Madame Bovary Summary and Review

Author: Gustave Flaubert
Genre: Novel, Literary realism, Domestic Fiction, Psychological Fiction
Pages: 364
Publication date: December 15, 1856

Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary is a story about expectations and the illusions that ultimately destroy us. It feels surprisingly contemporary, even though it was written in the 19th century. I’m saying this because, just like today, when we’re chasing the perfect life by looking at Instagram pictures of our friends, Madame Bovary was deeply into literature and had this perfect image of an ideal life — an image that ultimately destroyed her. 

This reminds me of a famous quote by Honoré de Balzac: “Our worst misfortunes never happen, and most miseries lie in anticipation.”  Madame Bovary’s misery comes not from real events, but from her constant longing and imagining of a life that was never meant to be. 

Did I like the novel? In fact, I did. There were moments when it felt a bit slow, and some of the descriptions seemed to drag on. But overall, it’s not a very long book, and I would recommend reading it if you’re past your 30s. In my opinion, teenagers and those in their early 20s, who lack relationship experience, might not fully grasp its depth.

What You Should Know Before Reading the Book

She was married to a country doctor, but she became bored with her life and took on various lovers. In the end, she committed suicide by ingesting prussic acid. This real-life story inspired Flaubert to create a similar narrative, diving deeper into what could ultimately destroy a woman. 

Madame Bovary Summary 

Charles was sent by his mother to study medicine, but he wasn’t as intelligent as his parents had hoped. In the end, he became not a very promising doctor in a small town called Tost, in Normandy. His mother also advised him to marry a woman who wasn’t particularly beautiful and was already in her 40s. After she passed away, Charles was left with a small part of her fortune.

At one point, Charles was called to attend to a farmer, and it was there that he became quite engaged with the farmer’s daughter, Emma.

They didn’t have much time to really get to know each other, and the fact that Charles was a doctor and a respectable man in town didn’t raise any doubts in Emma’s mind. She convinced herself that she was making the right decision and started imagining how perfect her life could be with him. 

But once they moved out of her parents’ house, leaving only her father behind, Emma began to realize that her expectations were too high. Charles was an ordinary man, not wealthy at all, living off the income from his patients. He was such a kind person that he often didn’t even ask for payment from them.

Emma was bored, and the only people she knew were the pharmacist and his wife, a young lawyer, Leon, along with his husband. Charles, emotionally, was a very distant person, and Emma wasn’t content with the life she was leading. However, Charles was happy with his life, feeling pleased with having a beautiful wife. In his own way, he was also living in his illusions, thinking everything was perfect. He had the income they needed, and they were living a modest, yet seemingly perfect life.

The people Emma interacted with would occasionally meet and have conversations, and Leon started paying extra attention to her. At one point, he invited her out and even kissed her, but Madame Bovary pushed him away, reminding him that she was married. Soon after, Leon left the town, leaving Madame Bovary feeling more confused, wondering if maybe she should have given him another chance. However, she doesn’t stay in this state for long. Very soon, one of Charles’ patients arrives with his master, Rudolf Boulanger, a wealthy man and a notorious womanizer. This is when new sparks of love ignite in Madame Bovary’s heart.

It seemed like Emma had finally found what she was looking for—a perfect man who spoke the exact words she had been waiting to hear. They began writing letters to each other and meeting in secret places. Emma’s heart would race every time she thought about their secret encounters, spending hours together. She would say how much she loved Rudolf, desperately hoping to hear the same from him. At first, Rudolf seemed genuinely romantic, truly in love with her.

Emma became so consumed by her feelings for him that she barely paid attention to her own daughter, often leaving her at home with the servants. She used her daughter as an excuse, saying she was visiting a woman who was breastfeeding her, or coming up with other reasons to meet Rudolf. One day, Emma, convinced she had found the love of her life, asked Rudolf to take her away. They prepared for an escape, but at the last moment, Rudolf realized he wasn’t willing to take on the burden of another man’s child and a woman. He wasn’t ready to give up his independence. He sent a letter to Madame Bovary, ending their secret affair.

