Madame Bovary (Oxford World's Classics)

Book Description

'Would this misery go on forever? Was there no escape? And yet she was every bit as good as all those other women who led happy lives!' When Emma Rouault marries Charles Bovary she imagines she will pass into the life of luxury and passion that she reads about in sentimental novels and women's magazines. But Charles is a dull country doctor, and provincial life is very different from the romantic excitement for which she yearns. In her quest to realize her dreams she takes a lover, and begins a devastating spiral into deceit and despair. Flaubert's novel scandalized its readers when it was first published in 1857, and it remains unsurpassed in its unveiling of character and society. In this new translation Margaret Mauldon perfectly captures the tone that makes Flaubert's style so distinct and admired.

Customer Reviews:

This story will stay with you.......2007-08-03

This book was a challenge initially, with many peaks and valleys to overcome. During the first half of the novel, Flaubert's overt word-painting on every trivial object nearly made me put it down. I marched on because there was a weird thread that kept telling me he was gathering for a big push. The second half of the novel was the most incredible description of this woman's self-destructive behavior in literature. I kept thinking, "God, how far is she blindly willing to go." Francis Steegmuller's translation captures the vernaculars and mood of Flaubert's intent. I compared three separate translations at the bookstore and read passages side by side to gauge the use of straightforward language. Steegmuller floored the rest; having sublimity the others did not posses. The book is on my shelf with pride.

Mixed feelings abound..........2007-07-31

I found myself incredibly annoyed by the character of Emma Bovary. Although, the story itself was written with flowery and descriptive flare, I think that Flaubert wrote Emma so well that by the time I was halfway into the book I was ready for her to just kill herself already. I trudged my way through the middle of this book only because I felt invested in it already. I didn't feel any empathy for her character. The story was very well written. A fan of Flaubert's, but I was definitely not a fan of Emma's.

It leaves you with so much.......2007-06-20

I really liked this book. Flaubert has such an interesting way of writing. His discriptions are pretty bizarre. For example the way he suggests the lusty acts that are occuring by describing the scenery or architecture.
The characters are so enigmatic and at the same time very simple. That's kind of how the whole book is, complexingly simple. Homais uses a line of (paraphrasing) mistaking arsenic for sugar when making vanilla custard. For me this was the theme of the book, but I'm sure it's different for others.
It's a book that leaves you thinking. There's just so much to take from it and you'd never get it all no matter how many times you read it.

Much like Emma's life..........2007-06-01

... a slog through the beginning and middle, really great toward the end, uninteresting at the end.

I was bored with both the story and the writing until about half way through the book. Suddenly the prose seemed to jump off of the page and the story swept me along. Like Anna Karenina, but not as good, this is a textbook example of fantasy and love addiction.

I can't see anything here that a young person could relate to. I hope high school students aren't still being tortured by being required to read it.

The Woes of an Incurable Romantic .......2007-05-27

This is a well written tale about an old story: a woman gets married and finds out that marriage is overrated. She turns to adultery and finds out that this does not satisfy either. It reminds me of the Kate Chopin tale, The Awakening, of a woman in similar circumstances with similar characteristics. Emma Bovary is a pre-cursor to the modern woman: bored, self-centered, and unrealistic. She is not interested in raising her child, helping her husband, or making friends with other women. She has servants to do the housework, so she has a lot of time to feel sorry for herself.

Emma Bovary pursues happiness but never quite catches up to it as she indulges in her passion for romance as an escape from the dullness of life in provincial towns. Even though she gets the romance she wants, she becomes dissatisfied with it later. Her pleasures are fleeting and she is ultimately dissatisfied whether she is bored or trying to escape boredom. She could not handle the mundane routines of life well. Bovary's romantic nature and her desire to live out her fantasies to relieve boredom leads to her downfall.

During her honeymoon days with Charles she imagines that she would be happier if she could travel to a far off place and live out some romantic fantasy: "Why couldn't she be leaning over a balcony in some Swiss chalet? Or nursing her melancholy in a cottage in Scotland, with a husband clad in a long black velvet coat and wearing soft leather shoes, a high crowned hat and fancy cuffs?" Charles is not the husband she dreams of. She finds out early on that he is rather dull and pragmatic. He has no interest in going to the theatre while he lives in the city of Rouen. His dress, learning, and personality cannot inspire any passions in her. He is a man with simple desires married to a woman with elaborate longings for romantic experiences, which is a classic rift in male/ female relationships: "He took it for granted that she was content; she resented his settled calm, his serene dullness, the very happiness that she herself brought him."

