Realism In Gustav Flaubert's A Simple Heart

The literary period of Realism began during the nineteenth century in Europe and Britain (“Realism Across the Globe” 625). The transition to this style of writing originated during the time when technological advances in transportation and communication were just beginning, which allowed ideas to spread rapidly throughout the world. Realism focuses on the realistic, truthful, and accurate occurrences in the everyday life of individuals.
In many well-known stories or movies, the most dominant and heroic character stands to be the main character of the work; however realism tends to shed a light on the “little guy” or the guy behind the scenes. Therefore, Gustav Flaubert’s “A Simple Heart” serves as an excellent example of realism because rather than focusing on the middle class widow, Madame Aubain, this story focuses on her servant, Félicité. Although this story discusses Madame Aubain’s pain, suffering, and mistreatment of Félicité, it also discusses how Félicité stands beside her through thick and thin.
Madame Aubain appears to have lived a very difficult life

because at first, she, “married a young fellow who was good-looking but badly-off, and who died at the beginning of 1809, leaving her with two small children and a pile of debts” (711). Later in the story, Madame Aubain’s daughter, Virginie, dies of pneumonia and Félicité finds Madame Aubain, “climbing to the foot of the bed and sobbing desperately” (725). Because of all of the pain and death that Madame Aubain endured, she was a rather haughty woman towards Félicité; however, her attitude begins to change as the two women are rummaging through Virginie’s belongings and ultimately share an embrace that makes them equal. “It was the first time that such a thing had happened, for Madame Aubain was not of a demonstrative nature. Félicité was as grateful as if she had received a great favour, and henceforth loved her mistress with dog-like devotion and religious veneration” (727). Furthermore, some years later, when Madame Aubain died, “Félicité wept for her as servants rarely wept for their masters” (732). Madame Aubain and Félicité had an unusual yet valuable relationship, and although Félicité was only her servant, she played a significant role in the life of her superior, which in its own way, makes her the “hero” of this story.
The literary period of Modernism began at the beginning of the twentieth century (Modernity and Modernism” 3). During this time period, the West was becoming industrialized and people were relocating to urban areas. The new lifestyle that people were becoming accustomed to transitioned their style of writing to one that concentrates on the abstract, surreal aspects of life.
Non-Christians may read William Yeats’ “The Second Coming” and find it to be an entertaining story.

However, according to my Christian beliefs, God sent his son, Jesus, to Earth to die and pay for the sins of all people, and one day Jesus will return to Earth to take all Christian believers to Heaven; I believe that Yeats named his poem “The Second Coming” because it portrays his prediction that Jesus’, “Second Coming is at hand” (524). Yeats dedicates the entire first stanza of his poem to telling the reader the problems that he sees with politics and violence/terror, “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, / The blood-dimmed tide is loosed” (524). The second stanza of the poem basically says that “surely” Jesus will return soon and he describes a beast-like character that could possibly be representing Satan, God’s demon opponent in the Book of

Revelation.
When comparing Flaubert’s “A Simple Heart” to Yeats’ “The Second Coming,” I would say that Flaubert’s story is definitely more simplistic and more relatable to everyday life. Every day, someone, somewhere in the world is dealing with the death of a loved one or worrying about how he/she will pay off their debts. However, the idea of Jesus’s return to Earth is nonconcrete because no one has ever witnessed such an event before, and therefore, no one knows the feeling of such an event.