41 pages • 1 hour read
Gustave FlaubertA Simple Heart
Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1877A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary
The priest leads the Corpus Christi religious procession. They reach the Aubain home, where the stuffed Loulou has been placed on the altar in the courtyard but is now buried beneath a pile of flowers. The sound of bells wakes Félicité. She can imagine the procession in her mind almost as though she were there. She pictures Loulou beneath the flowers and thinks emotionally about the parrot as the noises of the procession pass by. Félicité can smell the incense from the procession and hear the singing. She smiles. Félicité dies, her final thoughts involving the image of a large parrot “hovering above her head” as the heavens open to receive her (40).
Chapter 5 Analysis
A Simple Heart begins with the death of Monsieur Aubain, establishing The Omnipresence of Death. Throughout the story of Félicité’s life, she loses her parents, Virginie, Victor, Madame Aubain, and even her parrot, Loulou. Since the contours of Félicité’s life were shaped by the deaths of others, it is fitting that the narrative ends with the death of Félicité herself. Her death has a chapter to itself, focalizing her in a way that contrasts with but also highlights her alienation in life: She rarely had anyone to share her grief, and her death takes place with Félicité essentially alone (Mère Simon is present but distracted by the procession at the precise moment of Félicité’s death). This solitary staging also recalls how Félicité was denied proximity to the deaths of others, missing the deaths of Victor, Virginie, and Loulou. Even her estranged relationship with organized religion is recreated, as she is forced to experience her beloved Corpus Christi procession through the sensory traces that waft through the window. The solitary nature of her death is a reminder of the alienation and exploitation she experienced during her life.
However, Félicité’s death also illustrates her resilience in the face of these hardships—in particular, The Value of a Personal Relationship With God. She lies in bed and thinks about the Corpus Christi procession. In particular, she thinks about the stuffed parrot that has been placed on the altar. Félicité’s desire to situate Loulou at the center of the traditional religious ritual is unconventional, but it reveals the selflessness and compassion that she not only practices but sees as divine; the pet whom she loved and who loved her becomes the image of God himself even before her dying vision of a parrot welcoming her into heaven. This personal understanding of God provides Félicité with comfort at the end of her life, in stark contrast to the people of her community who leave her to die alone. Moreover, the positioning of the parrot in the parade is an example of the subtle way in which Félicité left her impression on the world. At the end of her life, Félicité is finally given a small degree of agency. The prominence of Loulou at the end of Félicité’s life is also an indication of her emotional priorities. She pictures Loulou, rather than anyone else, as the representative of heaven who comes to welcome her into the afterlife.
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By Gustave Flaubert
