Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of

literary realism Literary realism is a literary genre, part of the broader realism in arts, that attempts to represent subject-matter truthfully, avoiding speculative fiction and supernatural elements. It originated with the realist art movement that began with ...

in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realism strives for formal perfection, so the presentation of reality tends to be neutral, emphasizing the values and importance of style as an objective method of presenting reality". He is known especially for his

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

Madame Bovary ''Madame Bovary'' (; ), originally published as ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' ( ), is a novel by French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emp ...

'' (1857), his ''Correspondence'', and his scrupulous devotion to his style and

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

. The celebrated short story writer

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

was a

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

of Flaubert.

Life

Early life and education

Flaubert was born in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

, in the

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

department of

Upper Normandy Upper Normandy (french: Haute-Normandie, ; nrf, Ĥâote-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. History It was created in 1956 from two d ...

, in northern France. He was the second son of Anne Justine Caroline (née Fleuriot; 1793–1872) and Achille-Cléophas Flaubert (1784–1846), director and senior surgeon of the major hospital in Rouen. He began writing at an early age, as early as eight according to some sources. He was educated at the

Lycée Pierre-Corneille The Lycée Pierre-Corneille (also known as the Lycée Corneille) is a state secondary school located in the city of Rouen, France. Originally founded by the Jesuits in 1593, the school was secularized following the 1905 French law on the Separa ...

in Rouen,Lycée Pierre Corneille de Rouen – History
/ref> and did not leave until 1840, whereby he went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

to study

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

. In Paris, he was an indifferent student and found the city distasteful. He made a few acquaintances, including

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

. Toward the end of 1840, he travelled in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

and

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. In 1846, after an attack of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

, he left Paris and abandoned the study of law.

Personal life

From 1846 to 1854, Flaubert had a relationship with the poet

Louise Colet Louise Colet (15 August 1810 – 9 March 1876), born Louise Revoil de Servannes, was a French poet and writer. Life and works She was born at the hôtel d'Antoine ( fr) in Aix-en-Provence in France. In her twenties she married Hippolyt ...

; his letters to her have survived. After leaving Paris, he returned to Croisset, near the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributa ...

, close to Rouen, and lived there for the rest of his life. He did however make occasional visits to Paris and England, where he apparently had a mistress. Politically, Flaubert described himself as a "romantic and liberal old dunce" (''vieille ganache romantique et libérale''), an "enraged liberal" (''libéral enragé''), a hater of all despotism, and someone who celebrated every protest of the individual against power and monopolies. With his lifelong friend Maxime Du Camp, he travelled in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

in 1846. In 1849–50 he went on a long journey to the Middle East, visiting

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

and Egypt. In

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

he contracted

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...

. He spent five weeks in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

in 1850. He visited

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

in 1858 to conduct research for his novel ''

Salammbô ''Salammbô'' (1862) is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert. It is set in Carthage immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt (241–237 BCE). Flaubert's principal source was Book I of the ''Histories'', written by the Greek hist ...

''. Flaubert never married and never had children. His reason for not having children is revealed in a letter he sent to Colet, dated 11 December 1852. In it he revealed that he was opposed to childbirth, saying he would "transmit to no one the aggravations and the disgrace of existence". Flaubert was very open about his sexual activities with prostitutes in his writings on his travels. He suspected that a

chancre A chancre ( )chancres
thefreedictionary is a painless

on his penis was from a

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the lar ...

or a Turkish girl. He also engaged in intercourse with male prostitutes in Beirut and Egypt; in one of his letters, he describes a "pockmarked young rascal wearing a white turban". According to his biographer Émile Faguet, his affair with Louise Colet was his only serious romantic relationship. Flaubert was a diligent worker and often complained in his letters to friends about the strenuous nature of his work. He was close to his niece, Caroline Commanville, and had a close friendship and correspondence with

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

. He occasionally visited Parisian acquaintances, including

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ...

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...

, and Edmond and

Jules de Goncourt Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt (; 17 December 183020 June 1870) was a French writer, who published books together with his brother Edmond. Jules was born and died in Paris. His death at the age of 39 was at Auteuil-Neuilly-Passy of a stroke br ...

. The 1870s were a difficult time for Flaubert. Prussian soldiers occupied his house during the War of 1870, and his mother died in 1872. After her death, he fell into financial difficulty due to business failures on the part of his niece's husband. Flaubert lived with

venereal diseases Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral ...

most of his life. His health declined and he died at Croisset of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1880 at the age of 58. He was buried in the family vault in the cemetery of Rouen. A monument to him by

Henri Chapu Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu (29 September 1833 – 21 April 1891) was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his work. Life and career Born in Le Mée-sur-Seine into modest circumstances, ...

was unveiled at the museum of Rouen. As a devoted Spinozist, Flaubert was significantly influenced by

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, ...