Her attempts to stir up passionate love from Charles do not work as she recites amorous verses and sings romantic songs to him. She takes strolls with her dog for "...the sake of a moment's solitude, a momentary relief from the everlasting sight of the back garden and the dusty road." She imagines what it might be like to be with another man who is unlike Charles had her life turned out differently. He would have a magnetic, witty, charming personality and they would live in the city where there would be opportunities to go to balls and theatres and to have "...opportunities for deep emotions and exciting sensations." Beyond this daydream, "...her life was as cold as an attic facing north and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving in the shadows, in every corner of her heart."

Looking at magazines about Paris, she imagines scenes of artists and writers who live life on a higher plane than the mundane level that she lives on. She longs to experience love with "elegant living" and "sensitive feeling" in a romantic place such as the Paris of her dreams. She tries to overcome her boredom this way, but it only leads to more desire for the finer things. Becoming despondent, she gives up playing music, embroidery, and reading. She quits music because she will never perform in front of an approving crowd in a beautiful dress: "There wasn't a chance of her giving a concert in a short sleeved velvet gown, skimming butterfly fingers over the ivory keys of the piano, feeling the public's ecstatic murmur flow around her like a breeze..."

Emma eventually sees through the illusions of her lovely dreams of finding the perfect husband and attributes it to art making things more beautiful than they are: "Ah! If only in the freshness of her beauty, before defiling herself in marriage, before the disillusionments of adultery, she could have some great and noble heart to be her life's foundation! Then virtue and affection, sensual joys and duty would all have been one; and she would have never fallen from her high felicity. But the happiness was doubtless a lie, invented to make one despair of any love. Now she well knew the true paltriness of the passions that art painted so large."

Soon after her night at the opera, she meets Leon and has an affair with him. She goes through the same pattern of disillusionment as the passion wears down as time goes on: "She continually promised herself that the next rendezvous would carry her to the peak of bliss; but when it was over she had to admit that she felt nothing extraordinary." Her passions were the sole concern of her life and she was not careful with money as she pursued her affair. As she spends more money to keep up her romantic illusions, she still does not have happiness and she remarks that adultery is as banal as marriage.

But for all her striving to fulfill romantic passions to relieve her boredom, there is moral condemnation of Emma as the priest does the final rites: "First he anointed her eyes, once so covetous of earthly luxury, then her nostrils, so gluttonous of caressing breezes and amorous scents; then her mouth, so prompt to lie, so defiant in pride, so loud in lust; then her hands, that had thrilled to voluptuous contacts, and finally the soles of her feet, once so swift when she had hastened to slake her desires, and now never to walk again."

Average customer rating:

A Compelling, Complex, Classic
Disturbingly Brilliant
The unsurpassed masterpiece of the European novel
Madame Bovary, or Provincial Lives
Good for discussion; not a page-turner

Madame Bovary (Penguin Classics)
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140449124

Book Description

For this novel of French bourgeois life in all its inglorious banality, Flaubert invented a paradoxically original and wholly modern style. His heroine, Emma Bovary, a bored provincial housewife, abandons her husband to pursue the libertine Rodolphe in a desperate love affair. A succès de scandale in its day, Madame Bovary remains a powerful and arousing novel.

Translated with an Introduction by Geoffrey Wall
New Preface by Michèle Roberts

Customer Reviews:

A Compelling, Complex, Classic.......2007-09-10

"The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is ''What does a woman want?'" Sigmund Freud

This is one unforgettable classic! I don't even know how to begin describing it, mainly because of the complexity of the main character Emma Bovary. When I finished this novel (almost in tears, for the ending is both tragic and very distressing) I walked away from it feeling extremely fortunate to be born in a time and place in which I have complete freedom. For, in a nutshell, what plagued our heroine throughout her entire life was the simple fact that she was trapped being a woman in a man's world (the novel takes place during the mid 19th century in Normandy). You see, Madame B. is no common, run-of-the-mill mademoiselle. On the contrary this gal is blessed with it all - beauty, brains, passion, etc... You name it, she's got it! She is the true embodiment of femininity - possessing style, grace, and a keen eye for artistic beauty, on top of also being a great cook, excellent piano player, having a knack for home-decor, sewing, drawing, etc... There is seemingly nothing she can't do or isn't good at.

Her tragic mistake (which is usually the case with many talented people throughout history) is that she marries the wrong person. Her husband Charles Bovary is a man who 'knew nothing, taught nothing, desired nothing' the complete antithesis of his enlightened wife Emma. Flaubert further defines him early on in the novel: 'Charles's conversation was as flat as any pavement... rousing no emotion, no laughter, no reverie. He had never ventured to the theatre... he couldn't swim, or fence or shoot...' In other words, he's boring as hell, and although he absolutely worships the ground his wife walks on, she, on the other hand, slowly begins to resent this servile, supine, sappy simpleton she finds herself tied down to. To complicate matters even further, she ends up pregnant and giving birth to a girl, Berthe (of course Emma was hoping and praying for a son, for 'a man, at least, is free...'). Depressed and engrossed with the eternal ennui, which inflicts so many women who marry men they feel no passion nor love toward, Emma embarks on her own personal crusade to find that happiness which always seems to be eluding her. A self-indulgent quest that in the end, only leads to catastrophic consequences for both her and her family.

