Flaubert's Madame Bovary: a study in envy and revenge

Flaubert's Emma Bovary is one of the most convincingly realized characters in modern literature. Her husband, Charles, a rural doctor, loves her dearly, but he is dull, ineffectual, and boring. Emma seems to hate him with a fury that knows no bounds. She betrays him sexually, ruins him financially, and ultimately destroys his very life. What drives her to such unmitigated rage? The authors identify evidence in the novel suggestive of a dynamic thrust for revenge along the lines described by Freud (1918) in "The Taboo of Virginity." Elements of narcissistic rage and a sense of entitlement intensify Emma's anger and vengefulness.