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Program Title
Madame Bovary (2000)

Episode number:
1 2

Description
On the eve of Emmas elopement to Italy with Rodolphe, he opts out. Then Lon reenters her life and their love blooms, but only until her money is gone. With debts mounting, she finds her only true friend is her husband, Charles. But by then its too late

Original broadcast date
2000-02-13

Cast Characters
Frances O'Connor Emma Bovary
Richard Bonneville Charles Bovary
Greg Wise Rodolphe
Eileen Atkins Marie Louise
Keith Barron L'heureux
Trevor Peacock Rouault
Barbara Jefford Marquise
David Troughton Homais
Joe McGann Paul
Hugh Dancy Leon
Claire Hackett Mme Homais
Joe Roberts Justin
Thomas Wheatley Dr. Canivet
Desmond Barrit Guillaumin

Credits
Executive Producer: Rebecca Eaton, David Thompson, Hilary Salmon
Producer: Tony Redston
Director: Tim Fywell

Intro
MADAME BOVARY/Episode 2/Intro by Russell Baker

Emma Bovary is the young wife of a very dull and not very competent country doctor.

Though she is a country girl herself -- a farmer's daughter -- she is not made for living happily ever after in provincial backwaters. She wants to wear the latest fashions, own elegant jewelry, and mingle with people who make sparkling conversation. She wants to be desired by dashing men, preferably with aristocratic titles. None of this is possible in the provincial French town where her doctor husband is hard-pressed simply to keep ahead of the bill collector. Inevitably, Emma finds nothing but boredom in her marriage. And boredom often leads to a search for adventure. And a married woman looking for adventure in a small country town is a woman destined for disappointment -- and possibly trouble.

Emma has already invited trouble by conducting an innocent flirtation with a young clerk, Leon Dupuis, who is just as bored with small-town life as she is. She's tempted to let the flirtation go beyond innocence, but the temptation ends when Leon suddenly leaves for another job. Never mind. Emma's relentlessness has now been noticed by Rodolphe Boulanger, a man in his '30s. The book's author, Gustav Flaubert, calls him "brutal and shrewd" -- a connoisseur of women, a veteran in the arts of seduction.

At the end of our previous episode, Emma has just made love for the first time with Rodolphe. Now she is ecstatic about at last having a lover. Again, I should caution that this story may not be suitable for all members of the family. Now, Madame Bovary, concluding installment.



Episode number: 1 2


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