By this point, the process of Emma’s moral degradation has already begun, in fact. Flaubert writes that Rodolphe has made Emma “into something at once malleable and corrupt.” Emma’s growing internal corruption is matched by an increased attention to superficial appearances. She pays excessive attention to her physical vanities, perfuming herself, polishing her nails, and buying expensive items from Lheureux. At the same time, she grows more and more brazen in her adultery, and her debt to Lheureux increases. Emma puts both her soul and her finances in hock for the sake of an illicit love affair and a few material possessions. Flaubert forges a strong parallel between Emma’s moral and financial situations. In the end, it is her financial situation that undoes her.