"Madame Bovary"  Francis Steegmuller Edition: Pages 100-200

 

"Madame Bovary"  Francis Steegmuller Edition: Pages 100-200 Transportation terms Selected passages with some mention of travel Types of road conditions that existed in these locations Leon using the Hirondelle to travel from Yonville to Rouen Unlike today, people did not ride everywhere Days of operation of the Hirondelle A gig pulled by one horse, and with at least two seats Gigs were very fast vehicles A Landau is a vehicle drawn by two horses Contrast between Landau above and the Hirondelle Riding Horses A Filly

 

See Sources to get more information on the vehicles mentioned on this page.

 

Transportation terms

• Hirondelle
• Gig
• Landau
• Horses
  • Riding horses
  • Filly

 

 

 

Selected passages with some mention of travel

 

 

Types of road conditions that existed in these locations

 

To reach the wet nurse's house they had to turn left at

    the end of the village street, as though going to the ceme-

    tery, and follow a narrow path that led them past cottages

    and yards between privet hedges.  These were in bloom, and

    blooming, too, were veronicas and wild roses and nettles and

    the wild blackberries that thrust out their slender sprays

    from the thickets.  Through holes in the hedges they could

    see, in the farmyards, a pig on a manure pile or cows in

    wooden collars rubbing their horns against tree trunks.  The

    two of them walked on slowly side by side, she leaning on

    his arm and he shortening his step to match hers.  In front

    of them hovered a swarm of flies, buzzing in the warm air. (page#)

--This shows the treacherous road conditions that existed back then

and reveals some of the difficulties that people and vehicles of these localities had

to face to get from one place to another.

 

In one spot the ground was boggy from the trampling of

    cattle, and they had to walk on large green stones that had

    been laid in the mud.  She kept stopping to see where to

    place her foot, and teetering on an unsteady stone, her arms

    lifted, her body bent, a hesitant look in her eye, she

    laughed, fearing lest she fall into the puddles. (page #)

--This also shows troubled roads

 

Leon using the Hirondelle to travel from Yonville to Rouen

 

He was attentive in many ways, too, even doing errands for Charles

    in Rouen.  When a new novel launched a craze for exotic plants,

    Leon bought some for Madame, holding them on his knees in the

    Hirondelle and pricking his fingers on their spikes.

 

Unlike today, people did not ride everywhere

 

 It was a snowy Sunday afternoon in February.  

    All of them, Monsieur and Madame Bovary, Homais and

    Monsieur Leon, had gone to see a new flaz mill that was

    being built in the valley, a mile or so from Yonville.  The

    apothecary had taken Napoleon and Athalie along to give them

    some exercise, and Justin accompanied them, carrying a supply

    of umbrellas over his shoulder.

--This shows that health concerns and using exercise to remedy to it are certainly

not new. Although it is a  snowy day, they all just walked a whole mile and back

instead of riding.

 

Days of operation of the Hirondelle

 

Every day for a month Hivert transported

    for him, from Yonville to Rouen and from Rouen to Yonville,

    trunks, valises and bundles.  And after Leon had had his ward-

    robe restocked and his three armchairs reupholstered and had

    bought a whole new supply of foulard handkerchiefs, after he

    had made more preparations than for a trip around the world,

    he kept putting off his departure from week to week, until he

    received a second letter from his mother urging him to be on

    his way, since he wanted to pass his examination before the

    summer vacation.

--This shows that the hirondelle is operational seven days a week

A gig pulled by one horse, and with at least two seats

 

Maitre Guillaumin was to drive Leon to

    Rouen in his carriage.... Ahead he saw his employer's gig in the road, and beside

    it a man in an apron holding the horse.  Homais and Maitre

    Guillaumin were talking together, waiting for him.

    The apothecary embraced him, tears in his eyes.  "Here's

    your overcoat, my boy.  Wrap up warm!  Look after yourself!

    Take it easy!"  

     "Come, Leon, jump in!" said the notary.

    Homais leaned over the mudguard, and in a voice broken

    by sobs gulped the sad...

