Madame Bovary
1857 novel by Gustave Flaubert / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Madame Bovary (/ˈboʊvəri/;[1] French: [madam bɔvaʁi]), originally published as Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners (French: Madame Bovary: Mœurs de province [madam bɔvaʁi mœʁ(s) də pʁɔvɛ̃s]), is a novel by French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1857. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life.
Author | Gustave Flaubert |
---|---|
Original title | Madame Bovary: Mœurs de province |
Language | French |
Genre | Realist novel |
Publisher | Revue de Paris (in serial) & Michel Lévy Frères (in book form, 2 Vols) |
Publication date | 1 October - 15 December 1856 (in serial) & 12 April 1857 (in book form) |
Publication place | France |
Original text | Madame Bovary: Mœurs de province at French Wikisource |
Translation | Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners at Wikisource |
When the novel was first serialized in Revue de Paris between 1 October and 15 December 1856, public prosecutors attacked the novel for obscenity. The resulting trial in January 1857 made the story notorious. After Flaubert's acquittal on 7 February 1857, Madame Bovary became a bestseller in April 1857 when it was published in two volumes. A seminal work of literary realism, the novel is now considered Flaubert's masterpiece, and one of the most influential literary works in history.