Madame Bovary

French author Gustave Flaubert wrote the book Madame Bovary, which was first published in 1856. In it, the main protagonist overspends in an attempt to escape the tedium and emptiness of provincial life. The events of Madame Bovary occur in rural Northern France, close to the city of Rouen in Normandy. A bashful, eccentrically dressed kid struggles to earn a mediocre medical degree and joins the Public Health Service as an Officier de santé. He weds Hélose Dubuc, an unpleasant but ostensibly wealthy widow, and begins to establish a practice in the town of Tôtes. Emma discovers her married life to be dull and unfulfilling when Charles and she attend an expensive party hosted by the Marquis d'Andervilliers. Charles relocates his practice to Yonville after deciding that his wife needed a change of scenery. Léon Dupuis, a smart young man who shares Emma's love of music and literature, captures her heart. She takes arsenic in desperation and suffers a painful demise. Charles, who is devastated, gives in to his sadness, keeps Emma's room as a shrine, and imitates her preferences to keep her memory alive. The local pharmacist Homais, who had competed with Charles' medical practice and been honored for his successes, passes away at the end of the book.