Madame Bovary

Flaubert's precisely styled tragedy of Emma Bovary, whose romantic fantasies collide with provincial married life.

Specifications & Metrics

author

Gustave Flaubert

type

Realist novel

era

France (1856–1857)

language

French

setting

Rouen and provincial Normandy

parts

2 volumes

Relative Scale in Novels

Core Principles & Analysis

• Serialized in 1856, it was tried for obscenity and acquitted in 1857.
• Flaubert's search for the exact word — le mot juste — made it realism's style landmark.
• The novel's free indirect style lets Emma's romantic clichés speak through the narration.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Madame Bovary