Knowra Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) was a French novelist whose exacting prose and unsentimental portrayals helped shape literary realism. His best-known novel is Madame Bovary .
Madame Bovary : Gustave Flaubert’s 1856 novel about Emma Bovary, whose romantic ideals collide with provincial life and debt. Its publication brought Flaubert a prosecution for obscenity and established his literary reputation.
The Bovary trial : The 1857 French obscenity trial of Gustave Flaubert and his publisher over Madame Bovary ; both were acquitted. The prosecution focused attention on whether the novel’s narration endorsed the behavior it depicted.
Rouen : A city in Normandy, France, on the Seine River. Flaubert was born there, and its region supplied settings and social details for his fiction.
Émile Zola : A French novelist and critic who became the leading figure of literary naturalism. Zola treated Flaubert as a major predecessor while developing a more explicitly scientific program for fiction.
The Temptation of Saint Anthony : Gustave Flaubert’s prose work depicting Saint Anthony confronting visions of religious belief, heresy, and desire. Its visionary, encyclopedic form contrasts with the social realism of his best-known novels.
Sentimental Education : Gustave Flaubert’s 1869 novel following Frédéric Moreau through love, ambition, and political upheaval in France. Its broad historical scope complements the provincial focus of Madame Bovary .
Flaubert’s correspondence : The surviving letters of Gustave Flaubert, documenting his literary work, friendships, opinions, and daily life. His letters describe the labor and standards behind his method of composition.
Normandy : A region of northern France with a long history and a distinct cultural identity. Its towns and countryside informed the provincial world of Madame Bovary .
Guy de Maupassant : A French writer of short stories and novels, known for concise prose and realistic portrayals of society. Maupassant was Flaubert’s protégé and carried aspects of his discipline into a different form.
Salammbô : Gustave Flaubert’s 1862 historical novel set in Carthage during the Mercenary War. Its ancient setting shows Flaubert applying meticulous research to a world far from contemporary France.
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