Book clubbing: Madame Bovary, C'est Moi !

How would you describe Madame Bovary? A serious, fanatical shopaholic 19th French married housewife, who indulges in self-destructive romantic affairs, has her own personal debt implosion, and instead of cutting up her credit cards and cutting out coupons, takes arsenic? Is she Gidget on steroids? The original desperate housewife? She is all of things and more. So decided my book club after finishing Flaubert’s 19th century classic novel. Flaubert took over 5 years to compose his masterpiece, polishing the language, the scenes, the characters. And in his own way, he too developed an obsession with his character. And famously declared: "Madame Bovary, c'est moi" (translation: "Madame Bovary is me").

And so I wondered, what well known novels have their fictional female characters as part of the title – if not the whole title. And what does that tell us about the story? Some titles are just the first name: think of Toni Morrison’s Sula. Other novels use the heroine’s full name as does Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. “Moll” tells us that she is scandalous and tough. That is confirmed by the subtitle: “who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continued variety for threescore years, besides her childhood, was twelve year a whore, five times a wife (whereof once to her own brother), twelve year a thief, eight year a transported felon in Virginia, at last grew rich, liv'd honest, and died a penitent, written from her own memorandums “. Is this story true or fabrication? Defoe was ahead of his time – an 18th century precursor for A million little pieces?

It seems Naming is a very interesting phenomena – both in life (notice all those books about picking baby names) and in literature. For fun take a look at Madame Bovary, c'est moi! : the great characters of literature and where they came from.





This made me wonder about something probably rather trivial. What famous tales are named after their female heroines (or anti-heroines). So if you are curious, take this little quiz.

(1) HEROINE’S FIRST NAME is the title of these novels:
a. She is a 19th century English woman who meddles in the love lives of her friends.
b. An English woman in the Yorkshires with a name considered masculine when the novel was composed. Now we only use this name for girls.
c. A young American teen whose stepfather harbors inappropriate intentions towards her

(2) ONLY THE HEROINE’S LAST NAME but not her first name appears in the title
a. She is an upper-class London lady planning a party
b. A series of mysteries is solved by this New Jersey housewife who is an unflappable intelligence officer for the CIA.

(3) ONLY AN Initial stands for the character in the title of this novel. The story has been described as a retelling of the Scarlet Letter.

(4) BOTH LAST AND FIRST name are in the title
a. A young American woman’s European holiday takes a tragic turn after an ill advised visit to the Roman ruins
b. Did this Maine woman kill her employer? And what happened to her husband during that solar eclipse?
c. She is beautiful, rich, reckless, and tragic. She throws herself under a train.
d. She is Scottish, but not beautiful, nor rich. She is employed by the Marcia Blaine School for Girls.

(5) SHE’S A RELATIVE! The title tells you that she is someone’s relative
a. This 19th century French woman persecutes her own family. You would not want her at a family reunion!
b. This young rural Wisconsin girl achieves fame and fortune in the New York theater, but her lover is ruined by his obsession with her.
c. Did this beautiful widow, the Cornish narrator’s cousin, poison her husband? Will she strike again?

Finally, if you are intrigued by what’s in a name, you are not alone. Jasper Fforde has written a series of fantasy novels that recycle other authors’ characters in a special way. The Eyre Affair is the first of these wonderful tales where Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, rescues stolen fictitious characters. Check out this witty blend of mystery, science fiction, and literary lore.

- Karen S.