Boston

To endow Emma Bovary with his feelings, Gustave Flaubert endowed objects with her feelings. When Rodolphe reneges on his promise to elope, Emma is prostrated by “brain fever.” The trappings of sainthood substitute for erotic satisfaction: “She bought rosaries and wore holy medals. She wished to have in her room, by the side of her bed, a reliquary set in emeralds that she might kiss it every evening.”