The son of a doctor, Gustave Flaubert was born in Rouen, France, on December 12, 1821. He was in poor health for much of his childhood and was not expected to live to adulthood. Flaubert's younger sister Caroline also was often ill, and she died in childbirth at age twenty-one. Despite her early death, she greatly affected Flaubert and was a strong feminine influence on him; his older brother Achille was nine years his senior, and the brothers never developed a friendship. At age three, Flaubert began to be cared for by Julie, a servant hired by his parents, who stayed with the family until her death in 1883 and actually outlived all the Flaubert children.
After performing poorly in...
