Summary
Emma returns home from her affair with Léon to find chaos at the pharmacist's house, where young Justin has accidentally accessed dangerous chemicals while helping with jam-making. The druggist Homais flies into a rage, discovering Justin has been reading a book about conjugal love, which leads to a tirade about corruption and responsibility. Amid this drama, Emma learns that Charles's father has died suddenly. Charles greets her with genuine grief and affection, but Emma can barely tolerate his touch, still consumed by memories of her lover. During the funeral preparations, the manipulative merchant Lheureux arrives, using the family's grief to pressure Emma about unpaid bills. He suggests she take over Charles's financial affairs with a power of attorney, positioning himself as helpful while tightening his control. Emma, torn between guilt over her affair and irritation with her husband's weakness, agrees to travel to Rouen ostensibly for business—but really to see Léon again. The chapter reveals how Emma's adultery has made her emotionally unavailable to her grieving husband while making her more susceptible to financial manipulation. Flaubert shows how personal guilt and romantic obsession can blind us to practical dangers, and how predatory people exploit others during vulnerable moments.
Coming Up in Chapter 27
Emma's three-day trip to Rouen under the guise of business will deepen her entanglement with both her lover and her debts. What begins as a convenient excuse becomes a dangerous pattern that will reshape her life.
Share it with friends
An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
Chapter Two On reaching the inn, Madame Bovary was surprised not to see the diligence. Hivert, who had waited for her fifty-three minutes, had at last started. Yet nothing forced her to go; but she had given her word that she would return that same evening. Moreover, Charles expected her, and in her heart she felt already that cowardly docility that is for some women at once the chastisement and atonement of adultery. She packed her box quickly, paid her bill, took a cab in the yard, hurrying on the driver, urging him on, every moment inquiring about the time and the miles traversed. He succeeded in catching up the “Hirondelle” as it neared the first houses of Quincampoix. Hardly was she seated in her corner than she closed her eyes, and opened them at the foot of the hill, when from afar she recognised Félicité, who was on the lookout in front of the farrier’s shop. Hivert pulled in his horses and, the servant, climbing up to the window, said mysteriously-- “Madame, you must go at once to Monsieur Homais. It’s for something important.” The village was silent as usual. At the corner of the streets were small pink heaps that smoked in the air, for this was the time for jam-making, and everyone at Yonville prepared his supply on the same day. But in front of the chemist’s shop one might admire a far larger heap, and that surpassed the others with the superiority that a laboratory must have over ordinary stores, a general need over individual fancy. She went in. The large arm-chair was upset, and even the “Fanal de Rouen” lay on the ground, outspread between two pestles. She pushed open the lobby door, and in the middle of the kitchen, amid brown jars full of picked currants, of powdered sugar and lump sugar, of the scales on the table, and of the pans on the fire, she saw all the Homais, small and large, with aprons reaching to their chins, and with forks in their hands. Justin was standing up with bowed head, and the chemist was screaming-- “Who told you to go and fetch it in the Capharnaum.” “What is it? What is the matter?” “What is it?” replied the druggist. “We are making preserves; they are simmering; but they were about to boil over, because there is too much juice, and I ordered another pan. Then he, from indolence, from laziness, went and took, hanging on its nail in my laboratory, the key of the Capharnaum.” It was thus the druggist called a small room under the leads, full of the utensils and the goods of his trade. He often spent long hours there alone, labelling, decanting, and doing up again; and he looked upon it not as a simple store, but as a veritable sanctuary, whence there afterwards issued, elaborated by his hands, all sorts of pills, boluses, infusions, lotions, and potions, that would bear far and wide his celebrity. No one...
Master this chapter. Complete your experience
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Vulnerability Trap - How Crisis Creates Predators
Emotional overwhelm creates blind spots that predators exploit by timing their manipulation during crisis moments.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to recognize when people exploit your emotional vulnerability to push through bad deals or decisions.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when someone pressures you to decide something 'right now'—ask yourself why they won't let you sleep on it.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Conjugal love
The intimate, romantic, and physical relationship between married couples. In Flaubert's time, such topics were considered scandalous to discuss openly, especially around young people.
Modern Usage:
Today we see this in debates about sex education and what's appropriate for different ages to learn about relationships.
Power of attorney
A legal document that gives one person the authority to make financial and legal decisions for another person. In the 1800s, this was often how women gained control over family finances.
Modern Usage:
We still use power of attorney today, often for elderly parents or during medical emergencies, but it can be abused by manipulative people.
Diligence/Hirondelle
Horse-drawn public coaches that ran scheduled routes between towns, like buses today. The Hirondelle was the specific coach service Emma used to travel for her affairs.
Modern Usage:
This is like missing your regular bus or train - that sinking feeling when your transportation leaves without you.
Apothecary/Chemist
The local pharmacist who mixed medicines and chemicals. In small towns, they were often seen as learned authorities on health and science matters.
Modern Usage:
Today's pharmacist or even the person at CVS who everyone asks for medical advice because they seem to know about drugs.
Docility
Being submissive and easily controlled. Flaubert describes Emma's guilty compliance with social expectations after her affair as a form of self-punishment.
Modern Usage:
We see this in people who become overly agreeable after they've done something wrong, trying to make up for their guilt.