's thought. He was also a

pantheist Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has e ...

Writing career

Gustave Flaubert par Pierre François Eugène Giraud

His first finished work was ''

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. Nov ...

'', a novella, which was completed in 1842. In September 1849, Flaubert completed the first version of a novel, '' The Temptation of Saint Anthony.'' He read the novel aloud to

Louis Bouilhet Louis Hyacinthe Bouilhet (27 May 1821 – 18 July 1869) was a French poet and dramatist. Bouilhet was born at Cany, Seine Inférieure. He was a schoolfellow of Gustave Flaubert, to whom he dedicated his first work, ''Miloenis'' (1851), a nar ...

and Maxime Du Camp over the course of four days, not allowing them to interrupt or give any opinions. At the end of the reading, his friends told him to throw the manuscript in the fire, suggesting instead that he focus on day-to-day life rather than fantastic subjects. In 1850, after returning from Egypt, Flaubert began work on ''

''. The novel, which took five years to write, was serialized in the ''

Revue de Paris ''Revue de Paris'' was a French literary magazine founded in 1829 by Louis-Désiré Véron. After two years Veron left the magazine to head the Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded ...

'' in 1856. The government brought an action against the publisher and author on the charge of immorality, which was heard during the following year, but both were acquitted. When ''Madame Bovary'' appeared in book form, it met with a warm reception. In 1858, Flaubert travelled to

to gather material for his next novel, ''

''. The novel was completed in 1862 after four years of work. Drawing on his youth, Flaubert next wrote ''L'Éducation sentimentale'' (''

Sentimental Education ''Sentimental Education'' (French: ''L'Éducation sentimentale'', 1869) is a novel by Gustave Flaubert. Considered one of the most influential novels of the 19th century, it was praised by contemporaries such as George Sand and Émile Zola, bu ...

''), an effort that took seven years. This was his last complete novel, published in the year 1869. He wrote an unsuccessful drama, ''Le Candidat,'' and published a reworked version of ''The Temptation of Saint Anthony'', portions of which had been published as early as 1857. He devoted much of his time to an ongoing project, ''Les Deux Cloportes (The Two Woodlice)'', which later became '' Bouvard et Pécuchet'', breaking the obsessive project only to write the '' Three Tales'' in 1877. This book comprises three stories: ''Un Cœur simple'' (''A Simple Heart''), ''La Légende de Saint-Julien l'Hospitalier'' (''The Legend of St.

Julian the Hospitaller Julian the Hospitaller is a Roman Catholic saint, and the patron of the cities of Ghent and Macerata. History The earliest known reference to Julian dates to the late twelfth century.Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label= Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lastin ...

Perfectionist style

Flaubert famously avoided the inexact, the abstract and the vaguely inapt expression, and scrupulously eschewed the

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

. In a letter to

he said that he spent his time "trying to write harmonious sentences, avoiding

assonance Assonance is a resemblance in the sounds of words/syllables either between their vowels (e.g., ''meat, bean'') or between their consonants (e.g., ''keep, cape''). However, assonance between consonants is generally called ''consonance'' in America ...

s". Flaubert believed in and pursued the principle of finding "''le mot juste''" ("the right word"), which he considered as the key means to achieve high quality in literary art. He worked in sullen solitude, sometimes occupying a week in the completion of one page, never satisfied with what he had composed. In Flaubert's correspondence he intimates this, explaining correct prose did not flow out of him and that his style was achieved through work and revision.

Edmund Gosse Sir Edmund William Gosse (; 21 September 184916 May 1928) was an English poet, author and critic. He was strictly brought up in a small Protestant sect, the Plymouth Brethren, but broke away sharply from that faith. His account of his childhoo ...

(1911
''Flaubert, Gustave''
entry in

Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. S ...

, Volume 10, Slice 4 Flaubert said he wished to forge a style "that would be rhythmic as verse, precise as the language of the sciences, undulant, deep-voiced as a cello, tipped with flame: a style that would pierce your idea like a dagger, and on which your thought would sail easily ahead over a smooth surface, like a skiff before a good tail wind." He famously said that "an author in his book must be like God in the universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere." This painstaking style of writing is also evident when one compares Flaubert's output over a lifetime to that of his peers (for example Balzac or

Zola Zola may refer to: People * Zola (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * Zola (musician) (born 1977), South African entertainer * Zola (rapper), French rapper * Émile Zola, a major nineteenth-century French writer Plac ...

). Flaubert published much less prolifically than was the norm for his time and never got near the pace of a novel a year, as his peers often achieved during their peaks of activity.

