When Flaubert wrote Madame Bovary authors normally strived for realism in literature. Romanticism had lost its status among literary cristics, although e.g. Victor Hugo still wrote romantic masterpieces like Les Misérables, a realist theme treated with his masterly romantic touch.
Gustave Flaubert
Flaubert, on the other hand, was a realist and tried to be as true to nature as possible and he closely observed human behaviour to be able to write as realistically as possible.He therefore described both physical appearances and psychological facts with utmost exactitude.
Charles Bovary
Already in the first chapter, when we first meet Charles Bovary, the main character in the first part of the novel, as he comes to school in the rural hamlet where he is about to spend his life, the reader is informed of how the characters are dressed: «le proviseur entra, suivi d'un nouveau habillé en bourgeois» (the head master entered, followed by a new comer dressed in city clothes). After his entrance, the young Charles Bovary continues with fumbling with his cap in an akward manner since he doesn't want to throw it on the floor. None of the other boys cares about where their caps are dropped, so he immediately distinguishes himself both in his clothes and in his behaviour regarding his garments.
Emma herself, the main character of the second and third part of the novel, pays a lot of attention to clothing. Which is something we are used to. Women are supposed to take a lot of interest in how they dress. The interesting thing is that Madame Bovary is not written by a woman, but a man who takes great care in describing how people are dressed. In order to be as realistic as possible Flaubert observes how the way we dress, in a split second, classifies us in social order. Furthermore the way we dress shows our psychological features, whether we intend it or not.
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