Madame Bovary and Bourgeois Society

I found Madame Bovary to be incredibly relevant to our examination of authors and their dissatisfaction with bourgeois society. Emma Bovary becomes wrapped up in the idea of material wealth and the aristocratic way of life that Marx criticized. Marx stated that “in bourgeois society…the living person is dependent and has no individuality” (The Marx-Engels Reader 485). After Madame Bovary gets a taste of the opulence of aristocratic life, she becomes obsessed with the idea of living well. In this sense, Emma Bovary becomes a slave to the money she owes due to extravagant spending. In the end, Madame Bovary must meet her fate and dies— transforming into a symbol for the possible effects of the opulence of bourgeois society. Flaubert famously states “Madame Bovary, c’est moi”, proving that every man, even himself, is an object, rather than a subject, in bourgeois society. Man is dominated by money in this society, rather than the other way around. After Emma’s death, Rodolphe apologizes to Charles for having an affair with Charles’ wife. Charles merely states that “fate willed it this way” (Bovary 275). This statement provides as a comment on the inevitability of negative consequences within a bourgeois society. Flaubert shows that Emma Bovary, and everyone in general, cannot escape the bourgeois society that has been put in place. Madame Bovary, c’est moi, too.