here are many attributes that make Gustav Flaubert's, Madame Bovary, a great novel. Flaubert's antiromantic approach to writing and his shifting narrative point of veiw, create an accurate picture that causes the reader to sympatize with his characters even while him/her. The following passage exemplifies both literary realism and emotional subjectivity. .
"But it was above all at mealtimes that [Emma] could bear it no longer, in that little room on the ground floor, with the smoking stove, the creaking door, the oozing walls, the damp floor-tiles; all the bitterness of life seemed to be served to her on her plate, and, with the steam from the boiled beef, there rose from the depths of her soul other exhalations as it were of disgust. "(56).
The writing maintains a subjective tone in that it leads the reader to feel Emma's disgust and frustration. Conversely, the passage illustrates realism because it pays attention to small details, no matter how unpleasant. .
The significance of the material world to Emma's thoughts is stressed through the connection of the steam from the beef to her soul's exhalations. Flaubert links emotions to objects in this fashion throughout the book. In doing this Flaubert denies Emma the one thing she truly wants: to escape the material world she resides in, and enter the world of her imagination and the romance novels she is so engulfed in. The reader is shown the world through the eyes of Emma who at the time is discontented with her surroundings. She is irritated with her life, and because she finds the world around her mundane and not as romantic as she believes it should be, she subconsciously chooses to focus on all of the objects that disgust her. Because Flaubert does not let the reader escape from Emma's repulsive environment he/she is forced to share Emma's displeasure.
Flaubert's contrasting view points and usage of subjectivity and objectivity to show as complete a portrayal as possible is what makes Madame Bovary genuinely great.
