Flaubert in Musical Tables: Character Analysis of the Writer's Search for the Perfect Word
Overview: A Writer Caught in the Moment of Choice
In the brief poem “Flaubert,” Billy Collins presents a single, almost cinematic image: the French novelist Gustave Flaubert sits at his desk, searching for the right word, while several wrong words appear at his window. The poem is only three lines long, yet it captures a universal experience for any writer—the struggle for precision, the intrusion of error, and the solitary nature of the creative process. Flaubert here is not a fully fleshed-out character with a backstory or dialogue; he is a figure defined entirely by his action and the strange, almost surreal response of the world around him.
The poem’s brevity is itself a commentary on the subject. Collins, in the book’s afterword, explains his fascination with small poems, which he describes as arriving and departing at once. “Flaubert” does exactly that: it arrives with a clear image and departs before we can ask any of the questions it raises. This compression forces the reader to sit with the image, much as Flaubert sits with his search.
Plot Role: A Single Scene of Composition
In the context of Musical Tables, “Flaubert” is one of many short poems that capture a single moment. The poem has no narrative arc, no other characters, and no resolution. Its plot is minimal: Flaubert looks for the right word; wrong words appear at his window. That is all. Yet this tiny action carries weight because it speaks to the entire enterprise of writing. The poem functions as a microcosm of the creative struggle, a snapshot of the moment before inspiration strikes, when the writer is surrounded by near-misses and false starts.
The window is a crucial detail. It suggests a boundary between the writer’s inner world and the outside. The wrong words are not in his mind; they are external, appearing at the window like curious birds or unwelcome visitors. This spatial separation implies that the right word is not something he can summon from within but something he must recognize when it arrives—or perhaps something that will only come after the wrong ones have been dismissed.
Motivations and Traits: The Pursuit of Precision
Flaubert’s motivation is explicit: he is looking for the right word. The poem does not tell us why he needs it, but the historical Flaubert was famously obsessed with le mot juste—the exact word that captures a thought or image with perfect clarity. While we cannot assume the poem’s Flaubert shares every biographical detail, the poem’s focus on his search aligns with that reputation. The character’s trait is persistence: he continues looking even as wrong words appear. He does not settle for an approximation. He does not open the window to let them in. He simply keeps searching.
The wrong words are plural—“several wrong words”—which suggests a barrage of errors. This implies that the search is not quick or easy. Flaubert’s determination is shown through his continued effort despite these distractions. The poem does not show him giving up or becoming frustrated; it simply shows him in the act. This restraint is typical of Collins, who often presents a scene without editorializing, allowing the reader to infer the emotional state.
Chronological Arc: A Frozen Moment
There is no traditional arc in “Flaubert.” The poem does not move from beginning to end; it presents a single tableau. The only sequence is temporal: first, he looks; then, wrong words appear. We are left to imagine what happens next—does he find the right word? Do the wrong words eventually leave? The poem ends before any resolution. This lack of closure is deliberate. It mirrors the ongoing nature of the writer’s task, which is never truly finished. The arc, if we can call it that, is the arc of a single breath: the intake of searching, the exhalation of wrong words appearing.
In the larger structure of Musical Tables, this poem sits among many others that capture fleeting observations—a barge on the East River, a potato staring upward, a breeze moving three wind chimes. These poems share a quality of stillness, a willingness to let a moment exist without forcing a conclusion. “Flaubert” fits this pattern, but it also stands out because it is about the act of writing itself, making it a meta-poem that comments on the very form it inhabits.
Relationships: The Writer and His Words
The poem features no human relationships, but it establishes a relationship between Flaubert and language. The wrong words are personified—they “appear” at his window, as if they have agency. This suggests a dynamic where words are not passive tools but active presences that can intrude or offer themselves. The right word, by contrast, is absent. It is the object of his search, the thing he hopes to find. This relationship is one of tension: the writer is at the mercy of language, which offers both errors and possibilities.
The window also implies a relationship between the interior and exterior. Flaubert is inside, presumably at his desk, while the words are outside. This could symbolize the gap between intention and expression, or the way that the wrong words are always closer to the surface than the right one. The window is a threshold, and the words are knocking, but he does not let them in. He is selective, even as he is besieged.
Key Decisions and Consequences: The Choice to Reject
The only decision Flaubert makes in the poem is to continue looking for the right word rather than accepting one of the wrong ones. The consequence is that the wrong words keep appearing. This is a subtle but profound point: the act of seeking the right word invites the wrong ones to show themselves. The poem suggests that error is a necessary byproduct of the search for precision. Without the wrong words, the right word would have no contrast. The decision to reject the wrong words is implicit—he does not use them—and it is this rejection that defines him as a writer.
The poem does not show the outcome, so we cannot say whether he ever finds the right word. But the very existence of the poem suggests that the search itself is valuable. Collins, by writing a poem about Flaubert’s search, is participating in the same process. The poem is a right word—or a set of right words—that captures the experience of searching.
Theme and Symbol Connections
“Flaubert” resonates with several themes in Musical Tables. The most obvious is brevity as a poetic form. The poem is a small poem, and its subject is the search for the perfect word—a search that is itself about economy and precision. The poem demonstrates that a great deal can be said in three lines. It also connects to wordplay and linguistic play, as the poem is about words themselves, their abundance, and their inadequacy. The wrong words appearing at the window are a kind of linguistic play, a parade of alternatives that the writer must sort through.
The poem also touches on the mundane and the cosmic. The act of writing is mundane—a person at a desk—but the search for the right word has cosmic implications, as it is a search for meaning and clarity in a world of confusion. The window could be seen as a portal between the ordinary and the extraordinary, where wrong words are the mundane distractions and the right word is a glimpse of the cosmic.
Finally, the poem relates to mortality, time, and memory in a subtle way. The search for the right word is an attempt to fix a moment in time, to capture something that will outlast the writer. Flaubert’s struggle is a struggle against the ephemeral nature of language and thought. The wrong words are like the distractions of daily life that pull us away from what matters.
Five Book-Specific Questions and Answers
1. What is Flaubert doing in the poem?
He is looking for the right word. The poem states this directly: “As he looked for the right word.”
2. What appears at his window?
Several wrong words appear at his window. The poem says, “several wrong words / appeared in his window.”
3. Does the poem tell us whether Flaubert finds the right word?
No. The poem ends with the wrong words appearing, and there is no mention of the right word being found. The outcome is left unresolved.
4. How does the poem’s brevity reflect its subject?
The poem is a small poem, and its subject is the search for a single precise word. The brevity mirrors the idea that the right word is a compact, powerful thing, and that the search for it can be captured in a brief moment.
5. What does the window symbolize in the poem?
The window is a threshold between the writer’s inner world and the outside. The wrong words appear there, suggesting that errors are external intrusions that the writer must resist. It also symbolizes the boundary between the search and the discovery, or between the mundane and the inspired.
Conclusion: The Writer as Everyperson
Flaubert in this poem is not just a historical figure; he is a stand-in for anyone who has ever struggled to find the right way to say something. The poem’s power lies in its simplicity. It does not tell us about Flaubert’s life or his novels; it shows us a single, universal moment. By placing this moment in a book of small poems, Collins honors the very process he depicts. The poem is a wrong word that became a right one, a testament to the persistence of writers everywhere.
For further exploration of the themes in this poem, see the analysis of brevity as a poetic form, wordplay and linguistic play, and the mundane and the cosmic. You can also return to the main book page or read the ending explained for more context.