The Realism of Madame Bovary Jonathan Culler Flaubert's realism is a topic that has been somewhat neglected of late-for a variety of reasons that at least deserve some reflection. First, though Madame Bovary remains the most widely read and studied of his novels, it would be fair to say, I think, that for critics of the last thirty years Bouvard et Pecuchet has become paradigmatic for Flaubert.