In 1836, Flaubert, the author of Madame Bovary, who was only 15 years old at the time, and his maid, after their first taste of the joy of clouds and rain, excitedly wrote in his diary: "Happiness is like syphilis, although it is happy, it damages your body. But he never imagined that one day, he would die prematurely from syphilis.
Flaubert is a famous French writer. Born on December 21, 1821 in Louen, France, the son of a famous surgeon. Flaubert, who grew up in a hospital environment, knew the dangers of syphilis and still did not restrain his desire to find excitement.
Flaubert was an extremely sullen man, always shy on the outside and wild on the inside in front of women. At the age of 14, he fell in love with the wife of a musician at first sight. Although he never married, he searched everywhere for flowers and willows, and thus contracted syphilis.
Flaubert wrote to a friend: "You know, your friend seems to have some kind of syphilis, his body is gradually damaged, and it is impossible to find out when he is sick. Although symptoms have been cured, they often recur. I have neurological symptoms that still flare-up intermittently, which are incurable in the environment I currently live in, and other factors are not. ”
This "neurological symptom" that Flaubert called always accompanied him, and at its worst, he had four attacks in two weeks. When the doctor's father could only bleed him, this was the only method of medicine at that time. At that time, it was widely believed that this symptom was caused by excessive blood in the body.
For this Flaubert said bitterly: "I was enemas and bleed, they treated leeches, they could not touch wine and food, I was a dead man." He also applied mercury ointment, causing his skin to ulcerate and had to interrupt his studies.
Flaubert almost made himself a waste because of his lust, but did not waste his writing. At the age of 30, he began to write the novel Madame Bovary, which lasted 55 months and finally wrote a legacy with realistic significance.
The storyline of Madame Bovary is taken from real life. The protagonist Charles Bovary is based on Eujie Delamar, an intern at Flaubert's father's hospital, and his wife Delphine Coutiliette is the prototype of the heroine Madame Bovary, Emma.
In order to ensure the authenticity of the novel, Flaubert consulted a large number of sources, and in the scene describing Emma's suicide by poisoning, Flaubert claimed to have personally taken poison. In order not to make a mistake in describing Emma's finances, Flaubert consulted a lawyer.
Towards the end of the novel, one day a friend of Flaubert went to see him, and this friend saw him crying at home, crying very sadly. A friend asked Flaubert what had happened, and Flaubert choked up and said, "Madame Bovary is dead." ”
Confused friends ask Flaubert who is Madame Bovary? Flaubert pointed to the manuscript paper on his desk and cried, "That's Madame Flaubert." The friend who suddenly realized hurriedly persuaded: "Since you don't want Madame Bovary to die, then don't write her to death." Flaubert said, "There is no way, Bovary must die at this time, and I can't help it." ”
However, Flaubert, who was so talented, was in a deteriorating physical condition. This influenced not only his creation, but also his life. Flaubert always felt very tired, sometimes even holding a pen. Moreover, there are often gastrointestinal cramps, insomnia, cough, back pain, headache and other symptoms.
But even if he was tormented by illness and had a merry nature, he was still keen to mix with lust, and he also ate both men and women, and even let friends watch from the side. This proclivity of his was also passed on to his proud disciple Maupassant.
Maupassant was also a genius at writing novels, and was also a master of abusive love, after contracting syphilis at a young age. Like his master, he was so excited that he wrote in his diary: "I have syphilis, beautiful syphilis, and I don't have to worry about being infected by others in the future." “
The act of Flaubert and Maupassant happy at having such a fashionable illness is both bizarre and puzzling. The reason for this is that Europeans have always been open, their frequent unclean sexual activities were more mainstream at the time, and many people's sexual enlightenment began with bad women. The route of transmission of syphilis is sexual transmission, followed by blood-borne transmission and mother-to-child transmission.
Syphilis is a chronic virus, and those infected at the age of twenty can live to the age of seventy or eighty. It's just that the body will suffer from lifelong illness. Someone will become demented, someone will become insane. Before syphilis completely destroys the central nervous system of the brain, it often feels very pleasant, energetic, creative, and significantly improved in perception and insight. Therefore, the people who are engaged in creation feel that it is inspiration.
In addition, syphilis was also common in Europe at that time. At the end of the 19th century, about 15% of people in Europe were infected with syphilis, and the probability of infection was very high, conservatively estimated to be 10 million deaths from syphilis in Europe at that time. Syphilis is said to have been brought back to Europe by Columbus from the Americas.
On May 8, 1880, Flaubert, who was about to go on a long trip, suddenly felt dizzy after taking a hot bath. When the maid brought the doctor over, he was already lying on the sofa bed, his heart was beating extremely weakly, and there was a "black collar" on the surface of the skin of his neck.
When Maupassant, who knew the news, rushed over, Flaubert was breathless. Maupassant recalled: "In the dim light, I saw him collapsed on the sofa bed, his neck swollen and his throat red, like a giant who had been knocked down, and he looked so terrible. ”
Flaubert was a passionate, erudite man. He was amiable and approachable to his friends, and his student Maupassant was like father and son. The novels he wrote ushered in a new era in literary history and were known as the "founder of modern Western novels". It's a pity that he overindulged himself and ended his talent and life prematurely at the age of 59.
Thirteen years later, Maupassant also died of illness at the age of 43. The root of life is to live well, not to squander or "die", even if it is a genius, too willful, heaven will not accept it all.
At Flaubert's funeral, only a few people such as Maupassant, Zola, Turgenev and others came to see him off. His friend said helplessly: "Poor Flaubert, all the human feelings around your body can be used to write a novel." ”
