Author+Background

**Gustave Flaubert** was born on December 12, 1821 in Rouen, a town in Northern France (1) . His father was a distinguished surgeon and his mother was the daughter of a physician. Flaubert attended the College de Rouen, where he became interested in the romantic literary styles of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Lord Byron, and Victor Hugo. For a period of time he studied law in Paris, but decided to return home when he began experiencing symptoms of epilepsy. He took his illness as a reason to dedicate himself to literature. Flaubert was a perfectionist who spent his days in seclusion writing. He published his first novel, //Madame Bovary//, in 1857. Many of the details in the novel are said to be based on his love affair with Louise Colet, a very intelligent, and married, female poet. In Emma's affairs he incorporated the dramatic fluctuations of passion that characterized his relationship with Mme Colet. Shortly after its publication, Flaubert was persecuted for the explicit "immorality" portrayed in Emma Bovary's extramarital affairs (1). Thanks to the work of his attorney, Jules Senard, Flaubert was acquitted of the charges, and Madame Bovary is now considered "one of the most important French novels of the 19th century" (3).

Sources: 1. Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. 1857. Trans. Lowell Bair. New York: Bantam, 1981. 2. [] 3. []