Madame Bovary Art and Culture Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Lowell Bair's translation.

Quote #10

[Léon] was about to be promoted to head clerk; it was time to settle down and work hard. He therefore gave up the flute, exalted sentiments and flights of fancy – for every bourgeois, in the heat of his youth, if only for a day or a minute, has believed himself capable of stormy passions and lofty enterprises. (III.6.70)

In the end, even good ol’ Léon is forced to give up his artistic aspirations in the name of real-life practicality…only Emma holds on to her extravagant romantic fantasies.