Flaubertbio
Some of you may have read the book Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, which
was about the late Madame Bovary. Many others and I were shocked to
read this book and found out so many secrets and facts about Madame Bovary
and other people of Yonville. Although I do not agree or approve with
some of his writings in the book I thought it might be informative to give
a history of him. I hope that this will give some better insight into
why he may have done some of his writings.
“Gustave Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821” (Buck 11).
He was the fourth child to be born in his family of six (Buck 11).
His mother was Caroline Fleuriot and his father was Dr. Achille – Cléophas
Flaubert (Buck 11). He was described as “blue eyes, the light
complexion, the heavy and drooping mustache, the full body, and the keen
appetite of the great adventures who conquered Sicily” (Carrére
162). In the article “The Novel as a Genre,” by Maurice
Z. Shroder he explains that Don Quixote is on of the best examples of a genre;
this is very interesting because Don Quixote was Flaubert’s favorite
book by age ten (Steegmuller xxi). I believe myself that this love
of his had great precedent over his writings later on in his life.
His father was a surgeon and he lived in an apartment at the hospital until
1832 when he went to Collége Royal of Rouen (Steegmuller xxi).
Then 1839 he was expelled from Collége Rouen for leading a student
protest. He then was entered into Law School in 1842 but he failed
his second year exam in 1843 (Steegmuller xxii). After this his father
prohibited him from continuing with law school (Steegmuller xxii).
On January 2, 1844 Flaubert “suffers his first nervous attack”
(Steegmuller xxii). Flaubert’s life did not get much better though,
because in 1849 both his father and his sister die (Steegmuller xxii).
On September 19, 1851 Gustave Flaubert started the long process of writing
the book Madame Bovary. It was said that hi worked on the book for
twelve hours a day for four years and seven months, which is approximately
3696720 hours (Foulie 172). He finally finished the book in April 1856
(Steegmuller xxiii). It was then eventually published from October
first to December 15 in parts (Steegmuller xxiii). After the book was
published it was “prosecuted as offensive to civic and religious morality,”
but the suit failed (Buck 15).
Gustave Flaubert died on May 8, 1881 of a cerebral hemorrhage as he is on
the verge of departing to Paris (Buck 17). There were monuments that
were made of him in Rouen and in the Luxembourg Gardens at Paris (Buck 18).
Gustave Flaubert did write more books than just Madame Bovary although at
one point it took him thirty years to write six books (Buck 19). I
found Madame Bovary most interesting because it talks about the town of Yonville,
even me. I myself am portrayed by Flaubert as arrogant and self centered.
I would just like to say that I never once thought of myself while writing
this, I am doing it for my public, my town, my Yonville. I am sure
that all of you will see the flaws in his writings and the truth that is
behind it.
Flaubert
Home
