That he was one of the greatest writers who ever lived in France is now commonly admitted, and his greatness principally depends upon the extraordinary vigour and exactitude of his style. One of the most severe of academic critics admits that in all his works, and in every page of his works, Flaubert may be considered a model of style. His private letters show that he was not one of those to whom easy and correct language is naturally given he gained his extraordinary perfection with the unceasing sweat of his brow. It cannot be said that his incessant labors were not rewarded. He worked in sullen solitude, sometimes occupying a week in the completion of one page, never satisfied with what he had composed, violently tormenting his brain for the best turn of a phrase, the most absolutely final adjective. He was born in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, in the Haute-Normandie Region of France.įlaubert's curious modes of composition favored and were emphasized by these peculiarities. Then, without missing a beat, she switches to smug, cynical satisfaction, as Rudolf admires the letter and congratulates himself on his close escape.Gustave Flaubert is counted among the greatest Western novelists. In a swoony, sighing voice full of noble suffering, Jackson reads his flowery letter of tears and regret, saying he loves her too much to ruin her life and her reputation. To Rudolf, Emma is just one in a long series of conquests, and he gets cold feet at the thought of being permanently responsible for her welfare and that of her child.

Jackson is especially outstanding in the scene which takes place the night before Emma plans to run off with her lover, Rudolf.

Emma's unrealistic dreams (she yearns for a perfect, romantic love that will sweep her away into perpetual bliss) lead her into one affair after another, and then to financial ruin and suicide. Her reading perfectly captures the restlessness of Emma Bovary, a character perpetually dissatisfied with her solid, steady husband and bourgeois life in provincial 19th-century France.

Glenda Jackson hits the mark in this superb narration of Flaubert's classic novel.

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