Gustav Flaubert

Gustav Flaubert was a French novelist who is regarded as one of the greatest writers of the realist tradition. His novel Madame Bovary is a landmark of nineteenth-century literature, and his style has influenced generations of writers.

Early Life and Education

Flaubert was born in 1821 in Rouen, the son of a surgeon. He studied law in Paris but abandoned it because of illness.

He suffered from a nervous disorder that has been the subject of much speculation. He returned to the family estate at Croisset, near Rouen, where he spent most of his life.

He travelled to the Middle East and to Italy, and the experience influenced his later work. He was a friend of the writer George Sand and of the poet Louise Colet.

Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary was published in 1856 and was the subject of a public trial for immorality. Flaubert was acquitted.

The novel describes the life of a provincial doctor's wife who seeks romance and is disappointed by reality. The story is told with great precision and with a rigorous attention to detail.

The novel is regarded as a masterpiece of realism. It was one of the first novels to treat the life of the ordinary middle class with such seriousness.

The Style and the Method

Flaubert was a perfectionist and worked slowly and carefully. He sought to find the exact word and to create a prose that was both precise and musical.

He developed the technique of free indirect discourse, in which the voice of the narrator merges with the voice of the character. The technique has been widely imitated.

He read his sentences aloud to test their rhythm. He was known for his devotion to his art and for his isolation.

The Other Novels

Salammbô, published in 1862, is a historical novel set in ancient Carthage. The novel was the result of extensive research in North Africa.

Sentimental Education, published in 1869, is a novel of the failed hopes of a generation. The work is regarded as one of the greatest of the century.

The Temptation of Saint Anthony is a philosophical drama in dialogue. The Three Tales and Bouvard and Pécuchet are among his last works.

The Correspondence

Flaubert's letters are an important record of his life and of his method. They contain his views on literature, on art, and on the society of his time.

The letters to Louise Colet and to George Sand are among the most famous. They reveal his personality and his aesthetic principles.

The correspondence was published after his death and has been studied by scholars. It is a major source for the study of the period.

The Later Life and Death

Flaubert's health declined, and he suffered from financial difficulties. He lived quietly at Croisset and worked on his last works.

He died in 1880 at Croisset from a cerebral haemorrhage. He was buried in the family plot in Rouen.

His niece Caroline managed his papers and his estate. His work was continued by the writers who admired him.

Legacy

Flaubert is regarded as one of the greatest novelists of the nineteenth century. His style and his method influenced the development of the modern novel.

His influence can be seen in the work of Maupassant, of Proust, and of many later writers. The novel Madame Bovary is a classic of world literature.

He is remembered for his perfectionism and for his craft. His work continues to be studied and to be admired.

The Travels in the East

Flaubert travelled to Egypt, to Palestine, and to Turkey in 1849. The journey provided material for his later works.

He kept notes and letters that describe the experience. The travels influenced his view of the world and of art.

The experience is reflected in Salammbô and in the short stories. The colour and the detail of the East reappear in his fiction.

The Temptation of Saint Anthony

Flaubert worked on the Temptation for most of his life. The work is a philosophical drama in dialogue.

It describes the visions and the temptations of the saint. The work was influenced by the painting of Bruegel and by the literature of the period.

Flaubert read the work aloud to his friends. The final version was published in 1874.

The Style and the Craft

Flaubert was a perfectionist and worked slowly. He sought the exact word and the precise rhythm.

He read his sentences aloud to test them. He spent days on a single page.

The method has been described as a labour of the writer. The result is a prose of great precision and of great beauty.

The Correspondence

Flaubert wrote a vast correspondence with his friends and his fellow writers. The letters are a record of his life and of his ideas on art.

He corresponded with George Sand and with Ivan Turgenev. The letters set out his theory of the impersonal narrator.

The correspondence has been published in many volumes. It is an important source for the study of the period.

The Influence

Flaubert is regarded as one of the greatest novelists of all time. His work influenced the development of realism and of the modern novel.

He influenced Maupassant, his friend and pupil. He influenced the writers of the twentieth century.

The novel Madame Bovary is a classic of world literature. It has been translated into many languages.

See also

• Literary realism
• Madame Bovary