Madame Bovary9

To become a villain, you need to commit evil acts. The New Webster’s Dictionary defines a villain as a scoundrel or criminal. The closest thing to a villain in Madame Bovary is Lheureux, a dry-goods salesman in Yonville. He is overcome by the same desire of Felix Grandet in Eugenie Grandet, money. He might not be a criminal, but he is definitely characterized well by the word scoundrel. Lheureux is a dry-goods sales man …

…by the consumption of pure arsenic. To say that Lheureux is a villain, is somewhat incorrect because what Emma did, she put it upon herself. The debt didn’t come out of nowhere. Emma made the bill how big it was. Lheureux’s attitude and strategy definitely didn’t help though. His antics were definitely part of the problem also. His pursuit of money, and his ruthless attitude made him a villain in Madame Bovary.