Gustave Flaubert's A Simple Heart

1137 Words5 Pages
Paper Topic #1 Gustave Flaubert’s, A Simple Heart, is one of the most realistic pieces of literature out there. A few of the main themes in this story are disillusionment, frustration and resignation. Realism is an enormous part of this story and in literature as a whole. Realism in literature focuses on middle and lower class characters because the authors were customarily middle class. Realism in literature is also depicted by art imitating life, meaning that art is not always beautiful but in reality, it’s very unpleasant. In, A Simple Heart, the story starts off by describing Madame Aubain’s house and Felicite, who works there as her maid. Felicite is very loyal and efficient at her job, but she is considered lower class. As the story goes on, we realize that Felicite had been previously in love with a man…show more content…
Virginie is Madame Aubains’ daughter who is shipped off to convent school after her first communion. (Pg. 720. Part iii) Felicite handles her grief after Virginie leaves by visiting her nephew, Victor. Victor is soon to be shipped to Cuba. Felicite tries to go see Victor just before he leaves on the ship, but as she gets there, the ship is already leaving. This leaves Felicite extremely disenchanted. She is constantly at a state of worry and concerned when she hasn’t heard from Victor in months. Later, Felicite receives a letter declaring that her nephew has breathe your last breath. (Pg. 723. Part iii.) Felicite then finds out that Virginie has been suffering from a lung disease and has passed away as well. This part of the story is particularly important in the realism theme because everyone will leave you. Death, a misunderstanding or a new journey will come to everyone and people in your life will come and go. Someone can think so highly of an individual and just like that, they are not all they are cracked up to be and turn out to be an evil
Show More
Related

  • Gustave Flaubert's A Simple Heart

    930 Words  | 4 Pages

    In discussing three different literary works, they all have different themes, characters, and story lines; however, knowledge plays a major role in these stories and has an impact on the reader’s interpretation. In “A Simple Heart,” Gustave Flaubert introduces us to a girl name Felicite and begins to describe the people that helped shape her life. Felicite did not have anything, including, a husband, children, or a home; however, she was loyal and loved everyone that she was around. William Blake

    Read More

  • Gustave Flaubert's A Simple Heart

    744 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gustave Flaubert The short story entitled A Simple Heart describes the life story of sweet girl name Felicite. She is a sweet girl, but suffers a hard life. Many people only seen her as simply a possession. However, she was not that. Despite how she was treated, she had a huge heart that just needed something to love. When her life was taking off many girls wanted to be here. They envied her. She had found love at a young age. She met Theodore. This did not last because he left her for an older

    Read More

More about Gustave Flaubert's A Simple Heart

Open Document