Mme aubain coeur simple flaubert biography

Death is ever-present, a product of time and a vehicle of loss. When she does locate one of her sisters, the woman seems primarily interested in taking advantage of her. With the passage of time she suffers the loss of Theodore, her only human lover, of Virginie, Victor, Paul, and even of Madame Aubain. She seems to have no control over her losses.

When her parrot disappears, her frantic efforts to find him prove fruitless, although the bird comes back on his own. Toward the end, she is physically diminishing, growing smaller, becoming deaf. She hears, literally and figuratively, only the voice of the parrot, and the parrot can only repeat empty phrases. The related themes of time as erosive, of loss as inevitable, become one theme as her death approaches.

Irony is a use of language in which the intended meaning appears to be different from what is directly stated. The more subtle the irony, the more difficult it may be to determine exactly what is meant. Loulou is the most obvious symbol in the story, although there are many more. Many of the names in the story also appear to have symbolic significance, often with ironic overtones.

Flaubert was one of the leaders of the realist movement in French literature , which sought to portray life in a realistic manner primarily through the use of an objective narrative point of view and the accumulation of accurate details. He believed in meticulous observation and exact reporting of events. He also held firmly that the writer must not express his opinion through his art—that he must simply tell the story.

The reader is thus obliged to draw his or her own conclusions—much as in real life. It is a story set in the time and the country of the author, and thus it reflects the attitudes and habits of France in the nineteenth century. Realistic writers sought to represent life in its purest form, without exaggeration or embellishment. They considered themselves reporters, attempting to chronicle their worlds honestly and objectively.

Conventional morality was not a concern: logic, common sense, and pragmatism informed their literary endeavors. Realism was in many ways a reaction to and a movement away from romanticism, which had dominated French literature in the earlier part of the century. The romantic movement, an artistic and literary tradition established in late eighteenth-century Europe, had been characterized by an interest in nature and an emphasis on individualism, imagination, and emotion.

Ultimately, realism became the dominant literary style until the end of the century. Louis Napoleon—the nephew of the Emperor Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte , who had been forced to abdicate in —had himself proclaimed emperor in , and he ruled as Napoleon III until Meanwhile, wealth ruled, and the bourgeoisie, or entrepreneurial middle class, dominated society and politics.

There was a general sense of self-satisfaction, even self-righteousness, among the wealthy classes. Prosperity, respectability, conformity, and order were strong mandates, both politically and socially. At the same time, there was dissension among the lower class: workers were unhappy with their treatment, and social revolution and political anarchy were brewing just below the surface.

Although the Roman Catholic Church enjoyed a strong position in France in the nineteenth century, its mandates were challenged by positivist philosophy. The invention of philosopher Auguste Comte , positivism rejected the romantic notions of dream, imagination, mysticism, and even God. Anything which could not be proved scientifically or seen with the eye was to be dismissed as whimsy; anything which was contingent upon faith was suspect.

As a popular philosophy in French social and intellectual circles, positivism thus threw the mandates of the Church into question.

Mme aubain coeur simple flaubert biography

Flaubert began writing the piece in , attempting a more gentle and humanitarian literature, and he completed the three tales in , just three years before his death. That life was closely reproduced in Madame Bovary came as a shock to readers, and this bourgeois repugnance for self-examination showed even in the critical reports. He was writing a tale of consolation rather than desolation, a more humanitarian literature, in response to requests from his old friend and fellow writer George Sand and in light of his own losses and growing empathy for human beings.

Flaubert himself remarked in a letter that perhaps now he would be called humane. These interpretations are not mutually exclusive. Other views, of course, vary: the story has been called a direct attack on the Roman Catholic Church of nineteenth-century France, and it has been hailed as a simple tale of human compassion. It has recently been suggested that, through the elimination of that which is masculine and violent, Flaubert in Three Tales affords his reader a hopeful vision identified with feminine nature.

Still, there has been much controversy about the interpretation of the story. Both of these readings can apply; in fact, Flaubert has left the ending of his story open to varied and even contradictory interpretations. Others interpret the delusion of the parrot during her final moments as suggestive of the utter and final misperception of a useless life.

Neither of these interpretations, however, or anything one can imagine in between them, fully explains the story. More universally, it can be argued, her character comprises traditional views and perceptions of female behavior and thought. That she can be viewed as nothing but wooden, that she is simple, that she functions automatically, that she loves without measure or boundary: all of these qualities suggest archetypal female qualities.

When she witnesses the communion of Virginie, the young daughter of her mistress, she is moved beyond sympathetic tendencies to pure empathy:. This is the story of a truly simple heart, a predictable soul, a female life. Here is the story of a woman who, not despite but because of her obedience to the rules, worked for next to nothing, had no children, worshipped a dead, stuffed parrot, and yet lived a full life and was fully equipped to deal with loss and tragedy.

She died smiling because she lived lovingly. She had stayed, as it were, within the lines, lived well within the expectations and dictates of her class and culture and, particularly, her gender. Thus we can speculate that, consciously or unconsciously, Gustave Flaubert has given us a tale that tells us as much about the simple expectations and constraints of gender as it tells us about God and organized religion.

