- 01Arrival of the new pupil
- 02The cap incident and name confusion
- 03Charles Bovary settles into class
- 01Charles Bovary’s father and failed fortunes
- 02Charles Bovary’s mother and household life
- 03Opposing ideas of raising Charles
- 01Early home tutoring and village life
- 02Rouen school routine and medical studies
- 01Charles Bovary's medical training and failure
- 02Madame Bovary arranges Charles's marriage to Madame Dubuc
- 03Marriage under Madame Dubuc's control
108 madame bovary gustave flaubert
In this course, you will discover how Gustave Flaubert builds one of literature’s most unforgettable heroines and the world that shapes her. You’ll master close reading of character, setting, and irony, and learn how ambition, boredom, and social pressure drive the novel’s tragedy. By the end, you’ll be able to analyze Madame Bovary with confidence and insight.
15Chapters
98Lessons
273Topics
Certificate of completion included
This course was produced by Cavua from a public-domain text.
Skills this course leaves you with.
- Analyze Emma Bovary as a literary character across the novel
- Explain how Flaubert uses setting, irony, and narration to shape meaning
- Trace the development of ambition, boredom, and social pressure in the plot
- Interpret key scenes involving marriage, affairs, and financial ruin
- Evaluate how the novel’s social world contributes to its tragedy
Curriculum
The full table of contents.
Every chapter, every lesson, every topic — laid out before you enroll. Click any chapter to expand it.
- Chapters
- 15
- Lessons
- 98
- Topics
- 273
- 01Night call to the Bertaux farm
- 02The Bertaux farm and Emma Rouault
- 01Dinner at the Rouault farm
- 02Emma Rouault's appearance and the lost whip
- 03Charles Bovary's repeated visits
- 01Charles's visits to Bertaux
- 02Emma's growing jealousy
- 01Heloise’s jealousy and Charles’s obedience
- 02The widow Dubuc’s hidden debts
- 03Family quarrel and Heloise’s death
- 01Rouault's consolation and invitation to Bertaux
- 02Charles's return to Bertaux and growing independence
- 01Emma's hospitality and conversation
- 02Charles's growing infatuation
- 01Rouault’s practical approval of Charles
- 02Charles’s proposal and Rouault’s consent
- 01Trousseau preparations and wedding planning
- 02Wedding feast and guest gathering
- 01Guests arriving by carriage and cart
- 02Wedding guests' clothing and appearance
- 03Procession to the mairie and church
- 01Wedding feast under the cart-shed
- 02Evening revelry and departures
- 01Wedding guests and family tensions
- 02Charles and Emma after the wedding
- 03Rouault’s farewell and memory of marriage
- 01Monsieur and Madame Charles arrive at Tostes
- 01The new house and consulting room
- 02Emma's first changes to the household
- 03Charles's married happiness
- 04Emma's doubts about felicity and passion
- 01Convent life and religious impressions
- 02Romantic reading and sentimental imagination
- 03Disillusionment after leaving the convent
- 01Emma’s honeymoon disillusionment
- 02Charles’s commonplace ignorance
- 03Emma’s drawing and piano playing
- 01Emma’s household management and Charles’s pride
- 02Madame Bovary senior’s criticism and family tension
- 01Emma's failed attempt to kindle passion
- 02Walk to the beeches of Banneville
- 03Imagining another husband and another life
- 01Emma's unease in the evening landscape
- 02Invitation to Vaubyessard
- 03Journey to the Marquis d'Andervilliers' estate
- 01Arrival at the château and vestibule
- 02Family portraits and ancestral history
- 03Drawing room reception and dinner
- 01Dinner at La Vaubyessard
- 02Emma's toilette for the ball
- 03The ball begins
- 04The fashionable guests
- 01Ballroom gossip and supper
- 02Emma's first waltz with the Viscount
- 03After the dance and château tour
- 01Return journey to Tostes
- 02Cigar-case and Charles's smoking
- 01Emma's return from Vaubyessard
- 02The ball as a lasting memory
- 01Emma's fantasies of Paris and luxury
- 02Emma's domestic refinements and Charles's routine
- 03Disappointment, boredom, and waiting for change
- 04Emma's boredom and provincial routine at Tostes
- 05Decision to leave Tostes and the wedding bouquet
- 06Yonville-l'Abbaye and its landscape
- 01Yonville’s public square and landmarks
- 01Yonville’s unchanged village life
- 02Widow Lefrancois, Homais, and Binet at the inn
- 03The curé’s visit and Homais’s anti-clerical tirade
- 04The Hirondelle arrives with the Bovarys
- 01Arrival at the Lion d'Or and dinner introductions
- 02Emma and Léon's shared tastes
- 03Moving into the new house and Emma's reflections
- 01Léon’s renewed attention and Homais’s motives
- 02Charles’s domestic contentment and Emma’s pregnancy
- 03Birth of Berthe and the naming dispute
- 04Monsieur Bovary senior’s visit and Emma’s walk to the nurse’s house
- 05Visit to Madame Rollet’s cottage
- 06Walk back to Yonville by the river
- 07Léon’s boredom and longing for Emma
- 01Homais's dinner talk and social visits
- 02Emma and Léon's growing attachment
- 03Rumors, gifts, and Emma's idea of love
- 01Visit to the new yarn-mill
- 02Emma’s awakening desire for Léon
- 03Lheureux’s first sales pitch
- 04Emma’s renewed domestic virtue
- 05Léon’s idealization and Emma’s concealed passion
- 06Emma's boredom and marital hatred
- 07Temptation to flee with Léon
- 08Emma's crisis and Félicité's story
- 01Emma’s recollections at the Angelus
- 02Conversation with Abbé Bournisien in the churchyard
- 03Emma’s return home and Berthe’s injury
- 01Léon’s growing restlessness and decision to leave Yonville
- 02Emma’s farewell with Léon
- 03Aftermath of the departure and Homais’s chatter
- 01Léon’s departure and Emma’s mourning
- 02Restlessness, self-indulgence, and declining health
- 01Emma’s reading ban and market-day arrival
- 02Rodolphe Boulanger’s introduction and Justin’s fainting fit
- 03Rodolphe’s first thoughts of Emma
- 01Festival preparations and civic display
- 02Homais’s scientific defense of agriculture
- 03Emma and Rodolphe at the agricultural show
- 01Arrival of the prefectural councillor
- 02Lieuvain’s agricultural address
- 03Rodolphe and Emma’s private conversation
- 01Councillor Lieuvain's agricultural address
- 02Catherine Leroux's medal ceremony
- 03Banquet, fireworks, and Homais's newspaper article
- 04Prize distribution and banquet festivities
- 01Rodolphe’s renewed seduction
- 02Charles accepts the riding invitation
- 01Rodolphe's invitation and departure from Yonville
- 02Ride through the countryside to the forest
- 03Rodolphe's confession and Emma's surrender
- 04Return to Yonville and Charles's horse purchase
- 01Emma's awakening after the first embrace
- 02Secret vows and letter exchange
- 03Emma's dawn visit to La Huchette
- 01Emma's secret visits to Rodolphe
- 01Emma’s fear of being seen after visiting Rodolphe
- 02Binet’s ambush and Emma’s alarm at the chemist’s shop
- 01Arranging the rendezvous
- 02Winter night meetings in the garden
- 03Rainy-night refuge in the consulting-room
- 01Rodolphe’s growing indifference
- 01Old Rouault’s letter and family news
- 02Emma’s memories of home and lost illusions
- 01Emma's tender reunion with her daughter
- 02Rodolphe's absence and Emma's regret
- 01Homais promotes club-foot surgery
- 02Preparing Hippolyte for the operation
- 03The operation and newspaper praise
- 01Hippolyte's worsening leg and gangrene
- 02Priest, druggist, and Canivet's amputation verdict
- 01Canivet’s arrival at the Lion d’Or
- 02Homais declines to assist the operation
- 03Canivet’s surgical coolness and professional pride
- 01Charles’s fear after the operation
- 02Emma’s renewed passion for Rodolphe
- 01Emma and Rodolphe's renewed affair
- 02Emma's preparations and Justin's curiosity
- 01Lheureux’s visits and Emma’s purchases
- 01Lheureux’s payment and Emma’s concealment
- 02Rodolphe’s gifts and Emma’s demands for devotion
- 01Rodolphe’s cynical response to Emma’s declarations
- 02Emma’s changed behavior and public scandal
- 03Madame Bovary senior’s quarrel over Félicité
- 01Emma's quarrel with Charles and Madame Bovary
- 02Emma's appeal to Rodolphe to carry her off
- 01Emma's anticipation of elopement
- 02Charles's plans for Berthe's future
- 01Emma's escape fantasies and travel preparations
- 01Rodolphe’s repeated delays and the fixed departure date
- 02The moonlit farewell by the river
- 03Rodolphe’s second thoughts and refusal to flee
- 01Rodolphe’s memories of Emma and other women
- 02Farewell letter to Emma
- 01Rodolphe’s letter sent in apricots
- 02Emma’s terror and near fall
- 03Collapse at the table and Rodolphe’s passing carriage
- 01Brain-fever and Charles's vigil
- 02Slow convalescence and relapse
- 01Household bills and Lheureux’s credit scheme
- 02Charles’s anxiety over repayment
- 01Bovary’s convalescence and religious consolation
- 01Emma's religious reading and disillusionment
- 02Devotional melancholy and charity
- 03Domestic changes in the Bovary household
- 01Emma's daily visitors
- 02Spring garden work and reduced callers
- 03Afternoon drinks with Bournisien and Binet
- 01Homais and Bournisien debate the theatre
- 01Homais urges a theatre trip to Rouen
- 01Arrival at the Croix-Rouge inn
- 02Charles's confusion over theatre seating
- 03Madame Bovary's preparations for the performance
- 01Arrival at the theatre and first impressions
- 02Lucie de Lammermoor and Emma’s identification with the heroine
- 03Charles’s confusion during the opera
- 04Emma’s fantasies of passion and escape
- 05Intermission, Léon’s arrival, and renewed memory
- 06After the opera: Léon, Charles, and Emma in the harbour
- 07Part III
- 01Léon's renewed passion for Emma
- 02Léon's visit to the inn
- 01Confession of mutual love
- 02The cathedral rendezvous
- 03Meeting in the cathedral
- 04The beadle’s guided tour
- 05The cab ride through Rouen
- 01Homais’s outrage over the Capharnaum key
- 02Charles Bovary’s father’s death
- 03Mourning at Yonville and Lheureux’s private talk
- 04Lheureux’s renewed pressure and the power of attorney
- 05Emma’s practical management of Charles’s affairs
- 06Journey to Rouen to consult Léon
- 01Honeymoon at the Hotel-de-Boulogne
- 02Moonlit return and the scarlet ribbon
- 03Parting instructions and power of attorney
- 01Léon's return and Emma's renewed affair
- 02Emma's domestic spending and social visits
- 03Emma's musical pretence and the piano lessons
- 01Thursday journey to Rouen
- 02Secret meetings with Léon
- 03Return ride and blind beggar
- 04Emma's growing impatience and renewed affair with Léon
- 05Jealousy, past lovers, and fantasies of status
- 01Emma’s lies and the music lessons ruse
- 02Lheureux’s debt scheme and the sale of Barneville
- 03Charles, Madame Bovary senior, and the power of attorney
- 04Emma’s reckless nights with Léon
- 05Emma's secret visits to Léon
- 06Léon's imitation and submission
- 01Homais joins Léon in Rouen
- 02Emma and Léon’s strained affair
- 03Lheureux’s bill and threat of distraint
- 01Lheureux's settlement and renewed bills
- 02Emma's mounting debts and household decline
- 03Léon's fading affair and social pressure
- 04The masked ball and distraint notice
- 05Lheureux’s ultimatum and threat of exposure
- 06Inventory for the distraint
- 01Emma asks Léon for eight thousand francs
- 02Emma leaves Rouen and sees the Viscount
- 01The blind beggar on the road
- 02The posted bill in the market
- 01Emma consults Monsieur Guillaumin
- 02Emma's humiliation and return home
- 01Binet at the lathe
- 02Emma’s flight to Nurse Rollet
- 03Emma appeals to Rodolphe
- 01Emma’s desperate walk to Homais’s shop
- 02Obtaining the arsenic from the laboratory
- 01Emma’s return and farewell letter
- 02Arsenic poisoning and collapse
- 01Emma's final moments with Charles and Berthe
- 01Emma's collapse and Lariviere's arrival
- 02Homais's breakfast and consultations
- 01Emma's deathbed and the sacrament of extreme unction
- 01Emma's final agony and death
- 01Charles's grief after Emma's death
- 02Homais manages the aftermath
- 01Charles Bovary's funeral wishes
- 02Priest and druggist at the vigil
- 01Prayer debate at Emma’s bedside
- 02Charles’s vigil and desperate hope
- 01Emma's body prepared for viewing
- 02Priest and chemist keep vigil
- 03Coffin, burial preparations, and public arrival
- 01Rouault’s frantic journey to Yonville
- 02Emma’s funeral service and procession
- 03Aftermath at Bertaux and the graveyard vigil
- 01Bovary’s grief, debts, and Emma’s remnants
- 02Homais’s campaign against the blind man
- 03Homais’s ambitions and Emma’s tomb
- 04Bovary’s fading memory and final debts
- 05Homais’s political ambitions and Charles’s discovery of Emma’s letters
- 06Charles confronts Rodolphe and dies
- 07Aftermath: Emma’s daughter and Homais’s triumph
Keep exploring
View allMore in Literature.
Learn with AI
Ready to start this course?
Create your account to enroll, talk to your 24/7 tutor, and track your progress — across every device.