Madame Bovary: Commercial facts
13 lenses on commercial facts for Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8 L9 L10 L11 L12 L13
L1. Total word count. Count
1857, 116,834 words. See the full lens on the book page.
L2. Chapter count and average length. Count
1857, 116,834 words. See the full lens on the book page.
L3. Length against modern norms for the genre. Both
116,834 words. Modern literary often runs 70,000 to 100,000 words, so this is long for the shelf today. These ranges are rough trade norms, not rules.
At 116,834 words across 35 chapters, Madame Bovary is substantial for literary fiction but shorter than many Victorian novels. It is longer than typical modern literary novels (80,000 words) but shorter than epic narratives. The length allows psychological depth without sprawl.
L4. First published as a serial or a volume? Research
1857, 116,834 words. See the full lens on the book page.
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L5. Serial instalment breaks and how each ends. Both
The novel was serialised in La Revue de Paris in six instalments (October-December 1856). Part I (chapters 1 to 9) ends with Emma invited to the ball, a clear hook. Part II (10 to 24) ends with Emma's reunion with Léon at the opera. Part III (25 to 35) covers the affair, financial ruin, and deaths. Each section builds toward emotional climax.
Chapters: Ch 9, Ch 24, Ch 35
But towards the end of September something extraordinary fell upon her life; she was invited by the Marquis d’Andervilliers to Vaubyessard (Ch 7, para 23)
She recognised all the intoxication and the anguish that had almost killed her. (Ch 24, para 8)
She fell back upon the mattress in a convulsion. They all drew near. She was dead. (Ch 32, para 195)
L6. Sales and reviews in its day. Research
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L7. Adaptations: film, TV, stage, count and type. Research
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L8. Sequels and series. Research
Facts from outside the text (sales, serial history, adaptations, sequels, most quoted lines). Coming in a later phase, with sources and dates.
L9. Modern books in the same mould (comps). AI
Modern comps: Curtis Sittenfeld's 'Eligible' (Emma Woodhouse reimagined), Sally Rooney's 'Normal People' (class and desire), Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History' (seduction and corruption), Hanya Yanagihara's 'A Little Life' (suffering and entrapment). All explore how fantasy and desire collide with reality.
L10. Who it would be shelved for today. AI
Shelved for: literary fiction readers, students of narrative craft, readers interested in psychological realism and the origins of the modern novel. Appeals to those who enjoy character-driven tragedy, unreliable desire, and ironic social critique. Not for readers seeking plot-driven adventure or happy endings.
L11. Content notes. AI
Content notes: suicide by poisoning (chapter 32), adultery, sexual content (affairs described), death in childbirth (mentioned), financial exploitation, emotional abuse, depression and mental illness, class-based discrimination. The novel was controversial at publication for its frank treatment of female sexuality and adultery.
Chapters: Ch 2, Ch 18, Ch 22, Ch 32
she gave herself up to him-- (Ch 18, para 82)
I have a lover! a lover!” delighting at the idea as if a second puberty had come to her (Ch 18, para 97)
She fell back upon the mattress in a convulsion. They all drew near. She was dead. (Ch 32, para 195)
L12. A modern pitch line and blurb. AI
A provincial doctor's wife dreams of aristocratic passion and romance, reading novels that promise escape from her dull marriage. When seduction arrives, she discovers that love offers no refuge from reality, only deeper entrapment. A tragic masterpiece of desire, deception, and the cost of fantasy.
L13. Title style against genre norms. AI
The title is simple and direct, naming the protagonist by her married status rather than her maiden name or first name alone. This style, a woman's name with her title, was common for 19th-century novels but emphasises her role as wife, the very identity she rejects. Modern genre norms favour longer, more evocative titles.
Ask Madame Bovary a question about its craft (free beta)
Answers cite chapter and paragraph, and every quote is checked against the text. (3 free questions a day).
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