Madame Bovary, Chapter 13 summary

What happens

1. Rodolphe sorts through keepsakes from former lovers, writes Emma a farewell, and adds water to imitate a tear.
2. Girard delivers the letter beneath apricots; Emma reads it in the attic and approaches the window edge before Charles calls her.
3. At dinner, Charles innocently discusses Rodolphe’s departure; Emma collapses when she sees Rodolphe passing through the village.
4. Homais helps revive Emma and offers explanations for her collapse, but by midnight she develops brain fever.
5. Charles nurses Emma for forty-three days, abandons his patients, and seeks medical help.
6. Emma regains some strength, but a garden walk ends in renewed illness, while Charles also worries about money.

In this chapter

What to notice

Rodolphe manufactures the appearance of grief. The false tear makes the gap between his letter’s tenderness and his actual feelings explicit.

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