It is not surprising, then, that she also embodies characteristics, virtues, if you will, frequently attached to the archetypal female: goodness, a pure and loving heart, self-abnegation, charity, and a simple, unself-conscious mentality. This, then, is key: the female characters in these stories exist on a sliding scale from good to evil which directly corresponds to their native intelligence and to their capacity for self-examination.

She even sends her children away, and, though this may have been the fashion, it contradicts maternal instinct. Emma Bovary, who is intelligent and imaginative, is also promiscuous, as well as expensive and dangerous to her husband and child; in fact, she finds her child ugly. With no children or husband of her own, she is accessible and serviceable to all, and with no capacity for self-examination, she lives this way happily.

In fact, she outlives everyone she cares for, which is as it should be: the ideal woman ever-present, ever-loving, everlasting. So here is the story of a simple woman in nineteenth-century France who, by circumstance of her class and gender, lives an unexamined but pure and happy life. She is trapped by gender and she is a victim of circumstance, but she accepts her fate willingly.

There is no contest between good and evil, no self-examination, and, in the end, no painful struggle with conscience or fear of death. In fact, even on a structural level, this story is the story of one woman and one woman only. We are allowed to see both inside and outside her character. This narrative device affords us a particularly poignant and comprehensive view of her life and her circumstances.

We do not blame her, as we do Emma Bovary, for example, for her troubles. She is, after all, a good woman; who could blame her? So here the story ends and must end, with the end of her life, and the conclusion of her point of view. It is here, finally and completely, that Flaubert shows us—by ending the story where he does—that this is a story about one woman and that, most importantly, her story has been worth telling.

In obvious contrast, Madame Bovary does not end with the death of Emma Bovary; rather the novel continues for many pages and ends, ironically, with Homais receiving the cross of the Legion of Honor. This notable shift of emphasis may be at least partially explained by the series of unfortunate incidents that befell Flaubert from to The critical failures of La Tentation de Saint-Antoine and Le Candidat, the deaths of his mother and of such friends as Louis Bouihlet, Sainte-Beuve, Louise Colet, and George Sand, and the serious financial difficulties he encountered all doubtlessly contributed in some manner in altering his literary vision and modifying his personal attitude.

Flaubert endows the heroine of his short story with the kind of homogeneous vision of reality that enables her to retain a remarkably even sense of composure in the face of tragedy and adversity. The confusion of change and movement, however, prevented him from pursuing such a goal with the kind of detachment he desired; the much-sought collaboration between his imagination and his practical intelligence never successfully took place, and the final homogeneity or synthesis failed to materialize to the extent that he had wished.

Emma Bovary never succeeds in sustaining her illusory existence for any great length of time because she continually submits her somewhat deficient imaginative powers to the scrutiny of a sordid external reality. She repeatedly becomes aware of her self-deception until she is finally driven to her destruction. Thus, her subsequent withdrawal from the pressing requirements of a complex external reality appears as a defensive reaction to which she has recourse when she intuitively realizes that she is ill-equipped to function effectively under such circumstances.

The real irony, of course, is that, despite her ignorance and simple-mindedness, she not only manages to function adequately but she is able, unconsciously, to project her own world outwardly to the point of touching and affecting the lives of others. While it remains undeniable that the theme is established from the beginning and sustained throughout the narrative, it is interesting to note the coded and even somewhat ambiguous language in which it is cloaked.

Here is a link for you to get the book. Let us know what you think about this book and the summary in the comment section at the end of the page. The central theme revolves around love, loss, and the nature of faith. Her struggles highlight the hardships of the working class in a societal hierarchy. George Sand, a fellow author, encouraged him to create a character with a different moral compass.

Are you looking for a nice read that perfectly fits your current mood? Here is a free book suggestion tool. It gives you suggestions based on your taste. Also a likelihood rating for each recommended book. Would you like to find the book you will love later or now? Gustave Flaubert was a renowned French novelist recognized for his dedication to literary realism.

His notable works include Madame Bovary and his extensive correspondence, which reflect his meticulous writing style. We hope you found this synopsis of A Simple Heart engaging. Summaries are just the beginning, much like trailers for movies. If you are the original author of any book on our website and want us to remove it, please contact us.

Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Post Comment. Get curated recommendations matching your interests, plus enter our monthly book giveaway. She is often envied by others for her unwavering loyalty and diligent work, performed for a meager wage of one hundred francs per year.

The good vs. Flaubert is an amazing writer. And yes, I suppose the very low expectations I had of men in general my father was not a particularly good husband and no one I seemed to know growing up was a great role model kept me in there for far too long. He had so much empathy. And his sentences are so sublime. But he also worked so hard on his writing.

Mine was so different. My mother was crushing. So much life lost because of bad parenting. Also speaking for myself. This does sound deeply sad, but beautifully done. While I was reading your post, I was praying for the bird. Maybe, I should pick up the book expecting the worst. I should develop a thick skin and let Flaubert break my heart. Thank you for this beautiful post, Caroline.

And you inspire me by writing one everyday. Thank you, Deepika. I think you can find it for free online. I like a mix between dark and lighter but definitely prefer more serious topics. Just this — nothing is happy in this book. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Like Loading Don't hestitate to comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts Cancel reply.

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