…to be the way which their physique would normally ask them to behave. They are practicing what the French philosopher Jules de Gautier called Bovarism. Madame Bovary in Flaubert's novel was a young woman who was continuously trying to behave as though she…

…in Flaubert's novel was a young woman who was continuously trying to behave as though she was somebody that she was not. And Jules de Gautier generalizes this and says that we all have a tendency to try to behave as though we were somebody we were not…

…the society regards as the ideal type. I recommend in this context A very valuable book by the French philosopher Jules de Gautier, which was published about 50 years ago, called Bovarism. The name is derived from the heroine of Flaubert's novel, Madame…