Madame Bovary: Part 2, Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

The next day, Emma feels confused and desolate. Her feeling of loss resembles her longing for Vaubyessard. In absentia, Léon seems ever more beautiful and marvelous, and she deeply regrets letting him go. Her sorrow becomes her sustaining warmth. But with time, the emotion fades, and she is left more unhappy than ever. She begins to buy expensive clothes and trifles to console herself, and tries to read serious books. She is restless and moody, and develops a tendency for fainting fits.

One day, when Emma spits blood, Charles writes his mother for advice. The elder Madame Bovary thinks books and idleness are Emma’s trouble, and she cancels Emma’s library subscription.

One day, Emma notices a man in a green velvet coat walking through the square. She overhears his name – Monsieur Rodolphe Boulanger de la Huchette – and concludes that he is a nobleman. He has come to ask Charles to examine his servant, who has been having pains. At the servant’s request, Charles bleeds him. He has asked Justin to hold the bowl, and both young men have some sort of nervous fit. Monsieur Rodolphe watches as Emma gracefully nurses Justin back to consciousness.

Rodolphe talks to Emma a little bit afterwards. She tells him that she has never had a fainting fit, and he expresses admiration for her strength. After he leaves, he thinks shrewdly about Emma and her life. He guesses that Charles is clumsy, stupid, and unsatisfying, and that the lovely Emma is longing for some excitement. He thinks he could easily seduce her, though he wonders how to “get rid of her afterwards.” He thinks that he prefers Emma to his current mistress, who is losing her looks. He decides to pursue her.