Modernism in Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert was the first novel of the time period that presented modern views. Never had any author dared to write about sexuality prior to Flaubert, due to the subject being deemed “socially inappropriate.” James Winders shares and introduces this view in his text of “Modernism, Postmodernism, and Writing: Style(s) and Sexuality in Madame Bovary.” The picture that Flaubert created of Emma is alarmingly modern, since she is viewed as being very vivid and round. Additionally, throughout the novel, Flaubert’s writing proved to be one of a remarkable style, which supports the “legend in the annals of modernity” (Winders 76). As the novel continues, Emma will only become the center of most of the male characters’ attention more and more.
The question Winders poses, is whether or not we can view Madame Bovary as being a feminine portrayal of the time period, or even compared to the position she occupies with regard to Flaubert’s narrative. ...