The novel’s heroine is Emma Bovary, a doctor’s wife living beyond her means and having affairs in the hope of escaping the emptiness and banality of provincial life. Although the plot of the novel is fairly simple and even banal, the real value of the novel lies in the details and in the way the plot is presented. Flaubert was known as a writer who strove to bring every work to an ideal, always trying to find the right words.
The novel was published in the Paris literary journal “Revue de Paris” from October 1 to December 15, 1856. After the novel was published, the author (as well as two other publishers) was accused of offending public morals and, together with the journal’s editor, was brought to court in January 1857. The scandal brought the work popularity, and an acquittal verdict on February 7, 1857 made it possible to publish the novel as a separate book later that same year. Today it is considered not only one of the key works of realism, but also one of the most influential works in literature overall.