What makes this masterpiece "Madame Bovary" such an interesting read is how totally modern this story is. Emma, desperately seeking an escape from being a lonesome, unfulfilled house-wife and mother, soon becomes a shopaholic, racking up debt all over town. When she is not shopping and spending money, she's having adulterous liaisons with men who... well, you shall have to see for yourself. While I was reading this, I kept thinking to myself, I know women like this! I see them all the time in the area (Silicon Valley, Northern California) in which I live. Beautiful women, who married their far from beautiful husbands for money and security. They don't work, have nannies taking care of the kids, while they cruise around in their new Mercedes or BMW shopping all day and hopping in the sack (although, like Emma, very discreetly) with one man after another. They hang out at upscale bars/restaurants with each other bitching about how difficult their lives are, how much they despise their husbands, their next trip to Europe, etc... while sipping on hundred dollar bottles of wine and comparing plastic surgeons. Talk about a sad, pathetic life... Just like Emma, these barracudas are completely empty inside. They can find no happiness from within, and the more material things they possess, the more their insatiable appetites go unfed... There is no price that can be placed for love. No one material item or one night of unbridled, erotic passion can ever replace the true love of a spouse or child.

The first part (there are three parts in all) of this novel was a bit slow, but once you get to part two, be prepared to be totally enraptured with this beautiful story. I am so happy, after all of these years, to have finally read this excellent classic. Truly worthy of five stars!

Disturbingly Brilliant.......2007-06-14

When I first began reading Madame Bovary, I was skeptical about a book revolving around the telltale subject-adultery. I was wondering how the reader was supposed to root for a woman who forsakes her husband again and again to seek self-absorbed, transient passions.

Brilliantly, Flaubert situates the novel so the reader can sympathize with either. He introduces the husband first, which is significant, as we know his back-story, but then we are introduced to the restrained beauty in the convent who longs for the adventures she zealously consumes in her books. It is a colorful account of a woman trying to chase away the boredom in her life. Absolutely brilliant.

The unsurpassed masterpiece of the European novel.......2007-06-04

Beyond its deservedly much-praised stylistic and structural perfection, the power of Gustave Flaubert's spectacular novel "Madame Bovary" comes from the fact that it addresses head-on one of the fundamental issues of human existence: the mechanisms humans invent for themselves to meet their own emotional needs. Romantic love is presented here as such a mechanism invented to help satisfy the human urge for sex in a non-commercial setting, in other words without direct cash payment, as for instance in prostitution.

Indeed, to survive, a man --- let me start with a man and not with Emma Bovary herself --- needs to eat, he needs to have a roof over his head and as of the onset of puberty he has to have his sexual needs attended to. To eat, man can shop for food, that's what the grocer is for. The home he needs can also be purchased, not from the grocer but from the builder and the decorator. When it comes to the sex, that too is freely available for purchase in any society, whether or not it is run by the bourgeoisie. In this case the purchase is made neither from the grocer, nor from the builder or the decorator, but from the prostitute. Remarkably, before meeting her, both Emma Bovary's lovers, had met their sexual needs in this commercial setting. We see Rodolphe Boulanger, even before becoming Emma's first lover, cynically calculating how he is going to get rid of her, once he will have had enough. After all, that is the only detail that strikes him as different from what transpires in a sexual transaction with a prostitute whom he can quit without any discussion as soon as he has paid up. He wants to connect with Emma not to save himself some money, he is well-to-do after all, but to "experience" non-commercial sex. Of course, unlike a prostitute, you do not pay an adulteress in cash. Another form of payment is extracted. The price is a pretense of love, of romantic love like in novels. Yes, Emma Bovary has read many a romantic novel in her time and knows all-too-well what to expect in matters of such romantic love. It is spectacular to watch how Emma and both her lovers play this romantic love game and in moments of sexual abandon are able to completely suspend disbelief. Flaubert is reducing romantic love to a currency, not unlike the cash that buys life's other necessities.

To Emma, a woman, love is something else altogether, something learned from novels. In this respect she drives Flaubert to one of the main issues of western civilization's novel, the effect of romantic novels on naïve readers. This issue had been forcefully raised already by Miguel de Cervantes, the inventor of the modern western novel. After all, his Don Quixote de la Mancha, is also an avid reader of romantic novels, and the lessons he draws from this reading set him up for fighting windmills, and asexually revering Dulcinea, a feminine creation of his own imagination. Emma Bovary, reads not the Spanish trash available to the Knight of the Mournful Countenance, but Sir Walter Scott and his like. Her second love affair is jump-started at a performance of Gaetano Donizetti's operatic setting of Sir Walter's "The Bride of Lammermoor." Whereas Cervantes pokes fun at the romantic novel, Flaubert explores what appear to be its outright tragic consequences. In this sense "Madame Bovary" is about the role of literature in everyday life.

But at a closer look, this role of literature is not as tragic by far as it first appears. After all, when dumped by Rodolphe Boulanger, her first lover, Emma Bovary gets herself a second lover Léon Dupuis, and could probably get herself a third lover once the affair with Léon runs its course. She is done in not by matters of love, but by the cavalier manner in which she handles her own and her husband's finances. It is her dealings with the unscrupulous merchant Lheureux that bring about her downfall. Lheureux couldn't care less about love, he is a strictly cash-and-carry fellow. In his own way, he tries to help Emma, to bring her to her senses. He sends her to the notary Guillaumin, who for a change offers to pay for her sexual services with money rather than with professions of romantic love. This prompts a revolted Emma's famous line, "Sir, you shamelessly take advantage of my distress. I am to be pitied, but I am not for sale." Spoken like a reader of Sir Walter Scott. Emma Bovary's willingness to find the sweet nothings whispered in her ear by Rodolphe and Léon as the only currency in which to accept payment for her sexual services, is tantamount to Don Quixote's willingness to fight the windmills.

So, in the end, Madame Bovary is as much about the role of literature in our lives, as about adultery or bourgeois philistinism, its most obvious themes. Lest one walk away with a bad feeling where matters literary are concerned, Flaubert spikes his text with his remarkable insights into the nature of great literature. Consider a paragraph in part II, Chapter 12, which starts as an astute examination of Rodolphe's jaded reaction to Emma's romantic chit-chat, and then smoothly meanders into as good a statement of the basic problem faced by a writer, as has ever been put in words by anyone "Human speech is like a cracked cauldron on which we knock out tunes for dancing bears, while aiming to move the stars to tears." Never mind the bears, Flaubert shoots for the stars and is right on target.

Madame Bovary, or Provincial Lives.......2007-05-08

Flaubert himself gave the book two titles. The first, MADAME BOVARY, is Emma, a beautiful convent-educated bourgeoise who, growing up reading nothing but Romantic literature, expects real life to match. Marrying a devoted but prosaic husband, she seeks solace where she can find it, with predictably tragic results. It is a beautifully anti-romantic object lesson in the dangers of romanticism, told with a sexual frankness which shocked its original readers, but which now inevitably seems a little tame.

But this sordid plot is contained in a novel that is satirical, even comic, portraying the complex pettiness inherent in the book's second title, PROVINCIAL LIVES. Flaubert hilariously counterpoints Emma's first steps towards adultery, for instance, with the speechifying of some petty functionary at an agricultural fair. In addition to Emma's mediocre doctor husband Charles, and her two lovers (the infatuated Léon and the libertine Rodolphe), the author includes many peripheral characters who together make up a portrait of small-town society, from the self-aggrandizing apothecary Homais to the draper and usurious money-lender Lheureux. But Flaubert can also temper his satirical edge in magnificent descriptions of scenes ranging from a village market to a provincial opera performance. [While I am in no position to say if the Penguin translation by Geoffrey Wall is better or worse than the others available, it is certainly good enough to give me much enjoyment in these passages, and is faithful to the French text of those sections that I have compared.]

Though tied to a particular place and time, the social and commercial elements of the story come across with startling modernity. It is, as I say, a little difficult to recapture the physical eroticism that so shocked its original readers, but its psychological aspect is still acute. Indeed, whether fully-fleshed or sketched in, the psychology of Flaubert's characters always rings true. For all that, Flaubert always has the air of writing from the outside, even when talking about Emma. The result is to show a story of decline that is all too plausible, and which leaves one helpless to intervene. The Bovary story may end in tragedy, but the provincial comedy that contains it continues unruffled on its petty course.

Good for discussion; not a page-turner.......2007-04-25

I read this for a book club. I have to admit that I'm not sure I see why it has received all this acclaim. There were pages that I just had to force myself to wade through. That being said, I can see for it's time that it was quite a thriller. The writing style is just so much different than what we as readers of most modern novels are accustomed to.

I never felt any kind of sympathy for Emma Bovary, but yet I do believe she is representative of those individuals who are always looking outward to something or someone else to make them happy. Manners, customs, fashions, lifestyles have changed, but there are still plenty of Emma Bovarys today. Good literature lets us see human nature at its best or at its worst; this book does that.

