Gustave Flaubert A Simple Heart Essay - 1195 Words

Gustave Flaubert A Simple Heart Gustave Flaubert’s short story, A Simple Heart, is the narrative account of one woman’s painfully unrewarding life as a humble and blindly dedicated servant, Felicite. Throughout the story chronicling her life, she suffers a series of heartbreaking losses, but continues to love unconditionally nonetheless. A Simple Heart brings up themes of death and loss, and unquestioning duty and responsibility. It also calls into question conventional religious belief, through, among other things, Felicite’s warship of the parrot, Lou Lou. Felicite represents each of these themes partly in her own ignorance and simplicity and, as a result, it is seemingly difficult to validate the authenticity of her†¦show more content†¦She has no control over the losses she endures; loss is inevitable. This idea of loss plays into another theme within A Simple Heart- that of unquestioning duty and responsibility. It is Felicite’s simplicity and, at times, her ignorance that allows her to so be so blindly devoted and caring. She works faithfully for little pay, and remains incredibly loyal to Aubain’s family. For example, when she saves Aubaine and her children from a raging bull, she puts her own life in peril without a second thought. She takes no pride in this act, and has not the â€Å"barest suspicion that she had done anything heroic† (1023). She also displays this when she fails to see Virginie before she dies because she feels so strongly about making sure the house is locked and secure before she leaves to see her. Despite her pure heart, it seems that Felicite is never rewarded. This challenges the value of such blind and unshakable devotion in such an unrewarding and oftentimes cruel world. However, Flaubert’s most significant idea presented in this story, one that is intertwined with death and devotion, is his questioning of mystical belief. Felicite’s religious devotion seems arbitrary and indirect. Despite this, it also appears to be quite deep and meaningful to her. The irony lies in the fact that she gains most, if not all, of her religious experience vicariouslyShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of Gustave Flauberts Novella A Simple Heart1426 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿A Simple Heart In Gustave Flauberts novella A Simple Heart, a young woman lives only to give of herself. She is loving and altruistic in everything she does, no matter how badly she might be treated by others. Even the man she loved left her in order to marry someone who could better his financial situation. According to literary scholar Roland Barthes, Gustave Flaubert is famed for his language choices. He was careful with his word choices and the symbolism that he used as well (231). 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