Literature has a profound affect on societal views. Throughout history women have been susceptible to the influence of written word. Rostand?s Cyrano de Bergerac and Flaubert?s Madame Bovary illustrate how literature has shaped women?s views of how love should exist. ?Flaubert depicts the trivial but persuasive ways in which a powerful style of being comes to affect the expectations which the most unremarkable people have of life?. Emma?s illusions of love are attributed to the novels and fashion magazines she thrives upon.