As the saying goes, "So many books, so little time" -- if you have lots of time, read this. However, if there's only so much time, there are many more modern novels that will be easier to read and relate to.

Madame Bovary (Norton Critical Editions)

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Madame Bovary (Norton Critical Editions)
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393979172

Book Description

The text of this Norton Critical Edition is based on Eleanor Marx Aveling's celebrated translation, revised by Paul de Man. Margaret Cohen's careful editorial revision modernizes and renews Flaubert's stylistic masterpiece. In addition, Cohen has added to the Second Edition a new introduction, substantially new annotations, and twenty-one striking images, including photographs and engravings, that inform students' understanding of middle-class life in nineteenth-century provincial France.

In Madame Bovary, Flaubert created a cogent counterdiscourse that exposed and resisted the dominant intellectual and social ideologies of his age. The novel's subversion of conventional moral norms inevitably created controversy and eventually led to Flaubert's prosecution by the French government on charges of offending "public and religious morality." This Norton edition is the only one available that includes the complete manuscript from Flaubert's 1857 trial.

"Criticism" includes sixteen studies regarding the novel's central themes, twelve of them new to the Second Edition, including essays by Charles Baudelaire, Henry James, Roland Barthes, Jonathan Culler, and Naomi Schor. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

Average customer rating:

A Beautiful Tragedy

Best of its kind

A Gem!

A True Masterpiece

Timeless Classic

Madame Bovary: 150th Anniversary Edition (Signet Classics)
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Madame Bovary (Cliffs Notes)

Anna Karenina (Signet Classics)

Paradise of the Blind: A Novel

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The Awakening

ASIN: 0451528204
Release Date: 2001-11-05

Book Description

Set amid the stifling atmosphere of nineteenth-century bourgeois France, Madame Bovary is at once an unsparing depiction of a woman's gradual corruption and a savagely ironic study of human stupidity. Provocative and deeply tragic, it is "possibly the most beautifully written book ever composed" (Frank O'Connor).

Translated by Mildred Marmur
With a New Introduction by Robin Morgan

Customer Reviews:

A Beautiful Tragedy.......2006-01-04

This is one of those books that always seems to come up in literary conversations, and because I like to be in the know, I decided I would pick it up between college courses and give it a try. I Loved It!!!
I was a bit surprised by the introduction to this particular book because the woman who authored it, Robin Morgan, seemed more than a touch pissed off that Flaubert was a sexist ass. In my opinion, as a feminist, it does not matter one bit. This novel is tragic, yes, but beautifully and fluidly written. While Flaubert may have been some kind of jerk (according to Robin Morgan) in his personal and/or literary life, this masterpiece is certainly worthy of praise regardless.
Sure, the characters are unlikable...and that is putting it nicely...but I cannot, in any way, say that they are unbelievable. Emma Bovary, AND her husband Charles, are fatally flawed...but such is the world we live in. Nobody is perfect and this novel is a testament to the fact.
This is a quick read, and again, it is, in my opinion, expertly and beautifully written. I am just miffed that I waited so long to dive into it! Highly recommended.

Best of its kind.......2004-08-18

Descriptive yet concise, this is some of the best writing ever! Flaubert truly sees the world as it is and spares nobody (the church, politicians, merchants, etc.). Sometimes criticized for a lack of plot, I think this unfair because real life is not often a thrill-per-minute ride, full of twists and turns. Realistically, the story REQUIRES this plot. Although published in 1857, it is as true today as ever because human nature hasn't changed. The reader truly experiences the passion and excitement of life tempered by the harsh realities so perceptively described by the author. Could it be that this novel foreshadowed Flaubert's own life? A must-read.

A Gem!.......2003-03-23

One of my favourite novels of all time! Truly astounding!
I read this when i was 13/14 for the first time (portuguese translation): i cannot recall my reaction. But 10 years l8er, during a hot, frustra8ing month of August - like all the months where there is enough sunlight 2 fry ur brains outdoors - i re-read this in 2 days sitting @ the park and lying in bed. What a thrill!!
Like Anna Karenina, Bovary is a perfect heroine. The difference is: this is a better novel. From beginning 2 end there is no fluff: just pure stylistical and emotional delirium making u snap @ every turn. I believe fully Flaubert's cry that HE was Madame Bovary: @ least u understand how ultimately inlove he was w/ her. ... It warps ur senses. It makes u turn that page faster and faster. These people r still alive in our towns, our pretentious backwaters, our petite bourgeoisie. This dreamy nihilistic boredom is perfectly contemporary, this need 2 have in order 2 forget loneliness & drape the hours w/ something more than void & human stupidity & stifling small-mindedness. I believe it was Benjamin who said something like: "The consumers relation with the real world, with politics, history and culture is not one of interest, investment or engaged responsibility. Rather, it is one of curiosity. One must try EVERYTHING: in fact man in consumer society is tormented by the fear of "missing" something, any enjoyment whatsoever... it is no longer desire or even taste or specific inclination that is in play, it is a generalised curiosity motivated by a widespread anxiety. It is the anxiety of always feeling on the verge of - but only on the verge of - finally grasping the object of desire, the meaning of life, the rules of the game."
A literary miracle and a pure, luminous joy! :o)

