis. They began spending more and more time together and by that time Dupuis had been long in love with Emma. She, in her turn, was feeling the same to him but for a long time they were both afraid to confess their feelings to each other. Soon, Dupuis had to leave in his personal affairs and Madame Bovary was left alone, in her old good depression. Of course, there were other people around her, like her mother-in-law who was sometimes coming to visit, or her father, who sometimes sent them gifts. Still, her heart was broken and she was craving some change.
The only thing that was saving Emma was a chance to buy clothes and other beautiful things. Monsieur Lheureux – a shop owner – understood that this passion of Emma’s was becoming her addiction and seized the occasion to earn as much money as possible. Emma was making purchases without her husband’s permission and soon ran into debt.
Emma’s husband, Charles, once had an appointment with a landowner Rodolphe Boulanger. He himself was healthy as an ox, but he brought his servant for Charles to examine. Emma and Boulanger immediately liked each other. In contrast to the timid Leon, Rodolphe was experienced in relationships with women, and self-confident. He found a way to the heart with the help of Emma's vague complaints of loneliness and misunderstanding. After a while she became his lover. It happened during a walk offered by Rodolphe as a means to correct the failing health of Madame Bovary. Rodolphe and Emma had an intimate moment in a forest, during which Emma was feeling embarrassed and ashamed. But then the passion flared up and became the meaning of her life. She attributed heroic traits of her imaginary ideal to Rodolphe. She demanded that he vows eternal love and self-sacrifice to her. She was feeling the need of a romantic setting. She made decorations with vases of flowers in places where Rodolphe and her meeting were, where she bought expensive gifts for Rodolphe and was over-obsessed with their meetings.
However, the more Emma was showing her dedication to Rodolphe, the more he getting drawn away from her. Emma started feeling this and was very offended. Her heart was broken again. Emma thought that she should finally start loving her own husband, but when she showed her feelings to him, he did not understand why she was doing this and her depression became even stronger.
After that, she experienced another heartbreak – Rodolphe, who had promised to run away with her, left alone and sent her a farewell note. She was devastated and miserable.
More and more awful moments followed. Her husband, after performing an unsuccessful operation, was now a laughingstock of the whole city and she was burning from shame.
However, she did not expect that she would meet her old lover – Leon. They started meeting again and she thought that she was feeling happy now. That was before she started receiving the notifications about her endless debt. She did not know what to do and decided to resort to asking Monsieur Lheureux for help. Needless to say, he refused to give her any money and she was heart=broken once again. Leon, in his turn, also did nothing to help her solve the situation. So, she found some arsenic and poisoned herself.
She died a few days later in great agony. Charles could not believe her death. He was completely devastated and heartbroken. The final blow came for him when he found the letters Rodolphe and Leon. Lowered, unshaven, unkempt, he was wandering along the paths, and wept bitterly. He died too soon, right on the bench in the garden, clutching Emma's hair strand.
Leon successfully married shortly after Emma's death. Monsieur Lheureux opened a new store. Apothecary received the Legion of Honor, which he had long dreamed of. They all were very succeeded.
Works Cited
Flaubert, Gustave, and Francis Steegmuller. Madame Bovary. New York: Random House, 1957. Print.
Bart, Benjamin F. Madame Bovary and the Critics: A Collection of Essays. New York: New York UP, 1966. Print.
