Emotional education

Author: Gustave Flaubert
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: Sentimental Education is a significant novel by the great French 19th-century realist writer Gustave Flaubert. It depicts the life and emotional journey of a young university student, Frederic, from youth to middle age. Frederic comes from an upper-middle-class provincial family. During his university years in Paris, he becomes entangled with four women: the first is the beautiful, gentle, and virtuous Mademoiselle Arnoux; the second is the young, pretty, and flamboyant courtesan Rosanье; the third is the innocent, romantic, and devoted hometown girl Louise; and the fourth is the elegant and refined lady Madame de Brulier. Due to his prolonged entanglement in love, he cannot extricate himself, eventually abandons his studies, achieves nothing in life, and regrets it forever. Sentimental Education reveals the profound meaning of love and morality. With its beautiful language and innovative and unique writing style, it vividly portrays the inner emotional world of the male and female protagonists, earning widespread admiration from readers. As a result, it created a sensation in the world literary scene and its literary value and charm have endured through the ages.