A True Masterpiece.......2003-02-19

Madame Bovary is, without a doubt, the best book I have ever read, and I love to read. This is a story about human nature and irony. Emma Bovary wants every man, but the man who adores her. She is selfish, oblivious, and cold. Her husband, Charles, is crazy for her, and she is disgusted by his unconditional love for her. This book is exciting and adventerous, but the element of reality is there too. The mixture of fantasy and reality is beautiful. If you enjoy reading, then this book is a must! I can not reccommend it too highly.

Timeless Classic.......2002-11-09

I read this book as a required reading for my 12 grade Advanced Placement english class and found it a very quick, enjoyable read. Often times a lot is lost in translation, but with a book as wonderful as Madame Bovary, no matter how you slice it it comes off as a masterpiece. A wonderful story about the rise and fall of a once peasant farm girl to a woman of luxury and an adulturous past. This book has everything: sex, love, passion, intrigue, tragedy, death, lies, and appealing characters. Read Madame Bovary!

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Madame Bovary (Cliffs Notes)
James L. Roberts
Manufacturer: Cliffs Notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0822007800

Book Description

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background.

With CliffsNotes on Madame Flaubert, you'll gain insight into Gustave Flaubert's novel that was so scandalous, he was brought to trial for immorality. Written in 1857, Madame Bovary is a pointed telling of the protagonist's immoral behavior as she ignores her duties as wife and mother to pursue her superficial romantic ideals. However, many now claim the novel as an integral part of modern European and American fiction and the forerunner and model of the realistic novel.

Show your classmates – and your grade-granting teacher – that you're in the know with literature. You can't miss with chapter summaries, plot explorations, and author insights. Other features that help you study include

A brief synopsis of the novel
Insightful chapter commentaries
Critical essays on major themes, symbolism, style, and more
In-depth character analyses
An interactive quiz to test your knowledge
Essay topics and review questions

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure – you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Customer Reviews:

madame bovary.......2000-06-07

An exquisitely written book about Madame Bovary's search for love, and all of the pain and hardships as a result of that search. The book is eloquently written and wonderfully entertaining- making Madame Bovary's character human and real.

not ugly.......2000-04-02

Madame Bovary is a beatufully written satire on bourgeois society. Flaubert puts humor throughout the book through his characters. Each action of the characters has a hint of fakery that is very characterist of Bourgeois society. The book was not written as a guideline of how to live one's life, but a story of the real problems that the people during that time confronted. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to read one of the most well written and thoughtout books.

Ugly.......1999-11-30

I connot say that I recomend this book, to anyone. It is a horrible display of character. Hasn't anyone heard of the ten commandments in this world? First of all thou shalt not covet. Don't be wanting something you can't have! Unlike Madame Bovary if you are living in a situation you don't like you learn to like it. Second, thou shalt not commit adultrey. Oh, wait that is exactly what she did. A couple of times. This book is ugly, and it shouldn't be read by those who are trying to lead a christian life.

very well written and easy to understand.......1999-04-26

As above. The book was very beneficial whilst writting essays

very well written and easy to understand.......1999-04-26

As above. The book was very beneficial whilst writting essays

Madame Bovary's Ovaries: A Darwinian Look at Literature

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Interestsing book
Interesting, yet.....
Two Viewpoints Equally Valid
A distortion of true Darwinism that does no service to literature
Genes Rule!

Madame Bovary's Ovaries: A Darwinian Look at Literature
David P. Barash
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385338023
Release Date: 2006-05-30