Walter Pater Walter Horatio Pater (4 August 1839 – 30 July 1894) was an English essayist, art critic and literary critic, and fiction writer, regarded as one of the great stylists. His first and most often reprinted book, ''Studies in the History of the Re ...

famously called Flaubert the "martyr of style".

Legacy

In the assessment of critic James Wood: As a writer, other than a pure stylist, Flaubert was nearly equal parts romantic and realist. Hence, members of various schools, especially realists and formalists, have traced their origins to his work. The exactitude with which he adapts his expressions to his purpose can be seen in all parts of his work, especially in the portraits he draws of the figures in his principal romances. The degree to which Flaubert's fame has extended since his death presents "an interesting chapter of literary history in itself". He is also credited with spreading the popularity of the color Tuscany Cypress, a color often mentioned in his chef-d'œuvre ''Madame Bovary''. Flaubert's lean and precise writing style has had a large influence on 20th-century writers such as

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...

and J. M. Coetzee. As

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...

discussed in his famous lecture series:

The greatest literary influence upon Kafka was Flaubert's. Flaubert who loathed pretty-pretty prose would have applauded Kafka's attitude towards his tool. Kafka liked to draw his terms from the language of law and science, giving them a kind of ironic precision, with no intrusion of the author's private sentiments; this was exactly Flaubert's method through which he achieved a singular poetic effect. The legacy of his work habits can best be described, therefore, as paving the way towards a slower and more introspective manner of writing.

The publication of ''Madame Bovary'' in 1856 was followed by more scandal than admiration; it was not understood at first that this novel was the beginning of something new: the scrupulously truthful portraiture of life. Gradually, this aspect of his genius was accepted, and it began to crowd out all others. At the time of his death, he was widely regarded as the most influential French Realist. Under this aspect Flaubert exercised an extraordinary influence over

Edmond de Goncourt Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt (; 26 May 182216 July 1896) was a French writer, literary critic, art critic, book publisher and the founder of the Académie Goncourt. Biography Goncourt was born in Nancy. His parents, Marc-Pierre Huot d ...

, and

. Even after the decline of the Realist school, Flaubert did not lose prestige in the literary community; he continues to appeal to other writers because of his deep commitment to aesthetic principles, his devotion to style, and his indefatigable pursuit of the perfect expression. His ''Œuvres Complètes'' (8 vols., 1885) were printed from the original manuscripts, and included, besides the works mentioned already, the two plays ''Le Candidat'' and ''Le Château des cœurs''. Another edition (10 vols.) appeared in 1873–85. Flaubert's correspondence with

was published in 1884 with an introduction by Guy de Maupassant. He has been admired or written about by almost every major literary personality of the 20th century, including

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

s and sociologists such as

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and ho ...

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western pop ...

Pierre Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu (; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influence ...

, and

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lite ...

, the latter of whose partially psychoanalytic portrait of Flaubert in ''

The Family Idiot ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' was published in 1971.

Georges Perec Georges Perec (; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Hol ...

named ''

'' as one of his favourite novels. The Peruvian novelist

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...

is another great admirer of Flaubert. Apart from ''

Perpetual Orgy ''The Perpetual Orgy: Flaubert and Madame Bovary'' (, 1975) is a book-length essay by the Nobel Prize–winning Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa which examines Flaubert's 1857 book ''Madame Bovary'' as the first modern novel. The first par ...

'', which is solely devoted to Flaubert's art, one can find lucid discussions in Vargas Llosa's ''Letters to a Young Novelist'' (published 2003). In a public lecture in May 1966 at the Kaufmann Art Gallery in New York,

Marshall McLuhan Herbert Marshall McLuhan (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his ...

claimed: "I derived all my knowledge of media from people like Flaubert and

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...

and

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...

." On the occasion of Flaubert's 198th birthday (12 December 2019), a group of researchers at

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...

published a neural language model under his name.

Bibliography

Major works

*'' La Peste à Florence'' (1836) *''Rêve d'enfer'' (1837) *'' Memoirs of a Madman'' (1838) *''

'' (1857) *''

'' (1862) *''

'' (1869) *''Le Candidat'' (1874) *'' The Temptation of Saint Anthony'' (1874) *'' Three Tales'' (1877) *'' Le Château des cœurs'' (1880) *'' Bouvard et Pécuchet'' (1881) *''

Dictionary of Received Ideas The ''Dictionary of Received Ideas'' (or ''Dictionary of Accepted Ideas''; in French, ''Le Dictionnaire des idées reçues'') is a short satirical work collected and published in 1911–13 from notes compiled by Gustave Flaubert during the 1870s, ...

