Gustave Flaubert

The essence of Flaubert's art springs from certain key contradictions: between pessimism and a sense of human potential, and aesthetically, between an attraction for lofty themes and seriousness against an attraction for the real and everyday. Though superficially his books suggest that he alternated between the two poles, close examination shows that the specific flavour of his work lies in manifold varieties of interpretation between the two. David Roe examines Flaubert's major works in this context, and also explores the fertile field of reinterpretation provided by Flaubert to critics and practising novelists. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Life....Pages 1-11 The Early Works....Pages 12-21 Flaubert’s Literary Ideas....Pages 22-31 Madame Bovary....Pages 32-49 Salammbô....Pages 50-65 L’Education Sentimentale....Pages 66-86 Trois Contes....Pages 87-98 Bouvard et Pécuchet....Pages 99-109 The Critical Heritage....Pages 110-119 Back Matter....Pages 121-128 An examination of the work of Flaubert suggesting that he alternated between an attraction for lofty themes and seriousness against an attraction for the real and everyday. It also explores the field of reinterpretation provided by Flaubert to critics and practising novelists. This examination of the work of Flaubert suggests that he alternated between an attraction for lofty themes and seriousness against an attraction for the real and everyday. It also explores the field of reinterpretation provided by Flaubert to critics and practising novelists