Book Description

What can elephant seals tell us about Homer’s Iliad?
How do gorillas illuminate the works of Shakespeare?
What do bloodsucking bats have to do with John Steinbeck?
MADAME BOVARY’S OVARIES
A Darwinian Look at Literature
According to evolutionary psychologist David Barash and his daughter Nanelle, the answers lie in the most important word in biology: evolution. Just like every animal from mites to monkeys, our day-to-day behavior has been shaped by millions of years of natural selection. So it should be no surprise to learn that the natural forces that drive animals in general and Homo sapiens in particular are clearly visible in the creatures of literature, from Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones all the way to Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones. Seen through the lens of evolutionary biology, the witty repartee of Jane Austen’s courting couples, Othello’s tragic rage, the griping of Holden Caulfield, and the scandalous indiscretions of Madame Bovary herself all make a fresh and exciting kind of sense.
The ways we fall in—and out—of love, stand by our friends, compete against our enemies, and squabble with our families have their roots in biological imperatives we share not only with other primates but with an amazing array of other creatures. The result is a new way to read, a novel approach to novels (and plays) that reveals how human nature underlies literature, from the great to the not-so-great.
Using the cutting-edge ideas of contemporary Darwinism, the authors show how the heroes and heroines of our favorite stories have been molded as much by evolution as by the genius of their creators, revealing a gallery of characters from Agamemnon to Alexander Portnoy, who have more in common with birds, fish, and other mammals than we could ever have imagined.
As engaging and informative as a good story, Madame Bovary’s Ovaries is both an accessible introduction to a fascinating area of science and a provocatively sideways look at our cherished literary heritage. Most of all, it shows in a delightfully enteraining way how science and literature shed light on each other.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Interestsing book.......2006-12-03

Hmm, if nothing else this book made me want to read a lot of books it mentioned in the book.

This book lays out broad principles for analyzing literary characters. I don't think the idea of judging literary characters from a biological perspective is all that new, in fact, probably most be probably subconsciously judge characters on some of those factors already. I probably like a character more if she is described as attractive and lively rather than plain and timid and if I am judging them on their physical appearance (sort of), than I probably also accounting for their behavior taking into account basic human assumptions based in biology about why we act like we do. But this book goes a step further and lays out an broad analytical principles to think about literature from and that was fairly interesting.

Two other things I liked about this book that other people might not mention. I like the descriptions of the other books that it analyzes, both the father and daughter like literature and it shows in the book and it makes it more fun to read.

Secondly, this book is well-balanced, it doesn't feel like it was written by a woman for a woman, nor does it feel like a book written by a man, which we would assume would only be concerned about the sex lives of the characters in the story. Instead, its well balanced and covers a host of human needs that we all feel, I feel getting the book to that point was probably harder than it would first appear.

Interesting, yet............2006-08-21

About two decades ago I attended a conference on aging where my lab chief was giving a talk. Upon a question of one of the older attendees "why old age was plagued with so many diseases" my late mentor answered "I am a biologist. I am of the conviction that our sole purpose in life is to propagate the species. With that process taken care of old age is of little importance in evolutionary terms". It is very much in this same vein that the Barashes examine Madame's ovaries here.

I enjoyed reading this book and can recommended to both the literary and evolutionary inclined. Yet, there is some reason for slight hesitation.

This book has two main ingredients: evolutionary biology/psychology and a survey of some of the best known literary classics. At times the authors have been able to mix the elements well; at times they have been less successful.

The first few chapters, in which the male and female point of view of actions and behavior aimed at propagation of the sperm/egg donor's genes are discussed, struck me as the most successful part of the book. Here, biology and literature are well integrated. In addition, it is in these chapters that the Barashes really live up to the claim of adding a new facet to the interpretation of the classics.

After these chapters' convincing start, later chapters were less successful. I will give one example.

Diving in Hamilton's seminal work which was introduced by Dawkins' "The selfish gene" to a broader audience, we get a less than fully convincing explanation of the fate of step children. While examples of the analogies in the animal world make for interesting reading, I felt that reducing all "abuse" of step children to selfish genes was too much of a simplification.

Yet, within the restrictions that both the page number and accessibility to a large audience allowed, I considered this an interesting read.

While an inclusion of the discussion of homosexuality would of course have added little in the sense of propagation of the species, the fact that the (literary) arts have had such an age old benefit from homosexual overrepresentation would have given sufficient justification to discuss that orientation as well.

Especially the discussion of writers like Tennessee Williams from that perspective could have added significantly to the book's literary aspirations.

Two Viewpoints Equally Valid.......2006-08-11

An absolutely delightful romp through biology and literature tying the two together in ways never attempted before. The basic premise is genetic portraying Man as a package for a genetic code. This is applied to literature in a very interesting way. Or, it could be looked upon as just the opposite with literary examples to illustrate biological points. All in all, completely delightful. Highly recommended.

A distortion of true Darwinism that does no service to literature.......2006-04-17

I came to this book expecting something wonderful. Instead, what I got was pseudoscience with no sense of scientific method, and pseudo-criticism with no sense of having read at more than a shallow level. A single example will suffice. The authors believe that "Othello" is essentially about the human tendency toward polygamy, which they describe as virtually undisputed. They do not cite scientific sources for this view, because in fact it's highly controversial; as for the play, they quote one brief passage (from Iago) that only vaguely supports their theory about the text. In effect, this book does science the very same way that creationists do: by starting with fixed opinions, and gathering "facts" about them the way some birds gather shiny bits of garbage.

