Personal Library -- Madame Bovary

Author: (French) Flaubert Chu Shuangyue
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: Flaubert was an artistic master who strove for perfection. He regarded words and literary creation as his life, using language with extreme precision, writing in elegant and classical style, with a smooth and melodious rhythm. Madame Bovary, as his masterpiece, marked a turning point in the history of French fiction. The charm of this classic work has only grown more enduring with time. The protagonist of the book, Emma, is the daughter of a wealthy provincial farmer and spent her youth in a convent, reading extensively in Romantic literature. After marrying the mediocre and dull town doctor Charles Bovary, she was dissatisfied with domestic life and became the mistress of the landowner Rodolphe and the clerk Leon. To please Leon and maintain a luxurious lifestyle, she squandered her husband's wealth and borrowed money at high interest rates. Later, Leon grew tired of her, and the creditors began to demand repayment. With no way out, she took arsenic and committed suicide. Flaubert was an artistic master who strove for perfection. He regarded words and literary creation as his life, using language with extreme precision, writing in elegant and classical style, with a smooth and melodious rhythm. Madame Bovary, as his masterpiece, marked a turning point in the history of French fiction. The charm of this classic work has only grown more enduring with time.