Madame Bovary (4 page)

Flaubert also regularly wrote sentences containing what is called the comma splice, in which clauses are strung together in a series, separated only by a comma and without a conjunction. The clearest example of this is one of the shortest sentences, near the end of the novel: “Night was falling, rooks were flying overhead.” One effect of this construction is to give each clause equal weight and value. Another effect is sometimes to speed the action forward, speed our thoughts as readers forward through time or material, so that even the full stop at the end of the sentence seems a momentary pause. Then again, sometimes the construction
counter-balances lyrical or dramatic material by the subtlest hint of a certain matter-of-factness. It is a habit of Flaubert’s that I have chosen to retain.

One last note: there is a sentence near the beginning of the novel that perhaps cries out to be “improved” by having a fully parallel structure: “He was a boy of even temperament, who played at recess, worked in study hall, listening in class, sleeping well in the dormitory, eating well in the dining hall.” Again, the imbalance has been left as it is in French.

A Note on the Endnotes

The notes at the back of the present volume attempt to be as detailed and extensive as is reasonably possible. They go beyond explaining mysterious references that would be difficult to research, such as “Pulvermacher hydroelectric belts” and Homais’s remedies, and clarifying historical references, as to King Henri IV, “the Béarnais.” Erring on the side of inclusiveness, they define such domestic items as fabrics and types of carriages, medical practices such as bloodletting, distinctive social signals such as the yellow gloves worn by dandies, and so forth. Most of these latter sorts of notes are meant to identify the multitude of things deeply embedded in the customs and culture of the time in which the novel is set, things that would have been self-evident to its readers at the time of its publication. Flaubert, after all, deliberated long and hard about what should be included and what should be left out of
this assiduously pruned novel, so we must assume he had strong reason to specify cambric, barege, and twill, or landau, berlin, and tilbury, and even took pleasure in specifying them; we should therefore, perhaps, make some attempt to understand what they are. Similarly, pastimes such as whist and
trente et un
or common sights in the street, such as the stone
bornes
—sometimes guard stones, sometimes milestones or boundary markers—should at least be not entirely opaque to the twenty-first-century reader. That reader is therefore asked to forgive instances where more explanation is given than is needed: if you were raised Catholic, you will know perfectly well what genuflection is; if not, then perhaps not.

The notes are provided “blind”—that is, without marks on the pages of the text—so that they will not intrude between the reader and the experience of the novel. It should be possible to enjoy the book uninterrupted, but if more background information is wanted, it is available.

Barnes, Julian.
Flaubert’s Parrot.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.

Brombert, Victor.
The Novels of Flaubert: A Study of Themes and Techniques.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966.

Brown, Frederick.
Flaubert: A Biography.
New York: Little, Brown, 2006.

Flaubert, Gustave.
Bouvard and Pécuchet
, tr. Mark Polizotti. Includes
Dictionary of Accepted Ideas.
Champaign, Ill.: Dalkey Archive Press, 2005.

———.
Correspondance II (juillet 1851–décembre 1858)
, ed. Jean Bruneau. Paris: Éditions Gallimard (Éditions de la Pléiade), 1980.

———.
The Letters of Gustave Flaubert 1830–1857
, selected, edited, and translated by Francis Steegmuller. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1979, 1980.

———.
Madame Bovary: moeurs de province.
Paris: Éditions Garnier Frères, 1971. Edited by Claudine Gothot-Mersch. Some of the material in the present introduction was developed in response to the rich and extensive discussion of the novel in Madame Gothot-Mersch’s introduction, which itself draws on previous critical work.

———.
A Sentimental Education
, tr. Robert Baldick. New York: Penguin Books, 1964. Other English translations also available.

Goncourt, Edmond de, and Jules de Goncourt.
Pages from the Goncourt Journals
, tr. Robert Baldick. New York: New York Review of Books, 2007.

James, Henry. “Gustave Flaubert” in
Notes on Novelists, with Some Other Notes.
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914.

Lottman, Herbert.
Flaubert: A Biography.
Boston: Little, Brown, 1989.

Maraini, Dacia.
Searching for Emma: Gustave Flaubert and Madame Bovary
, tr. Vincent J. Bertolini. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.

Nabokov, Vladimir.
Lectures on Literature
, ed. Fredson Bowers. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980.

Proust, Marcel. “Marcel Proust évoque Flaubert,” in
La Nouvelle Revue Française
, January 1, 1920.

Steegmuller, Francis.
Flaubert and Madame Bovary: A Double Portrait.
New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1939, 1966.

Thirlwell, Adam.
Miss Herbert.
London: Jonathan Cape, 2007.

Vargas Llosa, Mario.
The Perpetual Orgy: Flaubert and Madame Bovary
, tr. Helen Lane. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1986.

Wood, James.
How Fiction Works.
New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008.

Zola, Émile. “Gustave Flaubert,” in
Les Romanciers naturalistes
(1881). In
Oeuvres complètes.
Paris: F. Bernouard, 1928.

1821  December 12: Gustave Flaubert born at the Hôtel-Dieu, in Rouen; his father is head (“chief surgeon”) of the hospital. His brother, Achille, is eight years old.

