What Is Madame Bovary Syndrome?
Madame Bovary’s Syndrome is a behavioral disorder that came on the heels of 19th century romantic novels.
Since then, the idealization of love has driven thousands of people (usually women) to constant frustration and disappointment. The search for “the perfect love” always ends with a crash into the realistic perception of what a relationship is.
Madame Bovary syndrome is a psychopathology first described in 1892 by the philosopher Jules de Gaultier. In his essay based on the book Madame Bovary , he talks about its main character, Emma. He says she is the perfect stereotype of a person with what he calls “chronic affective dissatisfaction”.
Emma Bovary is a literary character that Gustave Flaubert included in her book from 1857. It tells the story of her marriage to Charles Bovary. He’s a rural doctor who loves her, but she does not feel the same way. This is partly why she is so fond of romantic novels; she has devoured them since she was a teenager.
The constant search for the passionate, obsessed relationships she sees in her books causes horrific, constant dissatisfaction with her.
After suffering from depression, Charles decides to move to a small town. There they meet different kinds of people and Emma lets two of them seduce her. The first is a young student and the second a Casanova named Rodolphe.
Her relationships with both of them are filled with lust, jealousy and great addiction. When both her lovers abandon her, she takes her own life with the help of arsenic.
Madame Bovary can be compared to certain other literary characters, such as Anna Karenina. They dismiss their families and roles as wives to pursue love.
On the one hand, it may seem very liberating, but on the other hand, it is a strong critique of idealizing love. Emma is so obsessed with satisfying her cravings that she does not care that she owes the family, neglects her daughter and hurts the people around her.
People with Madame Bovary syndrome do not know how to be alone. They live with the notion that the perfect love will come, change their lives and sweep them away from routines and problems.
When they leave a relationship, they quickly find another. Their only goal is to find a person like them they see in romantic books, comics and movies. Every time they get involved with someone, they become obsessed with him or her. They idealize the person in such a way that it becomes impossible to change. This is true even if the person in question is not right or good for them.
Because of their inability to create real relationships, they often turn to impossible love. It may be that they already have a relationship but are still chasing the illusion of another person’s perfect love.
This makes them unhappy, because they do not know how to be alone. They will rarely end up in a romance unless they have an “ace up their sleeve”.
When they start a relationship, they begin to discover that their partner is a human being. As a result, the person in question has defects. The idealization disappears, leading to frustration. They no longer see the other person as the right one and begin to lose interest.
They never feel happy with anyone. Why? They do not understand love beyond the initial phase of love. They have a twisted view of relationships, based on fairy tales or characters who have never experienced peace, problems or monotony.
Because of their “ownership” behavior toward their partner, they will begin to copy what he likes, his hobbies, and even the person’s way of thinking. The imitation arises from the extreme admiration they feel for the person, or even out of fear.
Madame Bovary syndrome causes intense fear that the other person will abandon them. It can make them react very badly to separations.
A couple of centuries ago, it was more common among women than men. Today, however, it looks more balanced. This is because at that time it was mainly men who worked while women stayed at home. They spent their free time reading, among other things. This took them away from reality and transported them to places where everyday problems do not exist.
People with this syndrome tend to have suffered from abandonment or lack of affection in childhood. Therefore, they feel an excessive need to get their partner’s attention. It’s their way of trying to avoid experiencing these feelings again.
The main symptom of Madame Bovary syndrome is feeling down. However, people with this condition can be treated with the help of a specialist. The specialist will evaluate the case and come up with a treatment plan.
The syndrome is also sometimes linked to more serious diseases. It can be an obsessive-compulsive disorder or borderline personality disorder, which makes it even more necessary to intervene because of how dangerous these can be.
