An Anti-Hero’s Desire for Objects: Gustave Flaubert’s L’éducation Sentimentale

Nineteenth century French novelist Gustave Flaubert contributed significantly to the development of the novel genre. Even though his name is associated with Madame Bovary, his novel L’Éducation sentimentale (Sentimental Education) stands out with its deviation from the traditional novel. Despite at first sight appearing to be a Bildungsroman, its protagonist neither learns from his mistakes, nor changes in a positive way. Whereas traditional novelists such as Balzac place emphasis on the depth and development of characters Flaubert does the opposite, presenting an anti-hero to the reader whilst giving character depth a secondary role in the novel. Instead, he prefers to make object names and descriptions which are secondary in the traditional novel more explicit and visible. In that aspect, it is possible to argue that L’Éducation sentimentale brings a substantial innovation to the novel genre. This study first introduces the anti-hero Frédéric Moreau, and then discusses how the novel treats objects and what their function is throughout the novel.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Anti-Hero, Descriptions Of Objects, L’Éducation Sentimentale

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