Genes Rule!.......2006-04-05

With the heated debate about intelligent design versus evolution, here's a book that weighs in, using literature as its foil. And what it has to say makes remarkable sense.

The authors write, "Whether it is the self-sacrificial stinging of a worker bee or the willingness of adult zebras to defend a colt attacked by lions, we now see genes caring for themselves. Armed with these same insights, it is also possible to make sense of those fictional tales in which people reveal desires and connections..."

Othello is not just a story about a jealous guy. It's about sperm...the need for the sperm to make the most of its evolutionary prospects. Nor is Madame Bovary a horny married woman. She is the bearer of the egg, someone who wants her progeny to be fathered by a more appealing prospect...nt the dull Charles.

Over and over, the authors compare the species [...] Sapien to the other species of the animal kingdom, showing how our mating behavior -- indeed, other behaviors hardwired into our DNA -- are incredibly similar. It is the height of hubris, according to the authors, to believe otherwise.

When one reads literature with the overlay of Darwinism, it adds a new dimension and another insight into our animal lives. I highly recommend it for anyone who's not afraid of thinking!

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A classic everyone should read!

Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: Ann Arbor Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1587263920

Customer Reviews:

A classic everyone should read!.......2007-04-05

This is one of a few classics of our time. When it was first published in 1857 it was consider a public scandal. Read en enjoy!

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Madame Bovary / Madam Bovary
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: Mondadori (IT)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert
Manufacturer: Tantor Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 140010274X

The King and the Adulteress: A Psychoanalytic and Literary Reinterpretation of Madame Bovary and King Lear

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The King and the Adulteress: A Psychoanalytic and Literary Reinterpretation of Madame Bovary and King Lear
Roberto Speziale-Bagliacca , and Roberto Speziale-Bagliacca
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Amazon.com

In the mad scramble that is everyday life, one seldom has the time, the opportunity, or perhaps, the self-knowledge to step back and look at the whole picture--that's what hindsight is for. In retrospect we can see how decisions and events led to specific consequences, and we can speculate on how things might be now if even one choice, one action had been different. Literature is a different proposition entirely; here we have entire histories encapsulated within the acts of play, the chapters of a novel, or the lines of a poem. We can see how personality, conflict and choice all work on one or more of the characters, and if the piece is good, by the time we reach the end the resolution seems both right and inevitable.

In The King and the Adulteress, Italian psychoanalyst Roberto Speziale-Bagliacca takes two of Western culture's most enduring works, Shakespeare's King Lear and Flaubert's Madame Bovary and applies his science to their art. Certainly this makes for an interesting academic exercise--Speziale-Bagliacca speculates about Lear's insecurity and Charles and Emma's relationship--but does it add either understanding or enjoyment to our experience of these works of art? In the end, the fate of mad King Lear bellowing his rage and despair on a storm-tossed moor makes perfect psychological sense without the psychoanalysis. Still, for a different take on what made Emma Bovary or Lear tick, The King and the Adulteress might be of interest.

Book Description

The King and the Adulteress brings together two essays that propose radically revisionary readings of two of the most important literary works in the Western canon, Flaubert’s Madame Bovary and Shakespeare’s King Lear. In offering a new understanding of a deeply sadomasochistic relationship and of an authoritarian pathology, renowned psychoanalyst Roberto Speziale-Bagliacca combines psychoanalysis with literary studies to challenge the conventional judgments of readers and the stereotyped interpretations of literary critics to these masterpieces.
Approaching the characters in Bovary and Lear from both an analytic and a critical viewpoint, Speziale-Bagliacca reinterprets many issues and events that involve archetypal figures of modern literary mythology. In fact, he reverses much of the received opinion about them. Charles Bovary, for example, far from being a victim of his wife’s neurotic restlessness or the epitome of a passive imbecile, is a masochist of the highest order who makes a decisive contribution to Emma’s miserable end. Lear, rather than a tragedy involving the sweet Cordelia, noble Kent, and the Fool as good and loyal supporters of an old king driven to madness by his overbearing evil daughters, is precisely the opposite. The sympathetic understanding of the reader should go, Speziale-Bagliacca suggests, also to Regan, Goneril, and Edmund, while the king, whose crisis is interpreted in the light of psychoanalytic findings on depression, finally becomes the true unbeloved "bastard" of the play.
Roberto Speziale-Bagliacca is a psychoanalyst and Professor of Psychotherapy at the Medical School of the University of Genoa. He is the author of On the Shoulders of Freud and many other works.

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