Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary takes place in Tostes and Yonville in the middle of the nineteenth century and examines the Petite Bourgeois society of southern, rural France. Emma, the protagonist, marries Dr. Charles Bovary and settles in Tostes. At first, she is excited and pleased with her marriage, but because of her superficial romantic ideals, she soon becomes bored and disillusioned by her new life, and, as a result, becomes ill. Dr. Bovary decided to …showed first 75 words of 563 total…

…showed last 75 words of 563 total…a higher ranking in society but ultimately fails. In conclusion, Madame Bovary searches for "happiness, passion, and intoxication" (55) because she cannot accept her status in the Petite Bourgeois society. First, through her affair with Rodolphe, a decadent aristocrat, and then Leon, a young law clerk, Emma tries to escape the rural dullness of her life but ultimately fails. Emma is unable to achieve this because she incurs too many debts, and in shame poisons herself.