Flaubert's criticism of the middle class extends beyond the characters in Madame Bovary and encompasses all levels of human society. In this way, the novel clearly illustrates Flaubert's view that all life is "a bourgeois phenomenon" (Russell 7).
Flaubert felt that middle class society was not only superficial and materialistic but also monotonous and boring. This perspective is expressed in the novel through images which suggest "limits, restriction, contraction and immobility" (Brombert 22). Furthermore, the major characters in the novel are shown to be in a constant state of "numbness or even dormancy" (Brombert 24). However, Flaubert was even more critical of the selfish desires of the middle class. With the exception of Charles Bovary, who is merely stupid and dull, the characters in the book ultimately care only about what they hope to get out of other people. Emma, in particular, is a victim of the materialistic desires of her social world. Her romantic notions regarding love and money are the direct cause of her gradual downfall.
In his characterization of Emma, Flaubert makes it clear that she is a person motivated by a strong sense of desire. As noted by Bersani, Emma's point of view in the novel is generally a sensual one. In this way, the reader is made aware of Emma's "greedily sensual awareness of the world" (Bersani 29). Unfortunately, Emma's ideas about love and romance are derived from the books that she has read. These books have given her unreasonable beliefs regarding what to expect from the sensual experience of love. Because her expectations are unreasonable, she is, of course, disappointed. She is disappointed, for example, by the fact that her wedding to Charles is not the romantic "midnight wedding with torches" that she had always dreamed about (Flaubert 38). She is also disappointed by the birth of her daughter because she wanted a boy and also because she cannot afford to "spend money ...