Madame Bovary
Emma Rouault marries Charles Bovary, a dull, kindly provincial doctor, expecting the grand passions and elegant life she has absorbed from sentimental novels. Instead she finds herself trapped in the monotony of small-town Normandy, and her disappointment curdles into a restless craving for something more.
In pursuit of the romance and luxury she believes she deserves, Emma embarks on a series of love affairs and reckless spending, sinking ever deeper into debt and self-deception. Flaubert traces her longing with unflinching precision, refusing either to condemn or to rescue her, as the gap between her fantasies and her reality closes into tragedy.
One of the founding works of literary realism, Madame Bovary scandalized its first readers and remains a masterpiece of style and psychological insight — a devastating portrait of desire, boredom, and the seductive lies we tell ourselves.
A provincial doctor's wife whose romantic fantasies drive her toward affairs, debt, and ruin.
A wealthy landowner who seduces Emma.
Emma's devoted but dull husband, a country officier de santé.
A young law clerk with whom Emma has an affair.