Gustave+Flaubert


 * Gustave Flaubert **

Gustave Flaubert, born in 1821, was a famous French novelist most known for his 1856 novel Madame Bovary. He was born in Rouen, France, and died there in 1880, when he was 58 years old. Flaubert is acclaimed due to his meticulous attention to style and choosing, " le mot just," (the right word). He trained several students in the art of writing, the most notable being Guy de Maupassant, the acclaimed short story writer.

Flaubert's writing journey began in the year 1842, when he wrote his first novella entitled //November//. It was not very successful, and he quickly began work on another piece, this time a full-length novel entitled //The Temptations of Saint Anthony//. After reading this work out loud to his friends, Flaubert was told to throw the manuscript in the fire and focus on real life. Flaubert clearly took the work to heart, as his next literary endeavor was //Madame Bovary//, the realistic novel about small town life that brought mid-1800s France to its knees. After being serialized to much discontent, Flaubert was put on trial for, "indecency," in his novel. Charges were eventually dropped, and when Madame Bovary appeared as a book, it was recieved well. After writing the book now considered his masterpiece, Flaubert wrote several novels to moderate success, in addition to an unsuccessful drama. He died while writing the novel he thought would be his masterpiece, entitled //Bouvard et Pécuchet. //However, after being published posthumously, it was met with a very lukewarm critical reception

Gustave Flaubert has had a massive influence on literature, clearly visible in the works of nearly all French writers and especially realists that came after him. The style of narration he established in his work is used widely, and his no-nonsense writing was an influence on such authors such as Franz Kafka and J.M. Coetzee. He changed the largely frilly (and at times difficult to understand) language used in literature, and therefore changed the rest of French literature through to the modern day. In changing the face of literature in France, Flaubert had a remarkable influence in making the French culture more open and accepting of different life decisions, while also training the next generation of important French authors who would go on to have their own stamps that make France the country we see today.