A great starting point for students seeking an introduction to Gustave Flaubert and the critical discussions surrounding his work.

Considered a prolific pioneer of literary realism and one of the founders of modern fiction, French author Gustave Flaubert is known for his strong sense of style and obsession with le mot juste (the right word). This volume examines Flaubert’s quest for literary perfection, his extensive correspondence with such contemporaries as Ivan Turgenev and Guy de Maupassant, and his most famous work, Madame Bovary.

Gustave Flaubert became widely known throughout the twentieth century, having many admirers and even disciples. Today, Flaubert’s works-in particular Madame Bovary and the Trois contes (1877)-are studeied in schools and universities and not always in the French and Modern Languages departments. As a major figure in Western literature and culture, he is also studied, in translation, as a part of survey courses in literature and humanities. The main chapters consist of four studies, followed by a series of more detailed critical and often close readings.

Each essay is 2,500 to 5,000 words in length, and all essays conclude with a list of
Works Cited,
along with endnotes. Finally, the volume’s appendixes offer a section of useful reference resources: A chronology of the author’s life; A complete list of the author’s works and their original dates of publication; A general bibliography; A detailed paragraph on the volume’s editor; Notes on the individual chapter authors; A subject index.