Whose advances does the doctor's wife resist?
The film begins as Emma, a young woman not yet 18, is packing up her belongings and preparing to leave the convent to marry the man her farmer father has arranged as her husband: country doctor Charles Bovary. But she becomes bored and miserable in the small, provincial town of Yonville. She spends most of her time alone, reading or wandering in the garden while Charles tends to patients. Even when he's home, he either bores or neglects Emma.
Emma longs for more—excitement, passion, status, and love. She shows restraint at first, when smitten law clerk Leon Dupuis skittishly professes his affections for her. But she is intrigued by the dashing Marquis, who makes more overt advances. Their affair emboldens her as she believes it gives her glimpse of the good life. She spends money she doesn't have on lavish dresses and decorations from the obsequious dry-goods dealer Monsieur Lheureux, who's all too happy to continue extending her credit.
Leon Dupuis