Madame Bovary
Complete textEmma marries the provincial doctor Charles Bovary but finds married life unlike the romantic possibilities she has imagined. Social occasions, purchases, and new attachments seem to promise an escape from disappointment. Her pursuit of a more exciting existence draws emotional dissatisfaction into increasingly concrete financial and social entanglements.
Continue readingAbout Madame Bovary
The narration moves close to Emma’s expectations while allowing their borrowed language to remain visible. A grand feeling may resemble something learned from a book, advertisement, or social performance. Compare the promise attached to an object or encounter with its practical cost, and notice how other people’s self-serving explanations help sustain a world in which desire is readily exploited.
Reading focus
Read the gap between romantic language and practical cost, especially where emotional dissatisfaction becomes an opportunity for other people’s advantage.
This reading edition contains 115,703 words in 35 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.
Author: Gustave Flaubert. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.
Opening excerpt
We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a “new fellow,” not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a large desk. Those who had been asleep woke up, and every one rose as if just surprised at his work.
Contents
All sections- Part I — Chapter One16 min
- Part I — Chapter Two14 min
- Part I — Chapter Three10 min
- Part I — Chapter Four9 min
- Part I — Chapter Five6 min
- Part I — Chapter Six9 min
- Part I — Chapter Seven11 min
- Part I — Chapter Eight16 min
- Part I — Chapter Nine19 min
- Part II — Chapter One16 min
- Part II — Chapter Two11 min
- Part II — Chapter Three18 min
- Part II — Chapter Four7 min
- Part II — Chapter Five14 min
- Part II — Chapter Six19 min
- Part II — Chapter Seven14 min
- Part II — Chapter Eight35 min
- Part II — Chapter Nine16 min
- Part II — Chapter Ten14 min
- Part II — Chapter Eleven20 min
- Part II — Chapter Twelve21 min
- Part II — Chapter Thirteen16 min
- Part II — Chapter Fourteen17 min
- Part II — Chapter Fifteen14 min
- Part III — Chapter One22 min
- Part III — Chapter Two15 min
- Part III — Chapter Three4 min
- Part III — Chapter Four5 min
- Part III — Chapter Five26 min
- Part III — Chapter Six26 min
- Part III — Chapter Seven20 min
- Part III — Chapter Eight27 min
- Part III — Chapter Nine13 min
- Part III — Chapter Ten10 min
- Part III — Chapter Eleven14 min
Reading & download help
Is this the complete Madame Bovary?
This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 35 sections and 115,703 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.
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A4 is designed for 210 × 297 mm paper; US Letter for 8.5 × 11 inch paper. Both contain the same complete text, selectable text and section bookmarks.
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