Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary takes place in Tostes and Yonville in the middle of the nineteenth century and examines the Petite Bourgeois society of southern, rural France. Emma, the protagonist, marries Dr. Charles Bovary and settles in Tostes. At first, she is excited and pleased with her marriage, but because of her superficial romantic ideals, she soon becomes bored and disillusioned by her new life, and, as a result, becomes ill. Dr. Bovary decided to move to Yonville in hope that Emma's health will improve. Madame Bovary's unhappiness continues until she meets Leon, a young law clerk and Rodolphe, a decaden