Set amid the revolution of 1848, Flaubert’s masterpiece combines political and social upheaval with scrutiny of individual motives in a compelling blend of romance, history, and satire.
I want to write the moral history of the men of my generation-or, more accurately, the history of their feelings, declared Gustave Flaubert, who envisioned a book about love, about passion; but passion such as can exist nowadays-that is to say, inactive. First published in 1869, this novel fulfills Flaubert’s conception with a realistic, ironic portrait of bourgeois lives played out against France’s tumultuous revolution of 1848 and the founding of its Second Empire. Frederic Moreau, a law student in Paris, dreams of achieving success in art, business, journalism, and politics. His aspirations take a romantic turn upon a chance encounter with a married woman, who inspires a lifelong obsession. Frederic befriends his idol’s husband, an influential art dealer, and quickly finds himself seduced by society life-and bedeviled by financial problems, ideological conflicts, and betrayals of trust. Blending romance, historical authenticity, and satire, Flaubert’s Sentimental Education ranks among the nineteenth century’s great novels.