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Explanation and Analysis:
“A Simple Heart” is a short story that has some romantic elements and some realist elements. Romantic literature was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries and focused more on telling engaging and entertaining stories than on depicting life as it really is. Whimsical writing about nature and adventure stories about brave heroes conquering their foes are both examples of romantic literature. The romantic elements in “A Simple Heart” include the fact that, despite the endless tragedies she suffers, Félicité always remains pure-hearted and loving. The ending also strays into a more mystical realm as Félicité dies and sees “a huge parrot hovering above her head as the heavens parted to receive her.”
All that said, part of the reason Flaubert is known for being “the father of the modern novel” is because of how he embraced realism. Realism as a literary movement sought to challenge romanticism’s rosy depictions of life, pivoting instead to capturing the true ups and downs of the human experience along with the realities of living in a particular time and place.
In “A Simple Heart,” for example, Flaubert mentions different 19th-century events in France—such as the July Revolution in 1830—tethering his characters to a time period that he had already lived through and could therefore depict realistically. He also sets his story in the part of France where he grew up, referencing specific towns and geographical markers that he knew from first-hand experience. Additionally, he depicts the life of a working-class orphan as realistically as possible, not straying from the many tragedies that a woman in Félicité’s position likely would have faced.
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