Close Readings Who's afraid of realism? 'Madame Bovary' by Gustave Flaubert (part two)
Feb 2, 2026
A close look at pivotal scenes leading to Emma Bovary’s downfall and the satirical machinery that drives them. Analysis of seduction, manipulative rhetoric, and shifting romantic partners. Exploration of repetitive rendezvous, mounting debts, and the grotesque interplay of science and faith at death. Final ironies show provincial life continuing unchanged.
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Ironic Contrasts Between Public And Private
- Flaubert alternates comic public scenes with intimate tragic ones to create ironic contrast.
- The Yonville fair paired with Rodolphe's seduction exposes Emma's romantic delusions against provincial banality.
Satire Intensifies With Tragedy
- Flaubert's satire grows more vicious as tragedy approaches, blending comedy and pathos.
- James Wood argues this tonal mix intensifies poignancy as Emma approaches death.
Grotesque Medical Mishap And Desertion
- James Wood recounts scenes of grotesque comic failures, like the bungled foot operation that ends in amputation.
- He tells how Rodolphe writes a melodramatic letter, drops water on the ink to feign tears, then deserts Emma.
