A Simple Heart

A Simple Heart is a novella by Gustave Flaubert that appeared in his book Three Tales. The title has also been translated as A Simple Soul. The story follows the kind and loving maidservant Félicité from her youth to her death and details the many loves that she loses along the way, exploring themes of The Power of Social Class, The Value of a Personal Relationship With God, and The Omnipresence of Death.

This guide uses the 2005 Penguin Classics edition of Three Tales, translated into English by Roger Whitehouse.

Content Warning: The source material and guide refer to death by suicide, sexual assault, and physical abuse.

Plot Summary

Housemaid Félicité has worked for Madame Aubain for 50 years, keeping house, cooking, darning, washing, ironing, bridling the horses, feeding the chickens, and churning butter. She is paid only 100 francs a year, and Madam Aubain is the envy of the other ladies in Pont-l’Évêque for employing such a devoted worker at such a low price. Félicité has remained loyal to Madame Aubain and her two children, Paul and Virginie, even though Madame Aubain is not the kindest person. Before she worked for Madame Aubain, Félicité met a man named Théodore at a fair. While walking her home, he threw her to the ground in an effort to have sex with her, and Félicité ran away. Later, Théodore asked her for forgiveness and the two began a relationship. When she went to meet him one night, his friend was there in his stead. The friend revealed that Théodore had married an older, wealthy woman to avoid the draft. Félicité quit her previous job and began working for Madame Aubain as a cook.

One day when the Aubains and Félicité are walking on their farm, a bull attacks them. Félicité manages to distract the bull from the family and then escapes over the fence. The bull encounter frightens Virginie, and the doctor diagnoses her as having a nervous ailment. Following the doctor’s advice, the family goes to Trouville. There, Félicité’s long-lost sister, Nastasie Barette, recognizes her. The two become reacquainted. Félicité assists her sister and her three children, though Madame Aubain suspects they are taking advantage of Félicité.

When the Aubains return to Pont-l’Évêque, Paul goes away to school and Félicité accompanies Virginie to her catechism classes. Then Virginie goes to boarding school. Both Félicité and Madame Aubain are saddened when Virginie leaves. Félicité asks if her nephew, Victor, can visit. Victor visits every Sunday and grows close to his aunt. One day, Victor decides to go for a two-year stint working on a ship. Félicité walks 14 miles to Honfleur, where Victor is to cast off. She arrives just as the ship is leaving. Victor looks up at her before sailing out of sight. Félicité is distraught and prays for Victor.

Virginie contracts another illness. Madame Aubain is worried. Félicité later learns from the pharmacist that Victor has made it to Havana. All that she knows of geography she learned from a book Paul showed her, so she seeks out Madame Aubain’s lawyer (and lover) to ask if Victor could come back by land from Cuba. The lawyer takes out a map, and Félicité asks where Victor’s house is, causing the lawyer to laugh.

A few weeks later, a farmer brings Félicité a letter: Victor has died in the Americas. Félicité falls to the ground, heartbroken. Though Virginie was getting better, she contracts pneumonia. When Madame Aubain and Félicité are preparing to visit Virginie, Félicité realizes she might not have locked the gate and jumps out of the carriage to check. She arrives at the convent the next day to find that Virginie has died. Madame Aubain shuts herself in her room for months, claiming she sees the ghosts of her dead family members. Her friends stop visiting. Félicité goes to Virginie’s grave every day, and Paul spends all his time drinking in taverns. Félicité volunteers for the war effort. She serves the soldiers cider, helps a local outcast, and tends to refugees and cholera patients.

Félicité inherits a parrot named Loulou. She loves the bird because he comes from America, reminding her of Victor. One day, Félicité loses Loulou and searches desperately for him. Although the bird returns, the search causes her to fall ill and become deaf. In winter, Loulou dies, and Félicité takes him to the taxidermist. She compares the stuffed Loulou to the dove of the Holy Spirit ascending and puts him next to a print of the baptism of Jesus.

When Madame Aubain’s lawyer dies, she discovers that he has been stealing from her. In her shock, she catches pneumonia and dies. Paul has since married an unpleasant woman. He comes to the Aubains’ house and sells some furniture. No one wants to buy the house, and the roof leaks in Félicité’s room all winter. She also catches pneumonia. As a priest comes to perform her last rites, Félicité hallucinates. She kisses the broken-down, stuffed Loulou. A religious procession passes outside, and when their incense pours into the room, Félicité sees a vision of a giant parrot welcoming her to heaven.