Madame Bovary

“Her great desire, in fact, was to have something more solid, more tangible than love to rely upon.” With a glamorized view of the world from the many romantic novels and beauty magazines she reads, the beautiful but morally corrupt Emma Bovary yearns for passion, wealth and high society. But reality is way different from her daydreams. As her marriage to the unintelligent Charles Bovary stirs discontentment in her life, she is left saying to herself— “Oh, why, dear God, did I marry him?” Consumed by her romantic fantasies, she indulges in adultery. and when even her affairs fail, the denouement is tragic. A seminal work of literary realism, Madame Bovary was Gustave Flaubert’s debut novel. Revealing the powerlessness of women and mediocrity of the bourgeoisie, the book was considered scandalous when first published. Adapted into various art forms including films and operas, this masterpiece continues to enchant its audience.