Flaubert, Gustave, << floh BAIR, goos TAHV >> (1821-1880), was a French writer whose novels contain some of the most vivid and lifelike characters and descriptions in literature. He blended precise observation with careful attention to language and form. His Madame Bovary is considered perhaps the most perfect French novel.
Flaubert was born on Dec. 12, 1821, in Rouen. He lived in solitude, devoting himself to literature. His adoration of artistic beauty was paralleled by his hatred of materialism.
Flaubert tended to be a skeptic and a pessimist. His works are never sentimental or soft, but they are always deeply human. His novels show he was both a realist and a romantic. The realism can be seen in his attention to detail and his objective description of characters and events. The romanticism appears in the exotic subject matter that Flaubert chose. Madame Bovary (1856) is a poetically realistic treatment of a case of adultery in a village in Normandy. Salammbo (1862) is a colorful historical novel about ancient Carthage. A Sentimental Education (1869), a kind of autobiographical novel, is an example of strict literary realism. The Temptation of St. Anthony (1874) is a marvelous fantasy. Three Tales (1877) examines religious experience through three small masterpieces that take place in different historical periods: “A Simple Heart” (modern); “The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller” (medieval); and “Herodias” (Biblical). Flaubert died on May 8, 1880.
