Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary is a novel by Gustave Flaubert, published in 1857, about a provincial French doctor's wife whose romantic fantasies and extramarital affairs lead to her ruin.
The title character has become a byword for bored, restless dissatisfaction with ordinary life: She had a Madame Bovary complex, always yearning for something more glamorous.
The term *bovarism* describes this tendency to escape into fantasy.
- French literatureWritten works from France
- 19th centuryThe eighteen hundreds
- provincial lifeExistence in rural areas
- bourgeoisieCapitalist ownership class
Gustave Flaubert · Rouen · arsenic · debt · realism · narrative · prose · symbolism
Romantic entanglement outside commitment
- infidelityDisloyalty to a partner
- loverRomantic intimate
- liaisonConnector between groups
- betrayalBreaking of trust
extramarital · seduction · deception · rendezvous · letters · passion · illicit · scandal
Weary disinterest from monotony
- discontentUnhappiness with circumstances
- restlessnessState of unease
- provincialRegional or narrow-minded
- monotonyTiresome lack of change
tedium · suffocation · dissatisfaction · listlessness · apathy · melancholy · weariness · disillusionment
Sudden loss of power
- debtMoney owed another
- arsenicToxic metalloid element
- suicideVoluntary death by oneself
- despairTotal absence of hope
ruin · fate · suffering · demise · catastrophe · doom · destruction · consequences
Imaginative mental wandering
- escapismHabitual mental retreat
- idealismBelief in noble principles
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- novelsExtended prose fiction
sentimentality · delusion · longing · infatuation · naivety · dreams · imagination · passion
Regional or narrow-minded
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- conformityAdherence to norms
- mediocrityQuality of being average
- respectabilityMoral and social worthiness
pretension · social climbing · appearances · consumption · debt · luxury · status · hypocrisy
Flaubert
- French literatureWritten works from France
- 19th centuryThe eighteen hundreds
- provincial lifeExistence in rural areas
Gustave Flaubert · bourgeoisie · Rouen · arsenic · debt · realism · narrative · prose · symbolism · irony
affair
Romantic entanglement outside commitment
- infidelityDisloyalty to a partner
- loverRomantic intimate
- liaisonConnector between groups
betrayal · extramarital · seduction · deception · rendezvous · letters · passion · illicit · scandal · mistress
boredom
Weary disinterest from monotony
- discontentUnhappiness with circumstances
- restlessnessState of unease
- provincialRegional or narrow-minded
monotony · tedium · suffocation · dissatisfaction · listlessness · apathy · melancholy · weariness · disillusionment · malaise
downfall
Sudden loss of power
despair · ruin · fate · suffering · demise · catastrophe · doom · destruction · consequences · hubris
fantasy
Imaginative mental wandering
novels · sentimentality · delusion · longing · infatuation · naivety · dreams · imagination · passion · convent
provincial
Regional or narrow-minded
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- conformityAdherence to norms
- mediocrityQuality of being average
respectability · pretension · social climbing · appearances · consumption · debt · luxury · status · hypocrisy · convention
- Flaubert WorksNovember
- Fictional CharactersAlice, Oliver Twist, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Bilbo Baggins
- Classic BooksPride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Moby Dick, Moby-Dick, Great Expectations
- classicsHomer, Iliad, the Iliad, Odyssey, the Odyssey
- MasterpiecesMona Lisa, Last Supper, Starry Night, The Scream, David
- French LiteratureVictor Hugo, Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Dumas, Jules Verne
Madame Bovaryrealist
One accepting hard truths
Jane Eyre · Candide · Elizabeth Bennet · Robinson Crusoe · pragmatist
Madame BovaryJane Eyre
Pamela · faithful wife · Pilgrim's Progress · Clarissa · Little Women