In the nineteenth century, Gustav Flaubert was brought to trial for his novel, "Madame Bovary." It seen as a work of reprehensible moral content - particularly Emma's glorification of adultery as a means of romantic fulfillment, her suicide, and religious offenses. Prosecutor Pinard denounced the book, concerned that it would corrupt the public taste. These accusations were met by the defense attorney with the retort that Emma's actions might temporarily satisfy her fantastical whims, but they never yield rewarding results. Instead they are met with despair, agony, and ultimately her suicide, thus creating a fear of vice in the reader. This view fails to observe Madame Bovary for its artistic intention and purpose. Flaubert is not concerned with morality, but rather with creating expression that coincides with thought and is brought to life through style, rhythm, form, and the power of language. .
It is clear that Flaubert's aim was not to exalt or condemn any behavior; but rather to create a genuine and real experience that is felt in the reader, that intrigues and horrifies the mind. Henry James praises Madame Bovary for its perfection, claiming that it "both excites and defies judgment. For it deals not in the least, as to unapproachability, with things exalted or refined; it only confers on its sufficiently vulgar elements of exhibition a final unsurpassable form " (Norton Critical Edition, 414). This "form " that he speaks of refers to Flaubert's emancipation from matter, the genius aspect of his novel that is aside from the subject content. The novel does not present a purpose, theme, or message, but rather draws interest unto itself through style and imagination. It possesses its own form of life, which breathes through meticulously chosen words and sentence arrangements. .
Madame Bovary "defies judgment " in that it is viewed objectively, by a distant author, who presents events realistically and does not interfere with the reader's thoughts or interpretation of the work.
