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Redeeming Flaubert? (Correspondence).(Letter to the Editor)

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From: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and PublicLife
Date: 20020601
Author:McKay, Angela

Rodney Delasanta is too quick in his indictment of Gustave Flaubert ("Flaubert and the Sin Against the Holy Ghost," March). At least, I hope this is so; if not, it would be wrong of me to like Madame Bovary quite as much as I do. But I think I have more on my side than mere affection: reflection on Aquinas' definition of despair reveals that Delasanta has missed a crucial distinction.

Not every instance of despair constitutes a sin, let alone a sin against the Holy Ghost. I might despair of fixing my bicycle tire, of ever learning to play the piano, or of ever becoming really ...

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