Reasons for the downfall of Madame Bovary

The idea of love affairs, lovers, mistresses, gloomy forests, broken hearts, horses ridden to death, killed couriers, and virtuous men were responsible for Emma Bovary's ultimate ruin. When these stories were read to Emma during her time at the convent it was at a time of her life when she was in school learning. Things made bigger impressions on her than they would have at other stages in her life. Psychologically, Emma problem was partly …

…the realization that her property was being seized after falling into irreversible debt, I believe this to be the point where she realized, for the first time, the consequences of her actions. The shock of what she had been doing her whole life seemed too much for her to bear, so she decided to end it. Emma in a way is your classic "Tragic Character." She had a problem, which in the end, killed her.