Madame

Bovary
Gustave Flaubert
Prepared by:
Ringgit Espiritu Aguilar
BSEd-III English

Gustave
Flaubert
Born December 12, 1821
Died May 08, 1880(age 58)
Began writing at age 16
Studied law, but failed the
exam
Devoted life to writing after
suffering a nervous
breakdown from failed law
exam

Type of Novel
Collective Novel
Psychological Novel

Setting
France (Yonville, Tostes, Rouen)
October 1827 and ends in
August 1846
This is the time of the "July
Monarchy", or the rule ofKing
Louis Philippe.

Characters
Emma Bovary:
protagonist

Madame Bovary, the

Charles Bovary:
husband

Emmas dull, trusting

who finds her faultless

Rodolphe Boulanger
man)
Leon Dupuis:

Emmas first affair (wealthy

Emmas second affair

( law student, full of

himself )
Monsieur Lheureux:

Merchant causing
Emmas financial ruin

Plot
Exposition
Charles Bovary, the only son
of a middle-class family,
became a doctor and set up
his practice in a rural village.
He made a marriage of
convenience with a woman
older than himself.

 Rising Action
One night, he receives a call to set
a mans broken leg. During his visit,
Charles is enchanted by the mans
daughter, a beautiful, elegant girl
namedEmma. Not long after,
Charless wife dies of a nervous
ailment, and within a year Charles
and Emma are married. Charles
adores his new wife, but Emma is
soon bored and disappointed. She
does not feel anything like the love
described in her favorite romance
novels, and she blames Charless
bad looks and dull conversation.

 Climax
Emma had an adulterous affair
with Rodolphe, a local
landowner. When he abandoned
her, she became seriously ill.
After her recovery Emma
encountered Leon in Rouen and
began to carry on an affair with
him. In order to afford weekly
trips to the city to see Leon and
to satisfy her other whims,
Emma spent her husband's

 Falling Action
Eventually her unpaid bills went
long overdue and a judgment was
obtained against her by her
creditors. She owed a vast sum of
money, and the sheriff's officers
arrived to confiscate the family
property. Emma tried frantically
to raise the money and finally
turned to both Rodolphe and
Leon, but neither was willing or
able to help. Out of shame and
despair, she poisoned herself.

 Ending

Charles cannot pay these

debts. He becomes bankrupt
and eventually withdraws
from social life. One night he
discovers proof of his wife's
infidelity, but he is not angry.
He spends time with his
daughter, whom he loves. It
is she who finds him dead in
the garden one day.And

Conflict
Man Vs. Himself
Man Vs. Society

Point of View
First Person
Third Person
Omniscient

Theme
Powerlessness of women*

>

Seemingly only men have the power to change

Emmas life

>

Emma wishes for a male child because a woman is

always hampered *

Failure of the bourgeoisie ( middle class) *

>

The middle class has dissatisfaction with material

things and
aspirations for more in life

>

Mockery is made of middle class pretense and

knowledge

Moral/Lesson
Be Contented of What you
have.
Lessen your Fantasies.
Learn to go back into
reality.

Images/Symbol
The blind Beggar
Dried Flowers
The Lathe

Sources
http://www.google.com/images
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/bovary/summary.html
http://www.wikipedia.org/wik/Madame_Bovary
http://pinkmonkey.com
http://www.cliffsnotes.com
http://www.shmoop.com