--This shows that guillaumin owned a gig that could carry at least two people

Gigs were very fast vehicles

They were gathering in the west, in the direction of

    Rouen, twisting rapidly in black swirls.  Out from behind

    them shot great sun rays, like the golden arrows of a hanging

    trophy, and the rest of the sky was empty, white as porcelain.

    Then came a gust of wind, the poplars swayed, and suddenly the

    rain was pattering on the green leaves.  But soon the sun came

    out again, chickens cackled, sparrows fluttered their wings in

    the wet bushes, and rivulets flowing along the gravel carried

    away the pink flowers of an acacia. "Ah, by now he must be far away!" she thought.

--After a short rain that must have only taken a few minutes, she thinks he is far away.

This shows that they thought Gigs were pretty fast vehicles back then.

 

A Landau is a vehicle drawn by two horses

 

It was a false alarm.  The prefect wasn't even in sight,

    and the members of the jury were in a quandary, not knowing

    whether to begin the proceedings or wait a while longer.

    Finally at the far end of the square appeared a big hired

    landau drawn by two skinny horses who were being furiously

    whipped on by a white-hatted coachman.  Binet had just time to

    shout, "Fall in!" and the colonel to echo him.  There was a

    rush for the stacked rifles, and in the confusion some of the

    men forgot to button their collars.  But the official coach-

    and-pair seemed to sense the difficulty, and the emaciated

    beasts dawdling on their chain, drew up at a slow trot in

    front of the portico of the town hall just at the moment when

    the national guard and the fire brigade were deploying into

    line to the beating of the drums.Then there emerged from the

    carriage a gentleman clad  in a short, silver-embroidered coat, his

    forehead high and bald, the back of his head tufted, his complexion

    wan and his expression remarkably benign.  His eyes, very large and

    heavy-lidded, half shut as he peered at the multitude, and at

    the same time he lifted his sharp nose and curved his sunken

    mouth into a smile.  He recognized the mayor by his sash, and

    explained that the prefect had been unable to come.  He him-

    self was a prefectural councilor, and he added a few words of

    apology.  Tuvache replied with compliments, the emissary

    declared himself unworthy of them, and the two officials

    stood there face to face, their foreheads almost touching,

    all about them the members of the jury, the village council,

    the local elite, the national guard and the crowd. 

--The fact that this councelor came in a Landau reveals that rich or important

people are the ones that ride in this type of carriage.

         Hippolyte, the stableboy at the hotel, came to take the

    horses from the coachman, and limping on his clubfoot he led

    them through the gateway of the Lion d'Or, where a crowd of

    peasants gathered to stare at the carriage.  There was a roll

    of the drums, the howitzer thundered, and the gentlemen filed

    up and took their seats on the platform in red plush armchairs

    loaned by Madame Tuvache

--This carriage must have been "THE" carriage of the 19th century,their sort of "Ferrari"

Contrast between Landau above and the Hirondelle

 

She remembered the vicomte who

    had waltzed with her at La Vaubyessard and whose beard had

    given off this same odor of vanilla and lemon, and automatic-

    ally she half closed her eyes to breathe it more deeply.  But

    as she did this, sitting up straight in her chair, she saw in

    the distance, on the farthest horizon, the old stagecoach, the

    Hirondelle, slowly descending the hill of Les Leux, trailing a

    long plume of dust behind it.  It was in this yellow carriage

    that Leon had so often returned to her, and that was the road

    he had taken when he had left forever.  

--CONTRAST THIS WITH THE ONE DESCRIBED PREVIOUSLY

Riding Horses

 

The next day at noon Rodolphe presented himself at

    Charles' door with two riding horses.  One of them had pink

    pompons decorating its ears and bore a lady's buckskin

    saddle.

 

A Filly

"Well, I called on Monsieur Alexandre this afternoon.  He

    bought a filly a few years ago and she's still in fine shape,

    just a little broken in the knees.  I'm sure I could get her

    for a hundred ecus . . ."

    

         And he went on, "I thought you might like to have her, so

    I reserved her . . . I bought her . . . Did I do right?  Tell

    me."

--SEEMS LIKE HE BOUGHT HER A HORSE