Three Tales (Flaubert)

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Three Tales (Trois Contes) is a work by Gustave Flaubert that was originally published in French in 1877. It consists of the short stories: A Simple Heart, Saint Julian, and Herodias. Dance of Death is another story sometimes grouped with Simple Heart and Saint Julian as Three Short Works.

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[edit] A Simple Heart

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A Simple Heart, also called Un Coeur Simple or The Perroquet in French, is a story about a servant girl named Felicité. Her one and only love Théodore marries a well-to-do woman, and in doing so, avoids conscription. After this betrayal, Felicité works for one family : the Aubains. She is very loyal, and easily lends her affections to this family and other people, like her nephew, and things, such as her parrot. She gives entirely to others, and many take advantage of her. People do not realize how much she loves them. She is the epitome of a selfless character, and Flaubert shows the horror of true altruism - the reality of being selfless, having nothing of one's own for which to live.

[edit] The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitator

The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitator, in French Saint Julien l'hospitalier, is a story about Julian the Hospitaller. (Note that the story has nothing to do with the Knights Hospitaller, despite the similarity of the names.) He is predicted at birth to do great things. His father is told that he will be a great emperor, while his mother is told he will be a saint. They dote on him. After Julian kills a mouse who interrupted his concentration in church, his cruelty towards animals grows and culminates into his massacre of an entire valley of deer. A stag curses him to kill his own parents. He almost brings the curse to fruition twice: he drops a sword while standing on a ladder near his father, and he pins his mother's white shawl against a wall with an arrow because it looked like a bird's wings. He leaves to escape his future ( much like Oedipus).

Julian joins a band of vagrants, and they eventually grow into a huge army under his control. He makes a name for himself and marries rich, but never hunts. Finally, his wife convinces him to go hunt and he is haunted by the spirits of all of the animals he has killed. He returns home to surprise his wife and finds a man and a woman in her bed. Unknown to him, his parents had arrived to see him and his wife had given them her bed. He thinks that it is another man sleeping with his wife and murders them. He recognizes his misdeed and leaves once again.

Having given all of his possessions to his wife, Julian begs for food but is shunned for his deeds. He comes across a deserted river crossing and decides to live a life of servitude. One day, there is a great storm and a leper wishes to cross. It is rough but Julian does not give up. Once across, the leper's requests increase. He wishes for food and wine, Julian's bed, and finally the warmth of Julian's body. When Julian gives the man everything without hesitation, the leper is revealed to be an angel, or perhaps Jesus Christ himself, and Julian is taken to heaven.

[edit] Herodias

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Herodias is the retelling of the beheading of John the Baptist. It starts slightly before the arrival of the Syrian governor, Vitellius. Herodias holds a huge birthday celebration for her second husband, Herod Antipas. Unknown to him, she has concocted a plan to behead John. According to Flaubert, this plan entails making her husband fall in love with her daughter, Salomé, leading to him promising her whatever she wants. Salomé, obviously in line with the instructions of her mother, will ask for John's head. Everything goes as planned. John has been repeatedly insulting the royalty, so the king does not think long before granting Salomé's wish. The crowd gathered for the party waits anxiously while the executioner, Mannaeus, kills John. The story ends with some of John's disciples awaiting the Messiah.

[edit] Sources of Inspiration

  • A Simple Heart was inspired by several events in Flaubert's own life: he also lived in a farmhouse in rural Normandy, he also was adrift in his studies, much like Paul. Most importantly, he suffered an epileptic fit in the same way that Felicite does in the story.
  • The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitator was inspired by a large stained glass window at Rouen Cathedral. Flaubert deliberately made his story markedly different from the story told in glass.
  • Herodias is based on the biblical figure of the same name. Flaubert based the section on the dance of Salome from another stained glass window at Rouen Cathedral, and his own experience watching a young female dancer while in Egypt.

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