# Madame Aubain — Short Fiction character guide

> Madame Aubain in Short Fiction by Gustave Flaubert.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Madame

**First appearance:** 0005-a-simple-soul

## Snapshot

A widowed mistress of a modest household, weighed down by memories and managing her estate, her children, and her servant with restrained, sorrowful dignity.

## Who they are

Madame Aubain receives her ruined uncle the Marquis and her lawyer Monsieur Bourais, oversees her children's lessons, and retreats to the crumbling Geffosses cottage where recollection makes her hang her head while the children fall silent. When a bull looms out of the fog she prepares to flee for her life, relying on Félicité's steadier nerve. Her griefs and small economies form the domestic world Félicité serves, and her hesitations—like dissuading Félicité from joining the Daughters of the Virgin—shape the quiet boundaries of the story.

## Relationships

### [Virginia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/characters/virginia)

_family_

Madame Aubain is Virginia's mother, grieving deeply after her daughter's untimely death.

### [Loulou](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/characters/loulou)

_social_

Loulou is a parrot owned by Madame Aubain's household, tolerated but not deeply cherished by her.

### [Colmiche](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/characters/colmiche)

_social_

Colmiche is a poor, disabled man whom Madame Aubain occasionally helps out of charity.

### [Monsieur Bourais](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/characters/monsieur_bourais)

_professional_

Monsieur Bourais manages legal and financial affairs for Madame Aubain, acting as her trusted advisor.

### [Paul](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/characters/paul)

_family_

Paul is Madame Aubain's son, who grows up and leaves home, creating emotional distance.

### [Colmiche](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/characters/colmiche)

_social_

Colmiche is a poor, disabled man whom Madame Aubain occasionally helps out of charity.

### [Loulou](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/characters/loulou)

_social_

Loulou is a parrot owned by Madame Aubain's household, tolerated but not deeply cherished by her.

## In the story

### [The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/chapters/the-legend-of-saint-julian-the-hospitaller)

Not present in this chapter.

### [I: The Curse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/chapters/i-the-curse)

Not present in this chapter.

### [II: The Crime](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/chapters/ii-the-crime)

Not present in this chapter.

### [III: The Reparation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/chapters/iii-the-reparation)

Not present in this chapter.

### [A Simple Soul](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/chapters/a-simple-soul)

Félicité's employer, a middle-class widow.

### [I: Félicité](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/chapters/i-f-licit)

Félicité's mistress, a widow who lost her husband in 1809 and manages her household with a disagreeable temperament.

### [II: The Heroine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/chapters/ii-the-heroine)

Hires Félicité, manages the household, and is rescued from the bull by Félicité.

### [III: Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/chapters/iii-death)

Decides to send Virginia to convent school, grieves uncontrollably after Virginia's death, and experiences haunting visions.

### [IV: The Bird](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/chapters/iv-the-bird)

Félicité's mistress, who suggests having Loulou stuffed and later dissuades Félicité from joining the Daughters of the Virgin. She discovers Bourais's embezzlements after his death.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/characters/madame_aubain
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_22_se/characters