Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

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Fiction is a great teacher and entertainer. But, over a course of readings, the allusions, the foreshadowing, and the figures of speech  diminish your interest. Also, what fascinates you initially, slowly loses its attraction like any other talent that cannot be admired all the time. Fiction betrays a pattern and language seems inferior to its task. Then, you read Madame Bovary, and language receives a renewed vigour and fiction resurges with its capacity to captivate.

In Madame Bovary, the sighs of pity work up to a jaw-clenching experience. There is no escape. If it is so heart-wrenching in a translation, the original work must have been scalding. What victorious imagination! What seething analysis of human fancy! Gustave Flaubert offers the best fit between word and imagination. The author takes great care to furnish the reader with a perfect imagery, which is a trap to drag you into the depths of despair. You meet with a mathematical precision at every turn of expression.

There are many stories that centre on adultery. But, Flaubert convinces us into believing that adultery is the destiny of the heroine. When Flaubert describes boredom, it is so poignant; boredom wiggles inside; you feel its weight. And, you want to overthrow it like Emma, the miserable heroine. Boredom can be a reason for our regrettable acts. But here, no amount of suffering could bring Emma to her senses, forget about regretting her indulgences. How often during the painful interval between her happiness I felt like entering the story and dissuading Emma from making her choices. If the financial failure had not stopped her, she would have fought on.

But, the authorial presence does not side with anyone. If fault lies with anyone, it is the ‘fault of fatality’ as Flaubert puts it in the mouth of the hero ( a commoner who could never be a hero in the eyes of his wife). The wisdom of the book is very severe. Let a woman who views relationship as a romantic getaway read Madame Bovary. Her romantic notions will wilt away never again to see the light of day. At least, I learnt a lesson: self-rejection is preferable to non-repression.

My rating: 10/10

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