Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary

1. Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary FLT 252 Spring 2012

3. Realism

4. Realism Is it possible to depict reality through art?

5. Realism • 19th Century France

6. Realism • 19th Century France • Science is on the rise

7. Realism • 19th Century France • Science is on the rise • Positivism argues that the world can be explained through science

8. Realism • 19th Century France • Science is on the rise • Positivism argues that the world can be explained through science • Biology and natural sciences are popular

9. Realism • 19th Century France • Science is on the rise • Positivism argues that the world can be explained through science • Biology and natural sciences are popular • Photography is not far away

10. Realism • 19th Century France • Science is on the rise • Positivism argues that the world can be explained through science • Biology and natural sciences are popular • Photography is not far away • Industrialized society

11. Realism • 19th Century France • Science is on the rise • Positivism argues that the world can be explained through science • Biology and natural sciences are popular • Photography is not far away • Industrialized society • Writers attempt to depict contemporary life and society

12. Realism • In many ways an answer to Romanticism

13. Realism • In many ways an answer to Romanticism • Descriptions of everyday and banal experiences

14. Realism • In many ways an answer to Romanticism • Descriptions of everyday and banal experiences • Often showing “behind a closed door” behavior, designed to subvert romantic notions

15. Realism • In many ways an answer to Romanticism • Descriptions of everyday and banal experiences • Often showing “behind a closed door” behavior, designed to subvert romantic notions • There was a market-orientated aspect

16. Realism

17. Realism Henri-Marie Beyle “Stendhal” (1783-1842) Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850)

18. Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)

19. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France

20. Rouen, France

21. Rouen, France Paris, France

22. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France

23. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France • Second son of a surgeon and a doctor’s daughter

24. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France • Second son of a surgeon and a doctor’s daughter • Began writing as young as eight (1837 first publication)

25. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France • Second son of a surgeon and a doctor’s daughter • Began writing as young as eight (1837 first publication) • Educated in his native city and did not leave until 1840

26. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France • Second son of a surgeon and a doctor’s daughter • Began writing as young as eight (1837 first publication) • Educated in his native city and did not leave until 1840 • Moved to Paris to study law (22 years old)

27. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France • Second son of a surgeon and a doctor’s daughter • Began writing as young as eight (1837 first publication) • Educated in his native city and did not leave until 1840 • Moved to Paris to study law (22 years old) • Sick with early signs of epilepsy, left Paris

28. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France • Second son of a surgeon and a doctor’s daughter • Began writing as young as eight (1837 first publication) • Educated in his native city and did not leave until 1840 • Moved to Paris to study law (22 years old) • Sick with early signs of epilepsy, left Paris • Lived with his mother

29. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France • Second son of a surgeon and a doctor’s daughter • Began writing as young as eight (1837 first publication) • Educated in his native city and did not leave until 1840 • Moved to Paris to study law (22 years old) • Sick with early signs of epilepsy, left Paris • Lived with his mother • Few romantic relationships, yet lots of prostitutes

30. Born 12 December 1821 in Rouen, France • Second son of a surgeon and a doctor’s daughter • Began writing as young as eight (1837 first publication) • Educated in his native city and did not leave until 1840 • Moved to Paris to study law (22 years old) • Sick with early signs of epilepsy, left Paris • Lived with his mother • Few romantic relationships, yet lots of prostitutes • Died of a stroke in 1880 at 58

31. First serious piece: La Tentation de Saint Antoine (started in 1839, finally published in 1874)

32. First serious piece: La Tentation de Saint Antoine (started in 1839, finally published in 1874) • Four rewrites, struggling between religion and science

33. First serious piece: La Tentation de Saint Antoine (started in 1839, finally published in 1874) • Four rewrites, struggling between religion and science • Read to Louis Bouilhet in 1849

34. “Throw it all into the fire, and let’s never mention it again […] You muse must be kept on bread and water or lyricism will kill her. Write a down-to-earth novel like Balzac’s Parents pauvres. The story of Delamare, for instance […]”

35. Title Page of the original 1857 French edition

37. Serialized between October 1856 – December 1856 in La Revue de Paris

38. Serialized between October 1856 – December 1856 in La Revue de Paris • Caused a scandal and trial in January 1857

39. Serialized between October 1856 – December 1856 in La Revue de Paris • Caused a scandal and trial in January 1857 • Trial brought extensive notoriety

40. Serialized between October 1856 – December 1856 in La Revue de Paris • Caused a scandal and trial in January 1857 • Trial brought extensive notoriety • Acquitted in February 1857 – instant bestseller

41. Serialized between October 1856 – December 1856 in La Revue de Paris • Caused a scandal and trial in January 1857 • Trial brought extensive notoriety • Acquitted in February 1857 – instant bestseller • 2007 survey of authors:

42. Serialized between October 1856 – December 1856 in La Revue de Paris • Caused a scandal and trial in January 1857 • Trial brought extensive notoriety • Acquitted in February 1857 – instant bestseller • 2007 survey of authors: “One of the two greatest novels ever written” (together with Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina)