Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert Book Review

'Madame Bovary' was published in 1856 by the French writer Gustave Flaubert. It is also part of the literary realism genre along with The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story centres around a woman who 'lives beyond her means' living in France and how she eventually falls into debt and its effect on her and those around her.

As for length, it is around 297 pages long and is broken into three parts. Part one begins with a short backstory about 'Monsieur' Bovary and then part two resumes in the present day and the story is told in 3rd person past tense.

There are several characters introduced in the beginning, however only Madame and Monsieur Bovary appear throughout. There is not much dialogue between them except arguing and Emma Bovary's arguments with her mother-in-law who is also called Madame Bovary. Eventually, the couple have their child, Berthe and they move to another area, which begins part two.

There are French words and phrases throughout the novel as that is the first language it was written in before being translated. Characters are described as 'Monsieur', 'Madame' and 'Mademoiselle' followed by their last name. Monsieur is the title to refer to a French man, Madame for a French woman and Mademoiselle is for an un-married French woman. Emma Bovary, is the main character and this is who the title refers to, is married to a struggling doctor and is unhappy. She arranges to have her husbands money brought under her control and then eventually falls into debt and has to sell all of her possessions.

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Plot Overview on Sparknotes

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/bovary/summary.html