Ultimately, neither of these men had much success in experiencing life directly. It's kind of indicative of their lives, though. And kind of anti-climactic, don't you think? Frederick's final words are: 'That was the best time we ever had!' The two men discuss their youth, particularly one time when they'd been seen trying to sneak into a brothel (Though, as it turns out, they'd been too afraid (again!) to sleep with a woman anyway. But Wait! There's MoreĪfter Madame Arnoux makes like a tree, Flaubert turns briefly to one final exchange: between Frederick and Deslauriers, his oldest friend. Check out ' What's Up With the Title' for more on that excitement. Oh, and he's worried that the sex wouldn't be good, which would totally ruin his ideal vision of his crush.Īnd that, Shmoopers, is Frederick being sentimental. It's almost like he doesn't want to break the spell by getting to know her as anyone other than Madame Arnoux, the unattainable woman. What? Why 'suspicious'? Well, it seems like he feels too close to her-in an emotional and spiritual way-to become sexually involved. So after all that pining, he's 'suspicious' that she's come to do the one thing he has wanted and been denied for twenty years. Besides, how embarrassing it would be!-and, abandoning the idea, partly through prudence, and partly through a resolve not to degrade his ideal, he turned on his heel and proceeded to roll a cigarette between his fingers. Another fear, too, had a different effect on him-lest disgust might afterwards take possession of him.

And yet he felt, the next moment, an unaccountable repugnance to the thought of such a thing, and, as it were, a dread of incurring the guilt of incest.

The fact that she has a head full of white hair doesn't help, but it's not really about that.įrederick had a suspicion that Madame Arnoux had come to offer herself to him, and once more he was seized with a desire to possess her-stronger, fiercer, more desperate than he had ever experienced before. Frederick clearly still has deep feelings for the lady, but he just can't see himself sleeping with her. Yes, the two romantic leads are reunited, but nothing sexy goes down.

If you were expecting an it's-finally-happening-they're-making-out-so-much-eroticism explosion between Frederick and the now-widowed Marie Arnoux, prepare to be sorely disappointed.

Flaubert education