Everything you need to understand or teach Madame Bovary by
Gustave Flaubert. The narrative begins from the perspective of a
French schoolboy, who records Charles Bovary's first day in his
class. Everyone stares at Charles, the fifteen-year-old "new
boy" from the country, who enters with an exceedingly
embarrassed manner. His classmates soon begin to tease him,
ostracizing him for his country manner and dress. The teacher
also ridicules him when he can't understand Charles's
pronunciation of his name and makes him sit on a dunce stool
near him. Charles is an average student, but others note that
"he had not the least elegance of style." After his parents
determine that he would make a fine doctor, he enrolls in
medical school, where he becomes a mediocre student. He soon
begins to enjoy his freedom at college, frequenting the tavern
and playing dominos, which develops into "an initiation into the
world, the introduction to forbidden pleasures." As a result, he
fails his... View more of the Madame Bovary Summa