Flaubert

Flaubert, Gustave (1821-1880), a French novelist, was born at Rouen. He was the son of a physician, and inherited a small fortune, which enabled him to iollow his own inclinations as to bis calling in life. After some hesitation he decided upon literature, and at first essayed poetry, but finally fixed upon prose as the most fitting vehicle for expressing his sentiments. It is said that for a time he suffered from some obscure brain disease, which may not have been without its effect in colouring his thoughts and his methods. The novel which made the greatest impression upon his contemporaries was Madame Bovart/. This displays all the characteristics of his style. A purist ' in language to a degree that made his writing and revision a formidable labour, he also showed a minuteness of detail and analysis that closely resembles the later "naturalistic" school, though he did not otherwise resemble them in treatment of subject. In Madame Bovary he paints a life of adultery in all its naked vtelgarity and hideousness, and casts around it none of the glamour that some of his fellow novelists have bestowed upon it. The next most important of his novels is Salanimbo, a story of ancient Carthage. In 1866 he was made member of the Legion of Honour. In 1862 he produced his Education Sentimentale, and in 1874 Tentation de St. Antoine and a play called Le Candidat. In 1877 he published Trois Contes, which appear to some extent to be either a reproduction, or possibly the original form, of the three novels above mentioned. Bouvard et Peluchet, another sordid story of middle-class life, appeared after his death. A good edition of his works was published in 1885.