Sentimental Education: The Story of a Young Man (Dover Thrift Editions). This item is unavailable.Sentimental Education: The Story of a Young Man (Dover Thrift Editions)

A law student in Paris dreams of professional success, but his aspirations turn toward amour upon a chance encounter with a married woman. Set amid the revolution of 1848, Flaubert's masterpiece combines political and social upheaval with scrutiny of individual motives in a compelling blend of romance, history, and satire.

Frederic Moreau, a moderately gifted young provincial, is ambitious in many ways: he dreams of fame, of vast wealth, of literary and artistic achievement, of a grand passion. On the Paris paddle-steamer which transports him to his home town of Nogent-sur-Seine at the outset of the novel, he becomes transfixed by the demure Madame Arnoux and, back in Paris, cultivates her ebullient and enterprising husband in order to be near her. Frederic's devotion fluctuates like his other enthusiasms, and he is caught up in the intense pleasures and the inevitable ennuis of Parisian life.