Textual Hauntings Studies in Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary' and Mauriac's 'Therese Desqueyroux'

Therse Desqueyroux, Franois Mauriac's stark and introspective 1927 novel, appears to be quite a different tale from Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert's succs de scandale published exactly seventy years earlier. Yet upon closer scrutiny, the two novels' similarities become undeniable. The preponderance of parallelisms surely cannot be attributed to happenstance, nor can one agree with the contention that Mauriac must have been inspired, unconsciously and unbeknownst to him, by the literary model of Madame Bovary. Textual Hauntings examination and reflections on these two novels leads to a deeper appreciation and a better understanding of each work.

Edward J. Gallagher is Professor of French Studies at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts.