Madame Bovary; by Gustave Flaubert.

Story of a young woman of not much in terms of means - this was before women on provinces in Europe could respectably work for money - and married an older man for security - as most women had to do until things changed - but could neither keep her longing for romance and love buried nor was crass enough for the realities of the day, which are summed up well in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina for example, or even Maugham's Virtue, and certainly in "Scarlett", in short to the effect that if women have affairs on side and keep it discreet it is all very well but romance, love - NO! That destroys society!

So, in short, this woman was not "practical" enough, and suffered the consequences and paid for her longings for love, with being thrown out by her husband, dire poverty, and death. One does wish she had had one love in her life that made it all worth it, at least - Anna Karenina did - but no, not in this case. This was France, and most people were practical, contrary to the usual misunderstood and therefore misrepresented image of the French.