1824  Birth of Caroline Flaubert, his sister, who was to become his close friend.

1825  Coronation of Charles X, an unpopular, reactionary, repressive monarch.

1830  The July Revolution, marking the end of the Restoration; accession of Louis-Philippe to the throne of France, supported by the discontented upper bourgeoisie and the liberal journalists. His reign, the “July Monarchy,” will last until 1848; Algeria is conquered toward the end of it. After the February Revolution of 1848, he will abdicate, fleeing to England and later dying there. He is known as the “Citizen King” because of his bourgeois manner and dress.

Flaubert is eight years old.

1831  Flaubert writes precociously impressive pieces such as his
Éloge de Corneille
(In Praise of Corneille), as well as numerous theater pieces performed at home.

1832  Flaubert enters the Collège Royal, soon to be a boarder. Reads and admires
Don Quixote.

1834  His friendship with Louis Bouilhet begins.

1836  Writes several stories. In Trouville, meets the woman he will love for most of his life, though this love is probably never consummated: Elisa Foucault, ten years older and soon to marry Maurice Schlésinger. She is very likely the model for the heroine of
L’Éducation sentimentale
(A Sentimental Education).

1837  More writings, including “Passion et Vertu” (Passion and Virtue), one source of
Madame Bovary.
First publication.

1838  Writes “Mémoires d’un fou” (Memoirs of a Madman), an autobiographical narrative.

1840  Receives his baccalaureate degree. Takes a trip to the Pyrenees, Marseille, and Corsica with family friend Dr. Cloquet.

1841  Registers as law student in Paris, while continuing to live at home.

1842  Writes
Novembre
(November), his second autobiographical narrative. Moves to Paris. Passes his first bar exam in December.

1843  Becomes friends with Maxime Du Camp. Fails his second bar exam. Begins writing first version of
L’Éducation sentimentale.
Frequents the salon of Louise Pradier, wife of a sculptor; some aspects of her life will inspire material in
Madame Bovary.

1844  Falls from a carriage during a seizure, exhibiting the first symptoms of a disease that is most likely a form of epilepsy. Gives up his law studies for good. Family acquires house in Croisset and moves there.

1845  Completes first version of
L’Éducation sentimentale.
He and his family accompany his sister, Caroline, on her honeymoon trip to Italy. In Genoa, he sees and is struck by the painting
The Temptation of Saint Anthony
by Pieter Brueghel the Younger.

1846  Death of his father, then of his sister. Settles at Croisset with his mother and his niece Caroline, whom he will help to raise. During a trip to Paris, meets Louise Colet, who becomes his mistress.

1847  Trip to Brittany with Du Camp, an account of which he writes entitled
Par les champs et par les grèves
(By Fields and Shores).

1848  February Revolution; end of July Monarchy, abdication of Louis-Philippe. Flaubert witnesses the “February days” with Louis Bouilhet and Maxime Du Camp. Memories of these scenes will provide material for a later version of
L’Éducation sentimentale.
First quarrel with Louise Colet. Begins
La Tentation de Saint Antoine
(The Temptation of Saint Anthony).

1849  Reads
Saint Antoine
aloud to Bouilhet and Du Camp, who do not like it. Departure for the Orient with Du Camp.

1850  Travels in Egypt, Beirut, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Greece.

1851  Travels in Greece and Italy. Returns to Croisset and begins writing
Madame Bovary
on September 19.

1854  Last friendly correspondence with Louise Colet. Relationship ends.

1856  Finishes writing
Madame Bovary
in March. Publication of the novel in
La Revue de Paris
in six installments October 1–December 15. Resumes work on
Saint Antoine.

1857  One-day trial of Flaubert and the editors of the
Revue
, on charges of offenses against public morality and religion. Acquittal delivered one week later. Publication of
Madame Bovary
in book form by Michel Lévy in April. Begins his exotic historical romance,
Salammbô.

1858  Visits Carthage and Tunisia, researching
Salammbô.

1859–62  Writes
Salammbô.
Frequent visits to Paris.
Salammbô
appears in November 1862.

1863  Begins correspondence with George Sand; meets Ivan Turgenev.

1864–69  Works on
L’Éducation sentimentale.
Social life includes Princesse Mathilde, Prince Napoléon, the Goncourt brothers, George Sand, Ivan Turgenev.

1866  Named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

1869  Death of Bouilhet. Publication of
L’Éducation sentimentale.

1870  Embarks on the third version of
Saint Antoine.
Franco-Prussian War begins. Becomes lieutenant in the Garde Nationale. Prussians stay at Croisset in November.

1871  Insurrection in Paris. Sees, socially, Victor Hugo, Théophile Gautier, Alphonse Daudet, Guy de Maupassant, Émile Zola.

1872  Death of Flaubert’s mother. Completion of
La Tentation de Saint Antoine
(third version).

1873  Growing friendship with de Maupassant.

1874  Publication of
La Tentation de Saint Antoine.
Flaubert prepares to begin writing
Bouvard et Pécuchet
.

1875  In order to help his niece Caroline and her husband out of a desperate financial situation, Flaubert ruins himself: he will be hard up for the rest of his life. He begins writing the story “La Légende de Saint Julien Hospitalier” (The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaler).

1876  Completes “Saint Julien,” writes “Un Coeur Simple” (A Simple Heart), and begins “Hérodias.” Death of Louise Colet. Death of George Sand.

1877  Publication of
Trois contes
(
Three Tales
). Flaubert goes back to work on
Bouvard et Pécuchet
, which will remain unfinished at his death.