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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What gift does Emma receive from one of Charles' patients?

2. The novel begins with a description of this character's experience in school. Who is this character?

3. What award is being presented as Rodolphe professes his love for Emma?

4. Why doesn't Binet believe her?

5. What makes Emma and Rodolphe gather so much attention when they go riding?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Emma sink even deeper in debt in Part 3: Chapter 5?

2. Do you think that Emma's suicide attempt in Part 2: Chapter 13 is a sign of her true love and devotion for Rodolphe or of disappointment in the the realization that her dream of a better life is over?

3. Why do you think Emma begins charity work and rediscovers religious faith in Part 2: Chapter 14?

4. In Chapter 1, what clues are given that Charles Bovary is a member of the middle class and is considered an "ordinary" person?

5. Emma goes back and forth between passionate elation at her affair and guilt over betraying Charles in Part 2: Chapter 10. Why do you think she continues her affair with Rodolphe?

6. Justin is surrounded by strong-willed women. Explain his relationship with Félicité and Emma in Part 2: Chapter 12.

7. Describe Emma's father's reaction to her death in Part 3: Chapter 10.

8. By Part 2: Chapter 7, do you think Emma has become a sympathetic character? Why or why not?

9. In Chapter 2, Emma is introduced to the reader. How is she described?

10. Explain the differences between Homais' and Abbé Bournisien's views on religion in Part 3: Chapter 9.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, the middle-class is contrasted to the upper-class. Compare and contrast how Flaubert describes and characterizes these two groups using examples specifically from the two main events highlighting them: the ball and the agricultural fair.

Essay Topic 2

Bovarism describes an attitude of self-indulgence and hedonism that is self-destructive. Obviously, Emma's character is the inspiration for this name. Can bovarism ever be positive? Did any of Emma's behaviors and actions ever help others or leave positive effects or consequences? Explain using examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

The acquisition of material possessions is almost as important to Emma as acquiring affection and romance. In this way, Lhereux can be seen as another of Emma's lovers, since through his knowledge of her debts he is actually involved in a very intimate relationship with her. She spends a lot of time with him, and he must understand her in a way that is much more objective than others do, in order to get what he wants from her. Describe in what ways Lhereux is like another lover to Emma? How does he see Emma differently from the way Charles does or Rodolphe and Léon do? What does he know about her that no one else does? Does the fact that his relationship with her is "strictly business" make their relationship any more or less moral? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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