Happiness
The name Felicite means "happiness" in Old French, and "happiness" or "fertility" in Latin. One would expect the name Felicite to say something about the personality and life of the main character. However, Felicite has never known true happiness. She was orphaned as a young girl, and consequently worked from a young age. She was then accused of theft, and left behind by her "love", Theodore. The episode in which Felicite is abandoned by Theodore for another woman is the end of Felicite's minute happiness and hope for a better future. There is no longer a chance of escape from her poor, working class status. She becomes a "femme en bois", or a woman made of wood. This metaphor suggests that the main character lives to work, and simply goes through the motions of life. In later sections of the book, when Felicite cares for others such as the two children and her nephew, Victor, she is always let down. One child, Virginia, dies, and this is an act that Felicite cannot comprehend. Later, Victor also dies while voyaging to Havana. When Mme. Aubain suggests that Felicite go to see her sister, Felicite chooses to stay and work instead. Finally, her parrot, Loulou, also meets his end. As this is too much to bear, the parrot is stuffed. Although Felicite works so hard that she is envied by other servants, she is never allowed the happiness that should be awarded to such an honest, simple person. Gustave Flaubert was a part of the Realist movement. Although the end of Felicite's life,with all of its burdens and degradation, does not seem just, lives like Felicite's were simply fact for Flaubert.
Education and Religion
Felicite never receives a formal education in her lifetime. Orphaned at a young age, she worked at two farms before finding a job with Mme. Aubain and staying at her house for the rest of her life. Felicite only knows the nature of animals and has never attended church. Felicite is against a physical relationship with Theodore, but not because she has been brought up religiously. She understands sex only through her experience working on farms. Later, she learns from one of Mme. Aubain's children, Paul, which is contrary to societal expectations that adults should be smarter than children. When Felicite wants to keep track of her nephew, Victor, while he is travelling to Havana, she is presented with a map. She demands where Victor is, hoping to pinpoint his exact location from the tiny point of Cuba on the map. When it rains at Mme. Aubain's, Felicite fears for Victor's safety, because it must be raining where he is, too. Felicite attends church with Mme. Aubain's other child, Virginia, and this is her first experience with religion. She cannot comprehend the metaphor of the lamb in the church service, and instead her heart becomes more tender for actual lambs. When Virginia is baptized, Felicite in a way takes the First Communion through the child, although her understanding of religion is skewed. Following this, after her parrot Loulou has died and has been stuffed, and amidst her physical and mental degradation, Felicite confuses the bird with the Holy Spirit. Finally, at the end of Felicite's life, she believes she sees a giant parrot present at the opening of the gates of heaven. The title of the story, A Simple Heart, has both positive and negative connotations. Felicite is so simple that her ignorance of the world is staggering.
Physical and Mental Degradation
The physical and mental degradation of Felicite begins when she becomes a "femme en bois", or a woman made of wood. Her mind is now closed to any sentimental experiences after Theodore abandons her, and the stiffness of her body represents the fact that she is alive solely to work. Felicite experiences three important deaths throughout the short story. They are the deaths of the child, Virginia, Felicite's nephew, Victor, and her parrot, Loulou. Loulou had had a significant presence in Felicite's life after the first two deaths. He was her anchor, and the one being that Felicite felt close to. The relationship is bizarre, and perhaps even hints at incest and blasphemy. Nevertheless, she at one point she cannot find the bird for some time. Although she does locate him eventually, the shock of the incident has left Felicite with almost complete deafness. She can only hear the sound of Loulou. As it is not possible to go deaf, yet still hear one specific bird, the reader senses mental degradation as well as physical. Later, Felicite has trouble seeing and breathing. After Mme. Aubain dies and the house is put up for sale, Felicite begins to limp. The limp is a physical reaction to the idea of losing her bedroom that she has known for so long, although the house itself is also in physical degradation. At the end of Felicite's life, the stuffed bird is rotting with maggots. This does not phase Felicite, because Loulou is that important to her. Finally, Felicite hallucinates a parrot in the gates of heaven when she passes.
