41 pages • 1 hour read
Gustave FlaubertA Simple Heart
Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1877A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 2 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to sexual assault and physical abuse.
Chapter 2 travels back to Félicité’s childhood. She is born into a working-class family, and her parents die when she is young. She is taken from her siblings as a result of her parents’ death, having been adopted by a farmer who instructs her to watch over his herd of cattle. He is not a loving figure in her life; he beats her, fails to provide what she needs, and even accuses her of stealing money from him, throwing her out of his house in response. She finds work at another farm where she is more appreciated and is given the task of watching the chickens.
When Félicité turns 18, she meets a well-off young man named Théodore while they are both attending a dance in the village nearby. As they are walking together, Théodore attempts to rape her, leaving when she screams. When she next encounters him, she is dubious about his intentions toward her, but he insists that he was intoxicated during the incident. Eventually, she falls in love with him. When she continues to deny his sexual advances, he asks her to marry him, though Félicité initially suspects that he is not serious. A short time later, Théodore tells Félicité that he has avoided the military draft. His parents paid money to another man to take Théodore’s place. He is worried that this will soon be uncovered. His concern only makes Félicité love him more. When she goes to meet him, however, she finds only his friend. Théodore’s friend tells her that he has married a wealthy woman whose husband recently died, as he believes this will help him avoid the draft. Félicité is heartbroken. She quits her job at the farm and goes to Pont-l’Évêque, where she meets Madame Aubain and is hired.
The new job in the Aubain household helps Félicité to forget about Théodore. Quickly, she comes to care deeply for Madame Aubain’s two children, Paul and Virginie. Caring for them makes her happy. She is also adept at entertaining the guests who come to visit Madame Aubain. These include Monsieur Robelin and Monsieur Liébard, who rent property from Madame Aubain. These men visit on Mondays, and Félicité carefully avoids their attempt to sell her things. The Marquis de Grémanville is an uncle of Madame Aubain who has fallen on hard times. Félicité escorts him out of the home after he becomes drunk and starts to make “bawdy jokes.” Monsieur Bourais is one of Félicité’s favorite visitors. He is a retired solicitor who is now in charge of the properties owned by Madame Aubain. Félicité believes that the retired lawyer’s elegance and intelligence show that he is a great man.
After a picnic on one of the nearby farms, Félicité walks home with the Aubain family. They are stopped in the road by an angry bull. Félicité distracts the animal by throwing dirt, allowing the family to escape. Félicité does not recognize the bravery of her “heroic” actions, but the story quickly spreads through the local community. Though the children escaped physically unharmed, Virginie develops a nervous disorder. Her health deteriorates until the doctor is called. He advises that Virginie should be taken to recover at a seaside town. Félicité goes with the Aubains to Trouville. They stop at the farm that Monsieur Liébard and his family rent. The home is now unclean and in a state of disrepair, but Félicité serves dinner to the family nevertheless.
The Aubain family spends a revitalizing short holiday in Trouville that restores Viriginie. Each day, Félicité and the family watch the fishing boats on the water. On one occasion, the wife of a fisherman approaches Félicité while she is on the beach. The woman reveals herself to be Nastasie Leroux, “one of [Félicité’s] lost sisters” (13). Nastasie is now married, with a husband and three children of her own. Félicité is happy to be reunited with her sister. She spends time with the family and buys them gifts. Madame Aubain is not as thrilled by Félicité’s new acquaintance. She suspects that the family is taking advantage of Félicité’s trusting nature. She also does not appreciate the “familiar way” in which Nastasie’s son talks to Paul. Madame Aubain announces that the family is leaving Trouville, and Félicité goes with them.
Chapter 2 Analysis
After the short introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 delves deeper into Félicité’s backstory. Her childhood is marked by tragedy which helps to explain the unique way in which she comes to understand society. Félicité loses her parents at a young age. From this point on, the caretaker role is filled by a series of employers who do not have Félicité’s best interests at heart. Her naivety, at least with the Aubains, is to mistake an economic relationship for a familial one, as her work becomes in part an attempt to fill the emotional void left by the absence of her parents and siblings.
More than either her family circumstances or employment history, however, it is Félicité’s “romance” with Théodore that constitutes the bulk of this exposition. The Power of Social Class in this relationship sets the precedent for the rest of the novel. Théodore’s precise status is unclear, but he is evidently comfortably well-off; during their first meeting, he buys Félicité a silk shawl—a significant expense for a woman he just met. However, Théodore’s attitude toward Félicité is one of entitlement rather than affection, his gifts an attempt to purchase her. He expects a working-class woman to be sexually available to a man of higher social standing, and when Félicité proves unwilling, he resorts first to violence and then to tricks in his efforts to sleep with her. Though Félicité rejects his advances, her continued love for Théodore suggests that she does not fully grasp just how badly he has treated her, even when he abandons her for a wealthy woman. It is one of several moments that suggest she has internalized the gender- and class-based norms of her day, which has implications for Flaubert’s portrayal of her; never quite aware of her own exploitation, she is in some ways meant to elicit the reader’s pity more than their empathy.
In fact, many people try to take advantage of Félicité, and not all of them are her employers or social “betters.” Importantly, men like Monsieur Robelin and Monsieur Liébard are portrayed as being from similarly working-class backgrounds, yet they cynically pursue their own self-interest at the expense of naïve and compassionate people such as Félicité. The novel therefore critiques not only the relationship between working- and middle-class people but a broader society that encourages cynicism and self-interest.
Chapter 2 also features one of the most dynamic, dramatic scenes in the story. After accompanying the family on a picnic, Félicité saves Madame Aubain and the two young children from an angry bull. Whereas the family is terrified of the strange, aggressive animal, Félicité is more composed. Her history of working on farms has given her a familiarity with these situations, even if she has not actually faced down an animal, while her willingness to put herself in danger takes her self-effacing nature to its logical extreme. This is further evidenced in the aftermath of the incident, when Félicité refuses to boast about her heroic deeds. Her solution to the problem, coupled with her modest response, illustrates her practicality and lack of self-interest. That these same qualities facilitate Félicité’s exploitation lends an element of irony to Flaubert’s portrayal.
The encounter with the bull is also a reminder of The Omnipresence of Death. Although the scenes in Trouville are some of the most idyllic in the novella, there are signs that this relative happiness will not last. In particular, Virginie’s illness foreshadows her eventual death, which will devastate both Madame Aubain and Félicité.
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By Gustave Flaubert