'' (1911) *''Souvenirs, notes et pensées intimes'' (1965)

Adaptations

* The opera ''

Hérodiade ''Hérodiade'' is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Paul Milliet and Henri Grémont, based on the novella ''Hérodias'' (1877) by Gustave Flaubert. It was first performed at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels ...

'' by

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and '' Werther ...

, based on Flaubert's novella ''Hérodias'' * The opera ''

'' by Emmanuel Bondeville, based on Flaubert's novel * The unfinished opera ''Salammbo'' by

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

, orchestrated by Zoltán Peskó, based on Flaubert's novel. * Eight films titled ''Madame Bovary''. * ''La légende de Saint-Julien l'Hospitalier'' (1888), an opera by

Camille Erlanger Camille Erlanger (25 May 186324 April 1919) was a French opera composer. He studied at the Paris Conservatory under Léo Delibes (composition), Georges Mathias (piano), as well as Émile Durand and Antoine Taubon (harmony).Jacobshagen, Arnold: " ...

Correspondence (in English)

*Selections: **''Selected Letters'' (ed.

Francis Steegmuller Francis Steegmuller (July 3, 1906 – October 20, 1994) was an American biographer, translator and fiction writer, who was known chiefly as a Flaubert scholar. Life and career Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Steegmuller graduated from Columbia Un ...

, 1953, 2001) **''Selected Letters'' (ed. Geoffrey Wall, 1997) *''Flaubert in Egypt: A Sensibility on Tour'' (1972) *''Flaubert and Turgenev, a Friendship in Letters: The Complete Correspondence'' (ed. Barbara Beaumont, 1985) *Correspondence with George Sand: **''The George Sand–Gustave Flaubert Letters'', translated by Aimée G. Leffingwell McKenzie (A. L. McKenzie), introduced by Stuart Sherman (1921), available at the Gutenberg website a
E-text No. 5115
** ''Flaubert–Sand: The Correspondence'' (1993)

Biographical and other related publications

* Allen, James Sloan, ''Worldly Wisdom: Great Books and the Meanings of Life,'' Frederic C. Beil, 2008. * Brown, Frederick, ''Flaubert: a Biography'', Little, Brown; 2006. * Hennequin, Émile, ''Quelques écrivains français Flaubert, Zola, Hugo, Goncourt, Huysmans, etc.'', available at the Gutenberg website a
E-text No. 12289
* Barnes, Julian, ''

Flaubert's Parrot ''Flaubert's Parrot'' is a novel by Julian Barnes that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1984 and won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize the following year. The novel recites amateur Gustave Flaubert expert Geoffrey Braithwaite's musings o ...

'', London: J. Cape; 1984 * Fleming, Bruce, ''Saving Madame Bovary: Being Happy With What We Have,'' Frederic C. Beil, 2017. * Max, Gerry, "Gustave Flaubert: The Book As Artifact and Idea: Bibliomane and Bibliology," Dalhousie French Studies, Spring-Summer, 1992. * Patton, Susannah,
A Journey into Flaubert's Normandy
', Roaring Forties Press, 2007. * Sartre, Jean-Paul. ''The Family Idiot: Gustave Flaubert, 1821–1857'', Volumes 1–5. University of Chicago Press, 1987. *

Steegmuller, Francis Francis Steegmuller (July 3, 1906 – October 20, 1994) was an American biographer, translator and fiction writer, who was known chiefly as a Flaubert scholar. Life and career Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Steegmuller graduated from Columbia ...

,
Flaubert and Madame Bovary: a Double Portrait
', New York: Viking Press; 1939. * Tooke, Adrianne, ''Flaubert and the Pictorial Arts: from image to text'', Oxford University Press; 2000. * Wall, Geoffrey, ''Flaubert: a Life'', Faber and Faber; 2001. * Various authors, ''The Public vs. M. Gustave Flaubert'', available at the Gutenberg website a
E-text No. 10666

References

External links

* * * *
Audiobook (MP3)
''La femme du monde'' (taken from Flaubert's early works)
Flaubert's works
text, concordances and frequency list
Gustave Flaubert, his work in audio version
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Site of the Centre Flaubert at Rouen

at the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
Bibliomania page

Flaubert 'Bookweb' on literary website The Ledge, with suggestions for further reading

"The Martyr of Letters"
essay on ''The Letters of Gustave Flaubert'', F. L. Lucas, ''Studies French and English'' (1934), pp. 242–266 {{DEFAULTSORT:Flaubert, Gustave 1821 births 1880 deaths 19th-century French male writers 19th-century French novelists 19th-century French short story writers Anti-natalists French fantasy writers French historical novelists French male novelists French male short story writers LGBT writers from France Lycée Pierre-Corneille alumni Writers from Rouen Spinozists 19th-century travelers Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity Writers with disabilities Bisexual writers