What Is Bovarism In Psychology: Meaning And Examples

He bovarism also called Madame Bovary syndrome, is named after Emma Bovary. It is of great importance to know the history of this syndrome to fully understand bovarism in psychology.

The concept of Bovarism takes its name from Madame Bovary, the character in Gustave Flaubert’s novel, a classic of universal literature. In this 1857 novel, the author created a character who stands out for its great psychological depth, Emma Bovary. The novel tells the story of Emma who is married to the doctor Charles Bovary and, although he feels great love for her, Emma does not reciprocate him.

The origin of Emma’s marital dissatisfaction lies in the romantic novels she devoured since she was young, which is why she develops a fictional and idealized concept of love and emotional relationships. Her husband Charles does not respond to Emma’s expectations and romantic fantasies, he does not look like the heroic protagonists of adolescent novels. The lack of a passionate and obsessive relationship plunges Emma into a state of enormous emotional dissatisfaction.

As feelings of monotony, mediocrity, and dissatisfaction with real life increase, Emma takes refuge more in the love novels she read when she was young. Thus, she begins to fantasize about the love life that she had always dreamed of, to the point of get further and further away from reality and not being able to distinguish fantasy from reality.

As a result of this novel, the French philosopher Jules de Gaultier coined this term in 1892 in his study of the novel and the character of Emma, Le Bovarysme, la psychology dans l’oeuvre de Flaubert. Ten years later, this same philosopher wrote Le Bovarysme, a thesis about the psychology of the characters in Flaubert’s novel. That is why the bovarism or Madame Bovary syndrome It refers to a state of chronic dissatisfaction, in which reality is denied or rejected.

Bovarism in psychology was coined in the 20th century, since at the end of 1940 this syndrome began to be studied in psychoanalysis. From psychology, it is a term that continues to be used to refer to a syndrome that is characterized by a permanent dissatisfaction and frustration due to the non-correspondence between expectations and aspirations, normally disproportionate and obsessive, and reality, the contrast or distance that exists between the two.

The symptoms of bovarism They are related to the psychology of the protagonist of the novel and the following have been identified:

• Unrealistic expectations: People with this syndrome develop fantastic, unrealistic and disproportionate expectations and objectives, which leads to generating an erroneous perspective of reality. Frustration also appears due to the inability for reality to respond to the expectations raised by the person.
• Impossible goals: The establishment of unrealizable goals and purposes also predominates as a result of the person’s difficulties in supporting and surviving reality, which generates intense anguish and discomfort. There is a longing for things that are beyond a person’s reach; Aspirations are not drawn based on the awareness of the person themselves and their real conditions, they are based on subjective idealizations.
• Confirmation bias: This bias refers to the acceptance of information selectively and based on its fit with the distorted expectations and ideas held by the person, so that these end up being fed. On the other hand, information that contradicts the fictitious reality is rejected. Therefore, there is a biased interpretation of reality and a loss of the sense of objectivity and critical judgment.
• Denial of reality: Denial is used as a coping and defensive strategy. The person with this syndrome escapes and evades reality, which he cannot bear, in order to continue living in the fantasy that he has created. This denial leads to a lack of responsibility for one’s own actions and behaviors.
• Lack of self-knowledge: inability to perceive oneself realistically, self-perception is idealized. They are not able to recognize their own limitations and weaknesses. Furthermore, a dramatic and excessive reaction to any small conflict is common, as is a paranoid attitude towards other people.

Although Madame Bovary syndrome is not diagnosed as a disorder and does not appear in the diagnostic manual of psychology, it is a term used to define a series of characteristics and symptoms that result in an impairment of behavior and personality.

This syndrome has psychological consequences in people who develop it and is related to other psychological disorders, but What is bovarism syndrome associated with? The characteristics that define Madame Bovary syndrome are present in some of the personality disorders, specifically in borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.

In bovarism, as in narcissism, there is an idealized image of the person or some aspects of it, as well as the existence of feelings of grandeur and egocentrism. Also the tendency to drama, the exaggeration of emotions and the theatricality present in Bovarism is a characteristic of the histrionic personality. Likewise, the chronic feeling of emptiness that characterizes Madame Bovary syndrome is characteristic of borderline personality disorder. Chronic dissatisfaction and discontent usually lead to the development of depressive and anxious symptoms. There is an intense tendency towards melancholy and dysthymia or chronic form of depression. It can also be identified anger and rage, as a consequence of frustration with reality, sometimes leading to aggressive and/or self-destructive behavior. Generally, it is due to these symptoms that the person usually goes to therapy.

In this section of the article we will address how to treat bovarism. The objectives of bovarism treatment They are aimed at a more realistic interpretation of reality, as well as promoting the person’s acceptance and adaptation to it.

Normally, people who come to therapy do not do so for Bovary syndrome itself, since they are not aware of their altered reality. The reason why they usually seek professional help, as mentioned above, is the person’s anxious-depressive symptoms, that is, emotional distress. Therefore, the first objective is awareness of the problem by the person. The professional must understand and explain the mechanism of denial as a coping and defensive strategy, as well as illustrate it with examples from the person’s own life to promote awareness.

Once the person is aware, the strategies on how to cure Madame Bovary syndrome They focus on modifying biases and patterns, both affective and cognitive, that are at the base of Bovarism. This is why, in the treatment of bovarism, a reflection and analysis on the way of thinking and feeling both in relation to the person themselves and their environment and the consequences or effects it is having on their life.

On the other hand, it is necessary work on self-concept of the person, so that it is realistic, as well as promoting self-esteem in some of the aspects of the person’s personality. Finally, the radical acceptance of reality, since it is not possible to change reality without prior acceptance of it. It is necessary for the person to understand that accepting reality is not passively resigning oneself to it, but rather a necessary and vital step to change it. Knowledge of reality leads to the identification of what you want to change.

Through self-knowledge and acceptance of reality, achievable goals are established and the person’s vital priorities are reconsidered based on personal and environmental resources. The professional must promote strategies for achieving goals and coping in the treatment of bovarism.

To better understand Bovary, Madame Bovary’s novel has been adapted to film on several occasions. To obtain an illustrated example of this syndrome you can watch any of these movies. We find examples of bovarism in:

• Madame Bovary by Jean Renoir (1934)
• Madame Bovary by Carlos Schlieper (1947)
• Madame Bovary by Vincente Minnelli (1949)
• Ryan’s Daughter by David Lean (1970)
• Madame Bovary by Claude Chabrol (1991)
• The reasons for the heart of Arturo Ripstein (2011)
• Spring in Normandy by Anne Fontaine (2014)
• Madame Bovary by Sophie Bartes (2014)

Other examples of Bovary are found in the representation of the archetype of Emma Bovary as a woman and desperate housewife. The American housewives and middle class women After the Second World War they are an example of the Madame de Bovary syndrome, since they showed dissatisfaction with the lifestyle to which they were relegated due to social conventions; this style did not satisfy their individual needs and desires. This problem or dissatisfaction was described by Betty Friedan in 1963 in her book “The mystique of happiness”. This archetype of the dissatisfied housewife has been portrayed through the character of Séverine Serizy in the film “Beautiful by day” by Luis Buñuel, as well as through the character of Carmela Soprano in the series “The Sopranos”. A current example of Bovarism, of this chronic dissatisfaction, can be found in the feeling of collective emptiness derived from the current capitalist system. The evasion of this reality is personified in consumerism, which is used to alleviate this dissatisfaction momentarily and ephemerally, although the feeling of emptiness and discontent soon reappears.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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