Characters & Relationships
Berthe is frequently left with this person which reflects Emma’s emotional detachment.
Who is the wet nurse? / What does the wet nurse character represent?
This narrative mode allows the narrator to merge with Emma’s thoughts without quotation marks or explicit attribution.
What is free indirect discourse?
Emma’s dissatisfaction stems largely from her internalisation of this literary movement’s ideals.
This 19th-century literary movement rejected Romantic exaggeration in favor of ordinary life depiction.
What is Realism?
Félicité
Who is the Bovarys’ servant girl?
This character repeatedly misunderstands Emma’s spiritual and emotional distress
Who is Abbé Bournisien?
The agricultural fair scene exemplifies this technique, where romantic language is juxtaposed with banal political speech.
What is ironic juxtaposition?
Recurring luxury items and décor primarily symbolising larger theme
What is materialism? / What motif would be analysed in Marxist criticism?
Flaubert was tried in 1857 for this alleged offense following publication.
What is obscenity?
Rodolphe’s letters
What object does Charles find after Emma’s death that reveals her affair?
Léon
Who shares Emma’s sentimental imagination but lacks decisiveness
The shifting perspective on characters and events while maintaining third-person narration
What is focalisation?
Emma confuses emotional intensity with this concept, repeatedly equating suffering with authenticity.
What is passion? / What is the motif of "romanticising love"?
The portrayal of women challenges patriarchal dynamics.
What is feministic literary theory?
Rouen Cathedral
Where exactly does Emma meet Léon for their first resumed encounter?
Justin
This minor character becomes unintentionally complicit in Emma’s suicide due to emotional vulnerability.
A literary style that aims to represent everyday life, social realities, and human psychology with high accuracy, objectivity, and detail.
What is Realist narration?
The Blind Beggar
Who functions symbolically as a representation of inevitability of fate? / Who functions symbolically as a representation of foreshadowing?
Provincial life in Yonville represents that broader thematic critique
What helps understand the mediocrity of the bourgeoisie?
She is sent to work in a cotton mill
What ultimately happens to Berthe after both parents die?
Emma’s honeymoon takes place in this region of France.
What is Tostes / the Norman countryside?
The carriage scene in Rouen
What is narrative ellipsis / omission?
Windows
What symbolises Emma's desire for escape?
This public ceremony exposes the emptiness of provincial rhetoric through inflated speeches.
What is agricultural fair?
At Les Bertaux
In which building does Charles first meet Emma?