Abstract

Luxury and materialism are phenomena present throughout all centuries. However, they do not have the same meaning from one period to another. In 19 th century society, they crystallize the relations between the different social classes (such as the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy, and the peasantry), and reveal their status, their conflicts, their ambitions, and their values. They are also literary subjects in several realistic novels, such as Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. In my thesis, I examine luxury and materialism in this novel to show that it is tied to its social, historical and economical context. Amongst other theories, I rely on the sociocriticism, according to which a novel echoes and reformulates the social issues of its time. This integration of social issues is not only found in the topics dealt with in the text, but also in the author's rhetoric. My research also reveals that the characters are emblematic in their relation to materiality, which allows one to discern the place of the individual in a society dominated by the economy. To summarize, this thesis shows that Madame Bovary can be seen as a significant and sometimes critical representation of the era, and that it comments on the economy and on the role of luxury and materialism in the 19 th century.