Madame Bovary fell into a deep depression, spending months in bed, recovering from this unexpected separation. But soon after, Léon returned to town, and Emma, thinking she should give their love another chance, decided to restart things with him. Meanwhile, all the fantasies she had about a perfect life, perfect dresses to seduce Rudolf or Léon, led her to borrow money from a lender who would provide whatever she wanted—or, as he put it, “lend” her the things she desired. However, the amount Emma borrowed soon became overwhelming. She had racked up a debt of 3,000 pounds.

The Ending of Madame Bovary

Because of the mounting debt, Emma and Charles received a notice from the government informing them that they would have to give up their house. Charles was devastated, not knowing what to do. Soon, he discovered the full extent of their financial troubles, and Emma, desperate to find a way out, turned to Léon for help. But Léon, not a wealthy man himself, told her that he couldn’t help. Emma, frustrated and disillusioned, felt that Léon didn’t love her the way she had loved him.

In her desperation, she turned to Rudolf, hoping to resume their affair. She told him that she was ready to continue their relationship, believing he was the love of her life. She also asked him for the money, but Rudolf, too, admitted he didn’t have the amount she needed. Disappointed by the realization that none of her lovers had loved her the way she had hoped, Emma, overwhelmed by sorrow, ran to the pharmacist’s store and took arsenic (rat poison).

When she returned home, she was already pale and in agony. After hours of suffering, Emma died. Charles, utterly destroyed by her death, went through Emma’s belongings in the process of giving up their house. It was then that he found a letter from Rudolf and learned of their secret affair. Charles, heartbroken and traumatized, couldn’t cope with the loss of his wife. Not long after Emma’s death, he, too, passed away.

Emma’s daughter was sent to her grandmother’s house, but the grandmother soon died as well. Eventually, the little girl was taken in by her aunt.

Review

As I’ve already mentioned, I did like the book. You really get a sense of how Emma had high hopes and expectations based on the books she read. She created an imaginary world in her mind, but none of the reality she encountered matched those expectations. Her own illusions, combined with her husband’s indifference, led her into this tragic situation. She was desperate to find someone who would appreciate her, who would love her the way she had imagined, and she was willing to love in return. But the men she was with—Léon and Rudolf—were typical men who understood that a woman was married, and the only thing they wanted was an affair with no responsibilities. It’s easy to jump into a relationship with a married woman when you have no real commitments.

But was it completely Emma’s fault that she ended up in this situation? I think Charles also had his part in it. Both Emma and Charles were much alike, and they were both living in their own illusions. Charles thought his life was perfect and didn’t think there was anything more he could want, but he didn’t pay much attention to his wife’s feelings. Women, after all, are made of hormones and emotions, and as a doctor, Charles wasn’t very aware of that. They were both guilty of not speaking about their emotions. In my opinion, if they had communicated better, even before or during their marriage, they could have found a way to come together and create something meaningful.

But Emma wanted a perfect life outside of her marriage, and Charles thought he was already living in a perfect marriage. This misunderstanding led to the choices they both made. In essence, Charles did nothing, and that was his fault, while Emma did everything in her pursuit of love, and that was her fault. I don’t know what I would do in this situation. Probably, I’d talk to my husband and focus on my daughter. In my personal morality, there’s no place for an affair. Or maybe Emma could have divorced Charles and tried to find someone else. But in that case, she wouldn’t have been involved with either Rudolf or Léon because they weren’t looking for a meaningful relationship—they just wanted to have a good time with her.

Anyway, this book raises so many questions, and that’s what I liked about it. It gives you something to discuss with a friend, with another book lover. That’s why I liked it. Personally, I’d rate this book 7 out of 10.

If You Liked Madame Bovary, You May Also Like…

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy