Madame Bovary
Study Questions & Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. Discuss social class in Madame Bovary. Is Emma a sophisticated aristocrat born by mistake into a bourgeois prison, or is she simply a middle-class girl obsessed with a richer life? In the world of the novel, are these distinctions meaningful?
2. What role does fate play in Emma’s downfall? To what degree does she have power over her own destiny?
3. Compare and contrast Charles and Rodolphe. What are their attitudes about love? How does each respond to Emma?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Discuss the theme of love and romance. How do Emma’s unrealized dreams of passionate romance contribute to her unhappiness? Are her romantic expectations attainable, or are they fanciful impossibilities? How do Emma and Leon attempt to make each other into their romantic ideals?
2. To what degree is Emma really capable of love? Is she really in love with Rodolphe and Leon? Does she really love Berthe? Use specific textual examples to support your argument.
3. How is the plot of Madame Bovary arranged? Does the novel build suspense leading up to Emma’s suicide? Is Emma’s cycle of frustration-boredom-illness an effective device for pacing her story, or is it repeated too often?
4. What is Homais’s role in the novel? Is he simply a symbol for the bourgeoisie, enabling Flaubert to ridicule its attitudes and values, or does he serve a larger narrative purpose?
5. Discuss Flaubert’s prose style. How does he match his prose to the mood of his narrative?
6. Discuss the novel’s use of irony. With particular reference to the scene of the fair (Part Two, Chapter VIII), how does Flaubert comment on his story by directing the narration toward peripheral details?
Essay- Evolutionary Perspective
by Celestial-moon-fire, March 20, 2013
Emma's behaviour could be explored as an effect of sexual selection, which is a form of selection that drives Evolution. Similar to Peacocks, where teh females choose the most attractive mate for reproduction, Emma wants a more attractive and intresting man to pass on her genetic inheritance.








