Madame Bovary: Openings and endings
13 lenses on openings and endings 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: F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13
F1. First line and first paragraph: what each does. Both
The first full paragraph runs to 46 words and 2 sentences.
We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a “new fellow,” not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a large desk. (Ch 1, para 1)
The first line introduces a collective schoolboy narrator witnessing Charles's arrival. It establishes third-person perspective and a tone of detached observation. The first paragraph sets the scene in a classroom and hints at Charles's otherness through the phrase 'new fellow.'
Chapters: Ch 1
We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a “new fellow,” not wearing the school uniform (Ch 1, para 1)
F2. What the first page sets up: voice, world, question. AI
The first page establishes a provincial, ordinary world through the schoolroom setting. The voice is observational and slightly ironic. The question posed is: who is this awkward newcomer? The world is small-town France, and the tone suggests both sympathy and mockery.
Chapters: Ch 1
We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a “new fellow,” not wearing the school uniform (Ch 1, para 1)
one of those poor things, in fine, whose dumb ugliness has depths of expression, like an imbecile’s face (Ch 1, para 7)
F3. How many words before the lead appears? Count
First dialogue after 0 words. See the full lens on the book page.
F4. How many words before the first line of dialogue? Count
First dialogue after 0 words. See the full lens on the book page.
F5. The hook of chapter one. AI
Chapter 1's hook is Charles's arrival and the mockery he endures. His strange cap and country manners make him a target. The chapter ends with him settling into quiet study, hinting at his later rise. The hook promises a story about an outsider's integration.
Chapters: Ch 1
We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a “new fellow,” not wearing the school uniform (Ch 1, para 1)
one of those poor things, in fine, whose dumb ugliness has depths of expression, like an imbecile’s face (Ch 1, para 7)
F6. Prologue: its job and its length. Both
No prologue: the book starts in its first chapter.
Not a feature of this book. The novel begins directly with chapter 1 and the schoolroom scene. There is no separate prologue.
F7. How fast is the main story question posed? AI
The main story question emerges slowly. Chapter 2 introduces Charles's infatuation with Emma. Chapter 3 shows his proposal. Chapter 5 reveals Emma's disillusionment with marriage. The central question, will Emma find happiness?, is posed by chapter 7.
Chapters: Ch 2, Ch 5, Ch 7
Good heavens! Why did I marry? (Ch 7, para 17)
F8. Final chapter: which beats resolve what. AI
Chapter 35 resolves Emma's fate (she is dead and her infidelities revealed), Charles's fate (he dies of grief), and Homais's fate (he gains the Legion of Honour). Berthe's abandonment to a cotton factory closes the family's arc. The resolution is tragic and ironic.
Chapters: Ch 35
The child’s gaiety broke Bovary’s heart, and he had to bear besides the intolerable consolations of the chemist (Ch 35, para 1)
She seemed but the more beautiful to him for this; he was seized with a lasting, furious desire for her, that inflamed his despair, and that was boundless, because it was now unrealisable (Ch 35, para 14)
F9. Last line: what it leaves in the mind. Both
The last full paragraph runs to 11 words.
He has just received the cross of the Legion of Honour. (Ch 35, para 69)
The last line states: 'He has just received the cross of the Legion of Honour.' This final image of Homais's success, juxtaposed with the Bovarys' destruction, leaves an ironic, bitter impression. The reader is left with the triumph of mediocrity and materialism.
Chapters: Ch 35
F10. Loose ends tied and left open. AI
Most major threads resolve: Emma dies, Charles grieves and dies, Berthe is abandoned, Lheureux profits, Homais succeeds. The blind beggar's identity remains ambiguous. Rodolphe and Léon's fates after Emma's death are not detailed. The novel closes with finality rather than openness.
Chapters: Ch 32, Ch 35
F11. Epilogue: its job. Both
No chapter called an epilogue. The last chapter is 3,091 words.
Chapter 35 functions as an epilogue, showing the aftermath of Emma's death. It traces Charles's decline, reveals Emma's infidelities, and concludes with his death and Homais's reward. This final chapter provides closure and ironic commentary on the novel's events.
Chapters: Ch 35
The child’s gaiety broke Bovary’s heart, and he had to bear besides the intolerable consolations of the chemist (Ch 35, para 1)
She seemed but the more beautiful to him for this; he was seized with a lasting, furious desire for her, that inflamed his despair, and that was boundless, because it was now unrealisable (Ch 35, para 14)
F12. Echoes between the opening and the ending. AI
The opening shows Charles as an awkward outsider mocked by his peers. The ending shows him destroyed by love and grief, while Homais, a mediocre chemist introduced early, gains social honour. The arc inverts: Charles rises through marriage, then falls through it. Homais rises through ambition.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 35
We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a “new fellow,” not wearing the school uniform (Ch 1, para 1)
The child’s gaiety broke Bovary’s heart, and he had to bear besides the intolerable consolations of the chemist (Ch 35, para 1)
F13. Length of the wind down after the climax. Count
After the climax (chapter 32, our reading) the book runs 7,764 more words, 6.6% of the whole.
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