Madame Bovary

With an Introduction by Roger Clark, University of Kent at Canterbury
Flaubert’s protagonist has never ceased to fascinate. Romantic heroine or middle-class neurotic, flawed wife and mother or passionate protester against the conventions of bourgeois society, simultaneously the subject of Flaubert’s admiration and the butt of his irony - Emma Bovary remains one of the most enigmatic of fictional creations.
Flaubert's meticulous approach to the craft of fiction, his portrayal of contemporary reality, his representation of an unforgettable cast of characters make Madame Bovary one of the major landmarks of modern fiction.