5。 Conclusion 12

References 13

1。 Introduction 

1。1 The Introduction of the Writer and the Book 

    Gustave Flaubert (December 17, 1821 – May 8, 1880) was one of the greatest realistic novelists in the 19th century。 He was the leading exponent of literary realism of France who played an important role in the transformation of realism to modernism。 He was known as “the ancestor of naturalism literature” and “the founder of western modern novels"。

Flaubert’s representative works are Madame Bovary, Sentimental Education, Three Tales and so on。 He is famous particularly for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), and for his scrupulous devotion to his style and aesthetics。 Madame Bovary is a novel of realism。

          Realism stressed the presentation of life as it is, without embellishment or idealization。 Although Flaubert’s realism portrays the world as it is, he fashions his images with the pen of an artist。 Thus, his words may please the eye and ear even though they describe an ugly, foul or revolting event。 His writing is careful, precise, objective, and emotionally restrained。 Rather than rely on the approximate adjective-noun phrase to represent a thought, Flaubert sought the exact word, unadorned—le mot juste。 

The story is about a farm girl, Emma who, however, had received aristocratic education。 Emma was the wife of Charles Bovary, a doctor of a small town。 She looked down upon her husband, dreaming of romantic love。 She had adulterous affairs and lived beyond her means to escape from the banalities and emptiness of provincial life。 But her affairs, rather than give her happiness, make her desperate, deep in debt。 At last, she had to commit suicide。

   It has been calculated that Madame Bovary began in October 1827 and ended in August 1846。 This is the time of the "July Monarchy", or the rule of King Louis Philippe I, he who strolled Paris carrying his own umbrella, as if to honor an ascendant bourgeois middle class。  The July Monarchy was dominated by wealthy bourgeoisie。 It followed conservative policies。 During this period, French capitalism developed rapidly when the bourgeoisie lived in the so-called society of prosperity。 Nevertheless, the general labor class and the ordinary citizens lived a very poor life in the rising stage of capitalism。 However, Flaubert was not deluded by the surface prosperity of the developed capitalist society。 He looked at the evil essence of capitalism covered by various appearances with his clear mind。 Much of the time and effort that Flaubert spends detailing the customs of the rural French people shows them aping an urban, emergent middle class。 In this novel, he showed and criticized the ugly social reality like through the characters like Rodolphe Boulanger, Léon Dupuis and Monsieur Lheureux。 And he showed his sympathy to the labor people under the cruel exploitation of the bourgeoisie by describing the life of Charles Bovary。 Furthermore, from the angle of feminism, this is the time of patriarchal society in which men were senior to women。 Women were restricted to keep mute and to behave according to the norms and value standards of male society。 There were only two extremes for them to go, to be the obedient angel or to be the treacherous demon。 Flaubert’s Emma was just the one choosing the latter to be a betrayer, who can be seen as a representative to revolt against the male society。论文网

          Full of criticism and resistance, Madame Bovary was not received by society at that time, which was actually controversial。 When it was first serialized in La Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856, the novel was attacked for obscenity by public prosecutors。 The resulting trial, held in January 1857, made the story notorious。 After Flaubert's acquittal on 7 February 1857, Madame Bovary became a bestseller when it was published as a single volume in April 1857。 The novel is now considered Flaubert's masterpiece, as well as a seminal work of realism and one of the most influential novels ever written。