The Dusty World of Madame Bovary

The numerous references to dust in Madame Bovary enrich the novel dramatically and thematically. Mentioned in connection with every stage of Emma's development, dust. is used to convey her reaction to the dullness of provincial life; to comment on the unoriginality and futility of her aspirations; and to foreshadow her eventual death. In addition, recurring descriptions of dust in key scenes create important thematic linkages within the novel. The dust imagery in Madame Bovary illustrates Maurice Nadeau's assertion that "the facts Flaubert described always comprehended more than the facts themselves." (DTS)