ed_moore 's review for:

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

2.25

emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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“Sorrow was engulfed within her soul in soft shrieks as in the wind makes in ruined castles” 

Flaubert’s ‘Madame Bovary’ was the pioneering novel of realism and alongside ‘Don Quixote’ and ‘Ulysses’ one of the major turning points in the development of the novel. It follows Emma Bovary who is disillusioned by the love stories of her novels and dissatisfied in her marriage to Charles, and hence seeks frequent affairs in order to try and get the false love she has been promised in fiction. Despite this core character trait though it wasn't anywhere near as intertextual as I expected.

In my opinion it was very similar to ‘Anna Karenina’ in following an adulteress woman facing financial pressures and seeking a life that seems unfeasible. Ultimately though alike to the aforementioned these plot lines don’t particularly interest me ands Emma continually makes frustrating and foolish decisions which only worsens her situation. I don’t have much to comment on here, slightly better than ‘Anna Karenina’ because it wasn’t as long stuck in similar plot lines but nonetheless not my thing.