Flaubert in Dostoevsky’s Work: The Role and Image of Madame Bovary in the Novel The Idiot

Abstract

The article examines the role of G. Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary in the artistic space of F.M. Dostoevsky’s Idiot and the philosophical and ideological ideas of the French writer, which formed the basis of his work. The research demonstrates that for Flaubert, the image of a woman captured by her fantasies and passions was a symbol of the spiritual state of his modern society, which, according to the writer, had lost its spiritual guidelines and was completely focused on itself and the satisfaction of momentary desires, while the true needs remained unsatisfied. The article shows that for the correct interpretation of the role of Madame Bovary, it is necessary to correctly take into account the time of her reading by the heroine of Dostoevsky since she did not read it before her wedding, as is commonly believed in research literature, but at the time of her departure from Pavlovsk, when she “forever” left the prince for the sake of his happiness with Aglaya. Thus, the article suggests that the image of Emma and the world that she symbolizes is primarily associated with the young Epanchina, and not with Nastasia Filippovna. The article also analyzes the death scenes of the two female characters.

Keywords

• dostoevsky
• the idiot
• gustave flaubert
• madame bovary
• marriage
• the death scene of the heroine
• taking into account the chronology.