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Madame Bovary book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Emma Bovary is a doctor's wife in provincial Normandy who believes, with absolute conviction, that real life should feel like the romantic novels she devoured as a girl.
Gustave Flaubert · 1857 · 9h 0m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
Is Emma Bovary a sympathetic character? Did your answer shift over the course of the novel?
- 2.
Flaubert said 'Madame Bovary, c'est moi.' What did he mean, and do you see the author's desires reflected in Emma's — even though he seems to judge her so harshly?
- 3.
The novel was prosecuted for obscenity in 1857. What do you think genuinely disturbed its contemporary readers — was it the adultery, or something deeper about what it said about their world?
- 4.
Charles Bovary is devoted, decent, and incapable. Is he a victim of Emma's narcissism, or does the novel suggest his limitations are their own kind of violence?
- 5.
Homais is rewarded with the Légion d'honneur at the novel's end. What is Flaubert saying with that closing detail?
- 6.
Emma reads romantic novels and mistakes their fantasies for life. Does the novel suggest this is her personal failing, or an indictment of a certain kind of reading — and by extension, does it implicate you as a reader?
- 7.
The free indirect discourse means we're always both inside and outside Emma's consciousness. When did that double vision feel most uncomfortable to you?
- 8.
Rodolphe seduces Emma using clichés he consciously deploys. She is moved by them despite — or because of — being intelligent. What does that say about the power of romantic language?
- 9.
Can a woman reading Madame Bovary today have a fundamentally different experience of it than a man? Should she?
- 10.
Léon and Rodolphe both abandon Emma when her demands become inconvenient. Is this the novel's most realistic element?
- 11.
Flaubert apparently felt contempt for every character in the book. Does that contempt limit the novel's humanity, or is it part of its honesty?
- 12.
Compare Emma's fate to that of Anna Karenina (if you've read it). Which character earns more of your sympathy, and why?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for Madame Bovary?
Here are 12 book club questions for Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on romantic illusion vs. reality, bourgeois mediocrity, female desire and constraint.
How long should a book club discussion of Madame Bovary last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in Madame Bovary?
Romantic illusion vs. reality, Bourgeois mediocrity, Female desire and constraint, Debt and self-destruction, The seductions of fiction. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like Madame Bovary or questions for other book club picks.
