Book Discussion: Madame Bovary (1857) by Gustave Flaubert, After the Wedding Cake

Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary is one of the greatest novels in world literature. Reading the book in Francis Steegmuller’s acclaimed translation, see how it begins comically, with literature’s most memorable wedding cake, and concludes tragically, as what had first seemed Emma Bovary’s quest for freedom ends up being futile. Madame Bovary explores women’s experiences in a complex and sophisticated way, unprecedented in the nineteenth century. Also examine the possibility of whether a male writer, however gifted and insightful, can accurately capture the reality of a woman’s existence.