Tags
1001 book list, 50 books a year, book review, Catherine Earnshaw, gustave flaubert, Madame Bovary, rory gilmore reading list
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Book Challenges: 1001 books (no. 887), 50 Books A Year (no. 48), Rory Gilmore Challenge.
“Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles: la dorure en reste aux mains. [We must not touch our idols, the gilt sticks to our fingers.]”
The most famous line from the book sums up the very heart of the matter; as it illustrates in good old-fashioned terms how romantic legends should be admired from the pages of a book but never acted upon. Unfortunately our ill-fated Emma Bovary doesn’t heed this lesson, and reaches again and again to touch the moth-winged fabric of love, only to have it fall around her like dust.
A controversial novel in its time, ‘Madame Bovary’ still continues to draw a significant amount of praise for its handling of a subject like forbidden love. It took me AGES to finished this, but it was well worth it. First of all ‘Madame Bovary’, for all it’s old-fashioned language could teach modern storytellers a thing or two about proper ‘character development’. There are many elegant phrases that stand out, but what I admired most was the beautiful descriptions of the countryside:
“The walls of the gardens with pieces of bottle on their coping were hot as the glass windows of a conservatory. Wallflowers had sprung up between the bricks, and with the tip of her open sunshade Madame Bovary, as she passed, made some of their faded flowers crumble into a yellow dust, or a spray of overhanging honeysuckle and clematis caught in its fringe and dangled for a moment over the silk.”
Emma Bovary has to be without a doubt the most complex heroine I have ever read. Not even the enigmatic Rebecca de Winter, or the wild mistress-of-the-moors Catherine Earnshaw can come close to the depth and flexibility of this creation. Flaubert has rendered as complete an image of woman that can possibly be done in literary terms. She differs greatly from other heroines of her time, because Flaubert strived to depict a woman who was equally bad as she was good. You won’t find any of that ‘angel fallen from heaven’ malarkey here, oh no. Emma Bovary was greedy, needy and a thoroughly lustful lass to boot. She cuckolded her husband more than once, spent his money to the last centime and did not care an iota for her poor child Berthe.
Emma is a sensual creature despite her innocent looks; but it’s within the nuance of language and her character deconstruction that Flaubert saves his heroine from being taken as a total whore. Unlike his contemporaries he takes time to empathise with his characters. I was more fascinated by Flaubert’s sensitive wording of emotions than of the plot itself. Unhappy in her marriage, Emma seeks consolation in religion. But her convent days are over and she (despite having spent a great deal of time there) has never truly outgrown her romantic fantasies. Instead they fuel her bored mind until the unfortunate opportunity presents itself and the clandestine meetings with the suave Rodolphe begin. In fact I’ve clocked Flaubert accusing piety as the culprit for Bovary’s tragic end many times. It’s an interesting undertone that runs throughout the novel.
Emma’s unfaithfulness is just the beginning of a downward spiral designed to no doubt serve as a moral tale for young ladies. The ending results in the most tragic consequences, as Emma’s selfish actions have a knock-on effect to her husband and daughter. In short, the whole family is irreversibly ruined.
I say this is one of the more enjoyable reads out of the classics. Read it when you can.
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What a nice and thoughtful review of this title.
Love your description of Emma.
I would also agree that it is an enjoyable/approachable read for a classic. (Just saying something is a classic read is enough to scare away a lot of readers)
It’s good to know that even a classic can present a woman character that is complex and not angelic all the time. This sounds like a great read. Thanks for the review!
Jason – Thanks! The word ‘classic’ can be scary. I just wanted to make sure people would give this one a chance. Even though I’m a classics person, the thought of reading ‘Don Quixote’ and ‘Ulysses’ frightens even the likes of me!
Teacher/ Learner – You’re welcome. There was another book I was thinking of while reading this; ‘Tess of the D’Urbevilles’. I just hated the character Tess. She was too naive, too innocent. Real people aren’t like that. I’m glad Flaubert didn’t go and do a ‘Hardy’ on us. Emma is earthy, who is driven to do things because of desires. She has motives, and I enjoyed exploring how people fall from grace the way they do. It’s a slow, gradual process. Flaubert stops and point out the various signs along the way as if to say ‘see here, she could have walked away, but she DIDN’T’. He’s a very clever author.
I never went through Madame Bovary… Did you read Three tales? A lot shorter and very interesting.
Nope, this is the first time I’ve read anything by Flaubert. But I enjoyed it. I’ll definitely give ‘Three Tales’ a try. I like short stories and novellas. Never used to mind you, but I think as I get older I have begun to appreciate what goes into it a lot more.
I think you should read Bovary. Just go though it as quickly as possible. Don’t be lazy like me! Hold your nose and swallow it on one go – like cough medicine. It looks worse than it is.
I may give it another try…
Just wondering why you gave it 3 stars out of 5? It was an excellent review, I loved your descriptions. I’ve been thinking of reading this recently, and was curious about the downsides for you?
Sorry, should have replied earlier but my phone line has been giving me problems.
My rating should have been 4/5, but there is something about this novel that I can’t quite put my finger on. For one, it took me a long time to complete it. I’ve struggled with it since August, but maybe the fault lies with me, not Flaubert.
There are no downsides to speak of, everything is where and how it should be, but sometimes I found myself wishing there was a bit more excitement. Emma’s husband never caught her at her game – in fact NO ONE in the village actually notices her behaviour. That is a bit odd, considering Madame is changing her draperies and upholsteries and buying lavish clothes etc and acting despicably to her husband all the time.
You’d think one of the women (her servants, for instance) would notice signs of deceit. And like Jean-Phillipe said… it is a translation. A very good one, to be sure, but just how much does it stay true to the original?
Your best bet would be to read it and find out for yourself.
Flaubert was usually shouting every sentense to test it. So, obviously, he has put a lot of hard work into the original version of his books. I don’t know if the magic works as much in English. Maybe it’s blander.
This book is now on my to be read list. I’ve heard so many varied things about it and yet no one was able to give a concise explanation of the appeal or even the subject matter. Thanks so much for sharing.
jean-phillipe – I often wonder how good translations are. Sometimes you can tell (when it’s really bad and it leaves you feeling detached), but there’s nothing like reading the original.
kimberly – I’m glad you found it useful.
I guess it mostly depends how much the writer played with language. Unless the translator puts a lot of work as well. I read Harry Potter in French and you don’t feel any problem (still I’m curious if I’ll enjoy the saga as much or more in English). One strange situation is some movie or tv series with a specific dialect like the Sopranos. You don’t get any Italo-American accent in French. Any mafia slang is a translation challenge.
Right now, I would prefer to read/watch in original language, unless there is a vocabulary problem, like Pillars of the Earth – 12th century England brings a lot of unusual words…
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