From Gustave Flaubert’s 1857 novel, modern Madame Bovary syndrome refers to a woman plagued with tendency to assume massive consumer debt in order to support a chic or extravagant life-style.
My rejection of the “ownership society” clashed with my former wife’s Madame Bovary Syndrome. Her profligate consumerism and aspirations for the “pretty life” lead to mountains of credit card debt.
by Muyuna April 12, 2005