'No, I don't blame you now' (Flaubert
246)
Everyone in Yonville has heard of our esteemed doctor,
Charles Bovary. He is an excellent gentlmen who is skilled in his art
and takes pride in
his accomplishments. At least that is what most
people think of when
they meet Charles, but there is more to him that just
his profession. He came to our small town of Yonville not too long
ago with his wife Madame
Bovary.
Charles was the
son of Charles-Denis-Bartholomé Bovary
and his wife. He was
said to have been spoiled rotten by both his father
and mother. His
father wanted him to be manly so treated him in “Spartan
fashion”
(Primary Source 31). He was allowed to run around nude
and to be as
free as he wanted. Although his father tried hard to make
him manly
he did not give in and was more apt to follow his mother. His mother
made him dolls and fed him candy and told him hundreds of stories. His
life was more or less run by his mother; she did not even allow him to
go
to school until the age of twelve. She arranged for his schooling
and
for all his classes. His parents then took him out of school to
go
into medicine, thinking that he would do much better if he was able to
study
on his own. He failed the final examinations of law school but
finally
passed five years later.
Madame Bovary
still ran Charles’ life to the extent that
she found him a wife who
was the widow of the Dieppe bailiff. This
marriage did not last for
she died not to soon after their marriage. Right around then Charles
was introduced to the now Madame Bovary. They were soon married and
lived in Tostes but not for too long, they sooned
moved to Yonville.
There they had a daughter named Berthe and there
they both died.
When he lived in Yonville I
found him to be of excellent company to everyone. I myself felt terrible
for the poor man after reading Madame Bovary, it made
me love him that much
more. I believe that he, with a few exceptions,
was the finest doctor
ever to step foot into Yonville.
People of Yonville
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