Symbolic Green and Satanic Presence in Flaubert's Madame Bovary

In the tradition of pan-European chromatic symbolism Flaubert introduces green in Madame Bovary to express Satanic temptation. On every occasion that Emma succumbs to sensual pleasure a juxtaposed vegetation, green and undulant, implies the Demon's influence. The Devil's principal agent in the novel is Lheureux, a collector of "dead souls" like Gogol's Chichikov, who seems to materialize initially from a greenish twilight. Further, the Satanic role of Lheureux helps clarify the significance of the beggar (with eyes both green and blue) – symbol of the spirit entrapped in the pleasures and the tortures of the flesh by the Tempter of Eden. (PAD)