Chastisement and atonement
Punishment and making amends for wrongdoing. Emma feels compelled to be the perfect wife as a way to balance out her adultery.
Modern Usage:
Like when someone cheats and then becomes overly nice to their partner, or works extra hard after calling in sick when they weren't really ill.
Characters in This Chapter
Emma Bovary
Conflicted protagonist
Returns from her affair feeling guilty but unable to connect emotionally with her grieving husband. She's caught between her romantic obsession and her duties as a wife.
Modern Equivalent:
The person having an emotional affair who can't be present for their family's real problems
Charles Bovary
Grieving husband
Mourns his father's death and seeks comfort from Emma, unaware of her affair. His genuine emotion and need for support contrast sharply with Emma's emotional unavailability.
Modern Equivalent:
The spouse going through a crisis who doesn't realize their partner has mentally checked out
Lheureux
Predatory creditor
Uses the family's grief over Charles's father's death to manipulate Emma into giving him more financial control. He presents himself as helpful while tightening his trap.
Modern Equivalent:
The debt collector or loan shark who shows up during funerals offering to 'help' with expenses
Homais
Hypocritical authority figure
Flies into a rage at young Justin for accessing dangerous chemicals and reading about adult topics, while being negligent about his own shop's safety.
Modern Equivalent:
The boss who lectures about responsibility while being irresponsible themselves
Justin
Scapegoated youth
The young apprentice who gets blamed for the chemical accident and scolded for his curiosity about adult topics, representing innocence caught in adult hypocrisy.
Modern Equivalent:
The young employee who gets fired for a mistake that exposed bigger problems with workplace safety
Key Quotes & Analysis
"in her heart she felt already that cowardly docility that is for some women at once the chastisement and atonement of adultery"
Context: Describing Emma's guilty compliance as she rushes home from her affair
This reveals how guilt can make people overcompensate by becoming submissive. Emma's affair has made her feel obligated to be the perfect wife, even though she emotionally can't connect.
In Today's Words:
She felt that guilty need to be extra agreeable that happens when you've been cheating
"It's for something important"
Context: The maid mysteriously summoning Emma to the pharmacist's house
This creates dramatic irony - Emma thinks she's being called about her affair, but it's actually about a domestic crisis. It shows how guilt makes us paranoid.
In Today's Words:
You need to come right now - it's serious
"She could hardly tolerate his emotion"
Context: Emma's reaction to Charles's grief over his father's death
This shows how Emma's affair has made her emotionally unavailable to her husband's genuine needs. Her romantic obsession has killed her capacity for empathy in her marriage.
In Today's Words:
His crying and neediness just irritated her
Thematic Threads
Guilt
In This Chapter
Emma's affair guilt makes her unable to comfort Charles or think clearly about finances
Development
Evolved from romantic fantasy guilt to active betrayal consequences
In Your Life:
Notice how guilt about one thing can make you vulnerable to manipulation in completely different areas.
Predatory Manipulation
In This Chapter
Lheureux deliberately approaches Emma during family grief to pressure financial decisions
Development
Introduced here as calculated exploitation of vulnerable timing
In Your Life:
Watch for people who suddenly become 'helpful' when you're dealing with crisis or loss.
Emotional Unavailability
In This Chapter
Emma can't tolerate Charles's genuine grief because she's consumed by thoughts of Léon
Development
Escalated from romantic dissatisfaction to complete emotional disconnection
In Your Life:
Recognize when your secret obsessions make you unable to be present for people who need you.
Financial Control
In This Chapter
Emma agrees to handle Charles's finances, giving Lheureux more access to manipulate her
Development
Developed from shopping debts to taking over family financial decisions
In Your Life:
Be wary of taking on financial responsibilities when you're emotionally compromised.
Compartmentalization
In This Chapter
Emma separates her affair life from family obligations, unable to integrate her different selves
Development
Advanced from daydreaming to living completely split realities
In Your Life:
Notice when you're living such separate lives that you can't make coherent decisions.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
Why does Lheureux choose this exact moment to pressure Emma about money, right after Charles's father dies?
analysis • surface - 2
How does Emma's emotional state make her vulnerable to manipulation she might normally resist?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people today taking advantage of others during grief, crisis, or emotional overwhelm?
application • medium - 4
What practical rules could protect someone from making bad decisions when they're emotionally compromised?
application • deep - 5
Why are we most vulnerable to predators when we're dealing with guilt or shame about our own behavior?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Spot the Vulnerability Window
Think of a time when you or someone you know made a poor decision during an emotional crisis. Map out what made that person vulnerable in that moment, and identify what red flags might have warned them they were being pressured or manipulated. Then design a simple 'circuit breaker' rule that could have protected them.
Consider:
- •Notice how predators create artificial urgency during your worst moments
- •Consider why certain emotions make us more susceptible to manipulation than others
- •Think about the difference between someone genuinely helping versus someone exploiting your crisis
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when someone approached you with an 'urgent' decision during a difficult period in your life. What were the warning signs you missed, and how would you handle that situation differently now?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 27: Three Perfect Days of Stolen Love
The coming pages reveal intense experiences can create false intimacy and unrealistic expectations, and teach us the way passion can blind us to practical realities and red flags. These discoveries help us navigate similar situations in our own lives.
