PSAT Writing and Language Practice Test 29: Madame Bovary

Questions 31-36 refer to the following information.

Madame Bovary

Some critics believe that Madame Bovary, the most famous novel by French author Gustave Flaubert, has a strange and subversive theme that undermines 31 its own medium: in short, they say that Flaubert's masterpiece of fiction is a cautionary tale about the dangers of reading novels. As evidence, they point to its unsympathetic protagonist, Emma Bovary, who lives in her books and romanticizes the simplest aspects of daily life—for example, eating rich food and buying expensive clothing—as well as her relationships. 32 Emma cares only about her immediate physical gratification and material possessions rather than the well-being of her friends and family, becoming cruel, shortsighted, and constantly dissatisfied with real life. Her fantasies lead to her downfall: her relationship with her well-meaning but naive husband gradually disintegrates, her two adulterous affairs end in disaster, her constant borrowing leads her family to financial ruin, and her desire to die in a 33 glorious dramatic fashion leads instead to an unexpectedly agonizing three days of death throes. She expects too much from life and is punished horribly for it.

Certainly Emma's flawed personality, as well as her literary obsession, contributes to her downfall, but it is interesting to note 34 that only Emma is the only character in the novel who habitually reads for pleasure. In fact, her husband spends the bulk of the story engaged in the mundane activities of daily life: running a business, tending to family members, maintaining the household. He is naive, admittedly, but happy—at least until Emma's penchant for romance begins to interfere with his responsibilities. Therefore, there really are no other appropriate characters with whom to compare her, although we can point out that the characters making up the novel's non-reading population tend to be 35 more socially responsible than Emma. Perhaps Madame Bovary, then, was not meant to be a criticism of fiction itself; rather, Flaubert intended his novel to be a caution against allowing suggestible characters like Emma to have access to novels. The permissive environment that the Bovarys permit in their household contributes to their downfall and social ruin; the 36 characters' unwillingness to check Emma's passions (and even their ignorance of the existence of such a problem) leads to the disintegration of their family.