Charles Bovary Character Analysis

Emma’s husband, a kind and peaceful country doctor whose main joys in life are his wife, his daughter, and a hearty meal. After an unhappy marriage to Mamade Dubuc, Charles is overjoyed to be married to the beautiful Emma, whose every movement, word, and flounce enchants him. Charles is not attractive, charming, or brilliant, though he is for the most part a competent doctor. He has endless patience for his difficult, mean wife, and he is both mother and father to their daughter Berthe. He has a rough, dull exterior, and he is not very good with words, but he is delicate and his selflessness is morally beautiful. He turns a blind eye to Emma’s affairs and violent temper throughout the book. When he discovers her trove of love letters after her death, he dies of shock.