The idea of love affairs, lovers, mistresses, gloomy forests, broken hearts, horses ridden to death, killed couriers, and virtuous men were responsible for Emma Bovary's ultimate ruin. When these stories were read to Emma during her time at the convent it was at a time of her life when she was in school learning. Things made bigger impressions on her than they would have at other stages in her life. Psychologically, Emma problem was partly caused because of a term called a "critical period". A critical period is a point in a child's life when what they have learned, such as handwriting or an accent probably will not change considerably afterwards. Emma